Amen!

I was born in Libya (then an Italian colony) during WWII. I was taken to Italy as an infant and grew up under bombing raids, running from shelter to shelter. Throughout my childhood and teenage years I was shy, introverted and less than bright, but as a young man I became an overachiever, ambitious and motivated. Given the circumstances, I lived my life the best way I could, with success and failure, with hope and despair, with satisfaction and disappointment, with illusions and delusions, never counting on others, never asking for favors, never borrowing anything from anyone, never expecting rewards. I did what I did on my own, proud of what I achieved but also mortified by what I unwittingly destroyed. My attempts at correcting some of my character flaws did not always succeed, but I tried. As I add all the plusses and minuses, however, I am happy to say I am satisfied with the end result.