"only ever"

[Bethany K. Dumas]

On Fri, 26 Nov 2004, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

>Of the late creator of the strip "Peanuts," Jonathan Franzen writes in the New Yorker for Nov. 29,
>
>               Schulz only ever wanted to be a cartoonist. (82)
>
>I judge this sentence to be semantically weird. Natural and normal would be

I have heard sentences like the first one most of my life - I do not find
it weird. The focus is different, I suppose.

Jon, how old did you say you are now?!?

Bethany, formerly your senior