An older gentlemen I esteem told me years ago that everything went to hell once you hit age 50. I was in my 40s at the time, still relatively immortal. I rolled my eyes discreetly, felt sad that he was apparently turning into a tedious old curmudgeon, and told...
“Be a dentist!” he told me, over and over again, when I was young and impressionable. Uncle Denis was a teacher, as were my parents. He felt it important that someone in the family find financial success and professional respect. The quest for financial success and professional respect is...
Cabbage, potatoes, carrots – and hot dogs. Hey, they were at least pink. I couldn’t afford corned beef – I was in college, living off campus and scrounging for food. That was a tragic Saint Patrick’s Day. I was cooking only for myself, lonely but spared at least from...
It’s spring break, one of the wonders of working for the school district. It’s not paid vacation, mind you, but it’s vacation – always a fabulous thing. The building is in a frenzy of anticipation for several weeks. Almost hourly, someone heading out to an exotic locale saunters through...
“I was raised by Old People; I like my creature comforts.” Son #2 says this at dinner, in the suave radio-personality voice he adopts when he’s in entertainment mode, out to amuse others with polished practiced tidbits. Son #2 notices that he is currently out to amuse the Old...