I turned 54 yesterday, a number sometimes called “triple chai.” Chai, or חַי, is the Hebrew word for “life,” and the two letters that make it up are chet (the 8th letter) and yud (the 10th), giving the word a total numerical value of 18; and that’s why you often see Jewish people giving charity or gifts in the amount of $72, or $180, or some other multiple of chai, like $54. Triple life!

I do think I have a kind of triple life. I’m a mathematician, a teacher (in which I include writer), and a father. Those are three pretty good lives to have! I feel no need for a fourth, but ask me again when I turn 72.