She popped up on his chat window. “I still remember some of your priceless entry lines. Walking in at 8:30 for the morning shift, my raised eyebrows were answered with: ‘I had a hangover’.

“I think of the hot blooded young boy who worked on the news desk and what you’ve become…mellow with words, carefully chosen and chiseled…and am so proud.”

He said, “I am still hot blooded, just learning to pick the right battles. And of course the mellowness has much to do with the wife.”

“You chose well,” she said.

And then he thought: she still remembered that line. Oh how much he missed this mentoring.