When I was younger, and that was a long time ago, I remember my elders telling me that if I didn't do this, if I didn't do that, I'd regret it. Like eat your lima beans. When we were really young, the beans came from a can, and my Mom would glop them into the pan, add a little water and then get on the phone to chat with her friends. And they'd get overdone. And then came Bird's Eye and the Green Giant companies which froze vegetables. My mom would go into the little freezer section on our fridge, toss the brick into a pot, add a little water and then get on the phone to chat with her friends. And they'd get overdone.

So I didn't eat them.

And I heard about a whole lot of woe that was going to befall me as a result.

And I began worrying about, what if, when I got older, I found out that they were right. That I really would lose my eyesight because I hadn't eaten my carrots. That I really did get scurvy because I hadn't eaten enough lemons. Or because I hadn't done this, or that, I wouldn't get a job. Or find a wife. Or have kids. Or survive past my 32nd birthday.

And I began worrying that when I got to that even more elder age, I'd look back and say, If only I had eaten those lima beans and NOT fed them to the dog. Maybe I would have been a lot smarter.

But now that I have gotten to that age where I have more to look back on and less to look forward to, I don't for a moment, not a nano second, ever look back and say, If only ...

Well, that's not quite true.

Sometimes I think, if only Mom didn't get on the phone all the time maybe I'd like lima beans.