My long time friend Rita Warren would have been 89 today, had she not moved over to the other side — died, in other words — last March. So this is the first time in nine years that I won’t raise a glass with her in honor of her birthday and Franklin Roosevelt’s: “Happy Birthday, Mr. Roosevelt, God bless you.”
So, here’s a virtual toast. Our traditional “God bless you, Mr. Roosevelt,” and now “God bless you, Rita,” as well.