Won’t you be my neighbor?
— Fred Rogers
Growing up in Chicago, I lived in a nice neighborhood. At least I thought it was nice. The thing was that we didn’t really know our neighbors. The people who lived directly to the North of us had the only garage in the neighborhood and they could go in and out through the garage without having to talk to anyone. The front of their house opened out on Fargo, so we never saw them… except for the time that the woman put the car in drive and drove into the house instead of out of the garage.
Most of the kids went to Hebrew school after regular school so they couldn’t come out and play during most of the school year. So, we really didn’t get to Continue reading » Families of Choice
Freedom from effort in the present merely means that there has been effort stored up in the past.
— Theodore Roosevelt
Whether we like it or not, this country is the target of many hostile forces. The US military are the people who stand guard over our safety and security. As horrific as September 11th was, we’ve had soldiers deployed throughout the world since World War II. Even in “peace time” our soldiers are visible signs of our strength and influence throughout the world. This makes them the target that can be attacked, without warning, at any time, for any reason. This has always been the Continue reading » The Meaning of Veteran’s Day
You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who’ll decide where to go.
— Dr. Seuss
There’s a very old joke that goes, “Where does insanity come from? You get it from your parents (or kids or cousins or siblings – in other words, family).” And everyone laughs, ruefully – because underneath every good joke is some truth. We do get our insanity from our families.
We also get our growth from them, too – if we choose to. Families are like incubators. There’s plenty of light and heat, which can hatch all kinds of Continue reading » Where Does Insanity Come From?
Memory is a crazy woman that hoards colored rags and throws away food.
— Austin O’Malley
The summer after my senior year, we picked up and moved from Chicago to Phoenix. When we left Chicago, we took a trailer of stuff so that we’d have the “essentials” in our new home, which was a tiny apartment. Because we had left the non-essentials behind, none of our history came with us. When the house in Chicago finally sold, it was Dad who went back and organized the move. And even after everything was out in Phoenix, Continue reading » Memories
There is no pleasure worth forgoing just for an extra three years in the geriatric ward.
— John Mortimer
The family trip is officially over. Dad is back in his home. My sister and her kids are flying back to Mexico City. My brother is beginning a well-deserved recovery. And, I am home – actually, I never left (more on that later).
The trip was a tremendous success! I received a short email this morning which read in part, “I think that the trip did Dad a world of good. By the third day he was talking in complete sentences.” WOW! He didn’t even do that when he was fine. Ok, I exaggerate a little.
Dad’s improvement on this trip leads me to an inescapable conclusion Continue reading » Dementia – It Sure Makes You Think!??
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