I travel alone most of the time, but when I travel with someone, it's with my son, Matt. We fly to Boston twice a year to visit my daughter and her family in Quincy (pron. Kwinzee). He is very nice to travel with, very patient and full of good humour. Well, you know what an obstacle course travel is these days. Getting there is not half the fun, it's no fun at all. So while we are taking off our shoes and emptying our pockets and losing our boarding passes and (me) pulling out my laptop and my iPadMini, one or the other of us will say, "Are we having fun yet?" Nope.

But Matt is fun to be with, and when we are finally settled in our seats, then we start having fun. It's important to know when and to learn the difference between no fun and fun.

Every Christmas I have to learn it again. If I'm sounding a bit premature, it's because 67 years ago this weekend (November 25), Bill Wylie proposed to me. Not like in the movies on bended knee. He said something like, "I give up. We have to get married." Not shotgun have-to, just have to because we thought we couldn't Iive without each other. Later,of course, 23 years later, he put me to the test. I have lived without him.

It's not as much fun.