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AN ADOPTED GRANDPA
Over a long span of years, I have been a son, a brother, a grandson, a husband, a father, a grandfather, an uncle, and a brother-in-law. Over that same span of years, I have been a filling station attendant, a soldier, a telephone worker, a union president, a lobbyist, and an international telecommunications representative. But…
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“….AS A CHRISTMAS GOOSE”
Richard Cheney is the rotund and sparsely beloved Vice President of the United States. The civilized world regards him with no affection whatsoever. During the last week of November, Mr. Cheney had a bout with atrial fibrillation. This is a cardiac condition that, if left untreated, could result in grave damage to the heart muscle…
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BASS ACKWARD-LY-NESS
My mother spoke no foreign tongues. The grammar of English, her native language, gave her enough trouble. Yet she was a master of “country speak.” She was the one who said, when she was full of food and drink, that she was “full as a tick” or “tighter than a June bug.” It was also…
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PASSED BALLS AND WILD PITCHES
When anyone has lived as long as I have, it would be foolish to claim that there have not been some mistakes along the way. The Great Decider may differ with that conclusion, but he is busy trying to extricate the United States from the mess he has created in Iraq. These are some of…
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MAKING FRIENDS
Making friends has always come easily to me. I find that a handshake and calling the other person by his name tends to open the door to new friendships. Showing an interest in what the other person is doing or where he has lived tends to promote that friendship. My father did not have that…
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ON BECOMING ENSNARLED IN ONE’S OWN JOCKSTRAP
The title of this essay is perhaps misleading in that only a small portion of it has to do with athletic supporters. Primarily it has to do with the stupidity of the federal government and the great state of New Jersey in demanding that every automotive driver have a photograph on his driver’s license. This…
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“…UNTIL THOUGHT AND MEMORY ADJOURN” AND/OR “UNTIL THE SEAS RUN DRY”
Those of you who follow these essays know that in recent years there have been a number of essays devoted to women who have my admiration. Women do not have the best of it in this life. From the beginning, their strength is less than that of men and their earning power is often similarly…
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FABIAN’S AMERICAN GRANDPA
In my life, which has gone on much longer than I ever expected it to, I thought that I had experienced the full range of emotions that occur to human beings. There have been moments of happiness and moments of sorrow. There have been moments that are neither happy nor sorrowful. But it took a…
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SOUNDS
This essay on sounds has had a delay in reaching the delivery room. It has remained in the womb of my alleged brain because of a fear that some readers might interpret it as a cry for pity. My thoughts on my non-sightedness were distributed in an essay called “Sing No Sad Songs for This…