"Well, what can you expect, old man," he said to himself, not noticing that his wife had appeared in the doorway. "After all, you're 85 years old . . . and now closer to 86."
He jumped, a bit startled and thrilled as his wife said in her gentle voice:
"You're not an 'old man', my strapping husband. And I still love you just the way you are."
He turned, took her in his arms--and suddenly felt young and alive and very much in love again.