Tag: Family

The In-between Days

 

Our son got married last weekend. At the rehearsal dinner, I shared what I believe are fundamental truths about marriage and the uniting of two people as one.

I clicked the red “Leave” button on a Zoom call; I pushed down so hard on my mouse, I was surprised it didn’t crack. I was furious at the conversation that had just taken place. The source of my frustration was a loyal teammate who had been by my side for seven years.

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One summer evening in Denver, my daughters and I went out with their paternal grandpa for ice cream.  I noticed something as we were finishing up our confections. While we girls ordered featured treats along the lines of “Brownie Blast” and “Super Swirl,” Grandpa happily settled for classic vanilla soft serve on a cone. This […]

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I started my Wednesday at 0600 hours. My wife and her sister were going to spend the day at the pool and then dinner. My job was to prepare a smoked brisket for dinner. By o700 hours the brisket was on the Traeger for a slow smoked dinner. My schedule was a bit off and […]

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Where’s Mom?

 

I don’t know if I’m a typical 64-year-old, but my phone is almost always with me. I hardly use it for anything as mundane as a phone call — I’m usually listening to a podcast while texting. Texting a sister or a brother; both sisters and both brothers; brothers, sisters, husband, brothers, and sisters-in-law; daughter. Rosary group thread, bunco thread, prayer thread.

Last Wednesday, I hosted my Rosary group for the first time in months; JY has been working from home exclusively since February – this past Wednesday, he was finishing up his annual golf trip, which gave me a rare opportunity to entertain. As I was walking everyone to the door, one friend (her daughter and my daughter are best friends) shared with me that her daughter is pregnant with #2. I walked her to the car; her daughter is out of state and she’s worried. We had the typical mommy/grandmother fussing conversation.

I returned to the kitchen to find a missed call from son #1. What the what? (He’s not one for calling, certainly not in the middle of the day). WTH??  I immediately called him back – voice mail.

The pill has rocked our society to its core: but have we fully examined all its repercussions? Influential author and essayist Mary Eberstadt thinks we’ve only scratched the surface; in her most recent book, Adam and Eve after the Pill, Revisited (Ignatius Press, 2023) she argues that the papal encyclical Humane Vitae predicted our deep loneliness and other modern woes.

Mary Eberstadt holds the Panula Chair in Christian Culture at the Catholic information center in Washington, D.C., and is a Senior Research Fellow at the Faith and Reason Institute.

Route 66

 

This is my Route 66 birthday. Like the iconic roadway from Chicago to Santa Monica, my life has had a diversity of experiences. I have stood on the heights of success and in the depths of despair. My days have taken me across fertile plains, grand rivers, through majestic forests, as well as being forlorn in the empty heat of a desert. I have met wonderful, generous people and have known my share of duplicitous hypocrites. My days have seen the road ahead for miles, beautiful sunsets, creation’s monuments, and have felt the awe of being so small in a landscape, vast.

Attractions along the way have included millions of written words, tens of thousands of students, hundreds of speaking opportunities, scores of essays, contributions through ten books, trips to five continents, four higher education degrees, three teaching levels, two educational awards, in one full life. I have taught junior high school through Ph.D. studies over forty years. The craft of teaching has been plied in both Christian and public settings.

My family has been my heart, hearth, and home; my friends have brought joy and encouragement. As for those who did me harm, Joseph said it best, “God meant it for good.” With Paul I would claim both, “I have known what it is to be in want and to have everything I need.” And for the abundance of life, David speaks for me, “All things come from You and of Your own we have given.” Traveling West toward the setting sun, I cast an eye East, to remember the bad and the good, to thank my family, friends, and my Lord for bringing me across my Route 66.

Americans have always had mixed emotions about schooling: in popular literature and television, teachers are often depicted as tyrannical authorities, even as in classroom settings they often try to style themselves as “friends.” Dr. Rita Koganzon, professor of political science at the University of Houston, discusses the history of the idea of authority in education, dwelling on Enlightenment thinkers like Locke, Rousseau, and Bodin. Along the way, she covers contemporary issues like homeschooling and parents’ rights, and how attitudes towards those concepts have changed from the Early Modern period to the present.

More on Dr. Koganzon, https://uh.edu/class/political-science/faculty-and-staff/professors/koganzon/

Join Jim and Greg as they cheer the World Athletics Council for declaring that only biological women will be eligible for the Olympics and other elite track and field events. They also recoil at a new poll showing a sharp decline in Americans greatly valuing things like patriotism, religion, having children, and community involvement. Finally, they further expose the grifting frauds who claim to think President Trump is an existential threat to democracy itself but are doing everything they can to bury Ron DeSantis and make Trump the GOP nominee.

Disney: Happy Black History Month, White America!

 

So, here we are again, Black History Month.  Or as it could alternatively be called, White Demonization Month.  Although, come to think of it, how is that different than any other month, or week, or day, in post-George Floyd America? 

Oh well.  I guess white people are just supposed to suck it up and penitently endure another beatdown over the sins for which they and apparently no one else on earth is guilty.  Therefore, history gets twisted like a pretzel and the blatant demonization of whites for their skin color is relentless.  And remember, in the woke religion there is no grace or forgiveness. 

‘Coraline’ and Modern Gender Politics

 

If you have yet to see Coraline I highly recommend you do so. An adolescent horror film from Focus Features and Laika Entertainment – the latter of which also created gems such as The Corpse Bride, and Paranorman – this animated film takes us on a strange journey of a young girl who is transported to a seemingly alternate world where she’s given all that she would want, but at a price. The animation style is unique for the time and just adds to the strange feel of the tale. Based on a novella by Neil Gaiman, it offers a warning for our modern times that I’m certain Gaiman would never intend, nor, I’m certain, would he in any way approve of the parallels I shall make in this commentary.

