January 2024

It would almost be suppertime, and you could smell the food, which drove us kids to believe we would starve to death before we got to eat! Then, sometimes it happened, and supper was on hold for lack of one little thing. Often it would be a loaf of bread or a can of milk to use to finish the mashed potatoes, for that is what they liked to use - canned milk. And it must be Milnot because they liked the flavor better than Pet or Carnation. It could even be black pepper, for my family couldn’t eat without that; it was the main spice, and we used a lot of it, to be sure. Or it might just be a lone stick of butter. Back then (it was not unusual), our little neighborhood grocery store would sell butter by the stick for convenience’s sake when you would run out of an item before making it to the supermarket for the big oncea- week trip. These little stores were the forerunners of today’s convenience stores.

Few individuals in American history have made an impact as sizable as Martin Luther King, Jr. King wore many hats throughout his tragically short life, from minister to activist to scholar, leaving behind a legacy that is worthy of celebration.

I essentially stopped tuning in to national TV news some time ago because it’s all horrendous. Most days, I’ll quickly check internet news to see if the world is still revolving. Every single day, there are multiple reports of acts of animal cruelty from all parts of the U.S. and occasionally the UK and Australia too. I won’t elaborate on these acts as I don’t want to cause “copycat” behavior. Many of them are horrendous and unconscionable, beyond how “normal” human beings would act. What possesses anyone to behave this way? Indeed, some of the terrible behavior can only be characterized as “demonic.” Here are some thoughts about the causes:

When we first got married, I had a lot of nightmares. Over the years, Mike has learned how to calm me, rub my arm and gently talk me out of them. They have almost disappeared but I did have one last night. All I remember is screaming out, Mike patting the side of my head and then sticking his thumb in my left eye, saying “There, There. It’s ok.” He’s such a comforting soul...