Say What?

In December 1974, my dad's job took him—and what remained of our family at home (two younger brothers and our two pups, Mopsy and Toto)—to Pottstown, PA. My father allowed me to stay behind and finish my senior year of high school. I was a troubled kid, so I'm not sure why he placed any amount of trust in me. I had been actively using a variety of recreational drugs up to just a few months before this point (primarily speed, LSD, mescalin, etc), but I had stopped all of that activity after a frightening trip on LSD one night where I prayed to God that if I survived, I would straighten up. And I did.  My parents allowing me to remain behind felt like they were ready to be done raising me. While I was grateful not to have to uproot my life and move with them, I quietly harbored resentment about it for years. It felt like they had given up on me. I recall them stopping by the apartment they had rented for my sister and me on their way out of town—one last goodbye. As my dad and mo...

Cliff turned 22 months old a couple of days ago and is already certified in chip dipping . He also let out an "oh shit!" recently. What will he do or say next? I have no idea, but the thought of what it may be makes me smile. The pups and I have been getting in lots of miles walking in our neighborhood and beyond. For now, we're averaging about 4 miles (6.4 km) a day, with 2 miles in the morning and 2 in the evening. Once the cooler weather sets in, we'll walk less. It's good therapy for my knee's rehab.  Like many others here and abroad, I'm saddened by what I'm witnessing happening to our country. We're being ruled by people who, at their core, are white supremacists. They've formed the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement by co-opting, to a large degree, the Christian church and have launched a Christian nationalist agenda using the Evangelical Church as its springboard. What's disturbing about it is the unholy alliance between the ...

Tammy had a follow-up appointment last Friday with a member of her medical team to discuss the findings of an MRI she'd had done the previous week to check for any damage to her heart after her cardiac arrest event in August. We're happy to say that her heart shows no signs of damage. That was such great news to hear. The nurse practitioner we met with said, "You're a very lucky lady." We're relieved and thankful.  We paid a visit to the Lakeville police department a few weeks ago to inquire about meeting with the team that responded on the morning of Tammy's emergency, to determine a suitable time to meet the crew and express our gratitude. An officer we spoke with told us they were having an award ceremony for Officer Russel Spearman, the officer who first responded to our 911 call, the following Wednesday at the start of the shift. Officer Spearman knew nothing of the ceremony, nor did they tell him we would be there.  They had us wait just outside the ...

I didn't attend any of my high school reunions until our 25th in 2000. Our 50th was last weekend. For our 10th reunion, I was so out of the loop that I didn't realize we were having one. I found out about it while watching the Johnny Carson Show, where one of Johnny's guests, Teresa Ganzel, mentioned it. Teresa was a regular on his program, and although I recognized her from some appearances she had made in film and on The Tonight Show, I didn't realize she was the same young woman who used to walk past our home on Saturday mornings on her way to drama practice at the high school we both attended. I knew her as Terry Ganzel in high school, but in her professional life as an actress, she went by Teresa Ganzel, with a different emphasis placed on the last syllable of her last name.  Johny asked her what she had done the previous weekend, and she replied that she attended her 10-year high school reunion in Bloomington, Minnesota—a 1975 graduate of Bloomington Jefferson hig...

Today marks ten years since my mother's passing, ten years since having the hearing in my left ear restored, and ten years since I retired. It feels fitting to make mention of it. The years are passing by so fast in my life now. I recall how my four year enlistment in the Navy seemed to play out at a pedestrian pace, but now, four years gets away from me in such a hurry. And this train just keeps rolling down the tracks faster with each passing year. Here's a blog post I wrote where I talk about that day ten years ago. Until Tammy's recent brush with death, it was the most emotion-filled day of my life. Tammy continues to work to regain her strength from a cardiac arrest event 2 1/2 weeks ago. She was discharged from transitional care on Saturday. Her ribs are still very sore, and she's extremely tired from some meds she's taking for her heart. It's going to take time before she feels normal again. Oscar and Rudy are happy to have her home. Cliff loves his bal...

We had a scare, but I'd like to begin by saying that Tammy will be okay. She woke me up at 4:35 on Saturday morning (11 days ago), saying, "I can't breathe, call 911!" She repeated it at least twice more. I hurriedly called 911 and explained to the dispatcher what was happening—what little Tammy could tell me and what I could observe. They continued to ask questions about Tammy and her condition. I explained the best I could, having only just awakened, while pleading with them to please hurry. Time seemed to crawl as we waited for help to arrive. I paused the 911 operator and ran to disarm our alarm and prop open the front door to save the arriving help whatever precious seconds I could.  A Lakeville Police Department officer arrived shortly after Tammy appeared to lose consciousness. He announced his presence at the front door, and I yelled for him to come up the stairs. He hurried up the ten stairs to our bedroom and stood assessing the situation for a few seconds. ...