The story opens with the title character and her family moving to small-town Oregon. Coraline is clearly unhappy with the move and nonplussed with her new living conditions. The home they’ve moved to is in disrepair. Their housemates are strange and quirky at best and the only person her age is Wybie, who’s something of an annoying motormouth. Her mother doesn’t have time for her; her father is a terrible cook. Nothing is going well for her.

It’s then that Coraline discovers a small door to a crawl space that she decides to explore. Passing through it, she comes out into a parallel of her current living conditions but everything there seems perfect. There’s a nigh-lookalike of her mother who calls herself Coraline’s “Other Mother.” The Other Mother presents all that Coraline could want. She’s a good cook. Her house is clean, well-kept, and homey. Her “Other Father” is alert and clearly a clever musician. The only catch: everyone in this alternate world has buttons for eyes.

“Measurable”

 

“Teri says call her,” my wife relayed to me deplaning the aircraft in Reno. It was 9:30 p.m. “Oh no, he’s gone,” I thought as I dialed the phone. My dad was on final and I was vigorously trying to get to Carson City Nevada before he passed. This trip from Virginia had been a series of stressful legs as each time I hit the ground I would check my phone to see his status. In Reno, it turned out they were sending Daniel, my nephew and Carson City Sheriff, for me so he could whisk me to Carson quickly. My wife would stay, gather the luggage, and follow on with my sister’s husband. My dad was hanging on.

I linked up with Daniel and made the 25-minute drive in 12 minutes.  Arriving at my dad’s apartment I gave Daniel a hug and moved to the back room where my dad was in a hospice-supplied medical bed. He was not conscious. We had been giving him morphine in decreasing time intervals for a day now and he now was at 15-minute intervals. I hugged my sister Teri and my niece Meliah and sat on the edge of my dad’s bed. Holding his hand, I told him I loved him, that I forgave him for his shortcomings as a dad, and asked for forgiveness for my shortcomings as a son.  It was settling. My wife arrived about 30 minutes after me and joined the fray. We then all sat in this room for the next 40 minutes. It is as if he was satisfied that we were all there and everything was OK. His breathing intervals slowed then around 11 p.m. Tuesday, 6 December, he passed.

Jim and Greg take time to reflect on what they are politically thankful for in 2022. Their items range from a war thousands of miles away to key developments right here in the U.S. And they offer some things they are personally thankful for too…including you! Happy Thanksgiving! We hope you enjoy this special edition of the 3 Martini Lunch.

DeSantis-Crist Debate: Used Car Salesman Available

 

The debate the other night between Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Gov. Charlie Crist offered actual meat coming from Gov. DeSantis, with the new fake plant-based meat coming from Crist. We’ve lived in Florida long enough to have lived under both governors. DeSantis delivered answers that belong to a real governor. He answered questions directly, based on real-life issues, both state and national, and his policies. For example:

He believes in teaching children the basics — math, reading, writing, history — and not distorting their young, fragile minds with confusing gender ideology, race-baiting, planet-worshiping, or any of today’s trends that young children should not be subjected to. He made it clear that parents decide their child’s health, which includes vaccines, their mental and emotional well-being, and their gender identity.

Schools are for teaching skills and all history — not selective, as it has always been. He rejected Common Core elements that left math and other skills more complicated than teaching needed to be, and heard teachers who wanted to teach and not be bound by countless tests — and a specific, nationally dictated curriculum. Teachers want to teach children, and share their gifts of enthusiasm for our country and all that it has to offer. I spoke to teachers and they told me so, and how they’ve been hampered by Common Core.

Welcome to the New (Brainwashed) Civilization

 

I had a disturbing conversation with a relative, a cousin who is an off-the-charts left-leaning liberal and much older than me. She lives out west. She’s my flesh and blood and I let it drop today that I, and others in our family and my husband’s family had not been vaccinated.  My reasons are personal preference due to major food allergies and a very bad reaction to a flu shot in 2008.

She and her husband have been vaccinated and boosted out the tail. When I disclosed this, she had a meltdown. “OH! OH! Oh no!! Oh!  NO!  I never would have thought you were like that!  I am sweating — I can’t talk — I have to end this conversation! Oh no! A super spreader — how could you not?!!  We had no post-symptoms!

Small Towns Do Big Things (aka, America Is OK)

 

A text from my sister prompted this post.  She lives in a small, rural mountain town in Maryland.  It read as follows: “We had a luncheon after church for our lead singer/guitarist.  He is moving to Williamsburg, VA.  We are also taking a collection for a church in the Kentucky floods.  A couple is going down to take the supplies and funds.”

I asked my sister, is that the chubby guy that sings? I remembered him, as I watched those church services online during Covid.  Her pastor’s very encouraging and passionate sermons were an inspiration during that time, and I remembered this talented musician.

Here’s a sample about six minutes into the video:

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We have a 24/7 classical music station, via public broadcasting, and on late Sunday afternoons, a wonderful program comes on.  It highlights young classical musicians from all walks of life.  They sheepishly talk about their influences, inspiration for the piece they are presenting (sometimes written by themselves), while sharing their culture and challenges. The host […]

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Strong Families for All Are Worth Defending

 

In 1965, Daniel Patrick Moynihan wrote a landmark report in which he contended that the rising number of black families headed by unmarried mothers would reduce the prospects for Blacks to rise out of poverty, in spite of that era’s landmark civil rights legislation.

Moynihan was furiously denounced for his efforts. But he was proven right and he would be even more correct making the same observations today.

It’s been a tough half-century for families. Although Moynihan focused his concerns on Blacks, family breakdown correlates as much with income level as it does with race.