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Finding The Fountain Of Youth

A few years ago, 41 senior citizens from the American Midwest landed in Boston to check off a few things from their bucket lists. In no particular order here was their list: splash in the Atlantic Ocean, eat fresh lobster, stand before a lighthouse and drive through little New England towns dotted with the reds and yellows of the soon-to-be-sleeping maples. Mostly, they wanted to feel like they were 30 again, hoping the playfulness of the coastal landscape would wake up the sleeping children inside of them. Between the 20 couples, they had, collectively, 1,000 grandchildren. I ...

The Fun They Used To Have

Last article, we met Sally who described Roosevelt, her husband’s history of sports viewing. Once a family and friendship source, he now watched the Buffalo Bills football game alone. His tirade towards their losing ways left friends and family, including his two sons and Sally, withdrawing. She came for her first appointment, expressed some reluctance to speak, and then found her voice. Sally visited or went shopping during the game. Roosevelt, she stated, didn’t voice any reference to watching alone. She returned to make dinner. Depending on the games outcome, Roosevelt might ...

You’re Not Bound To Ride The Bus

Have you ever ridden what is colloquially known as the “struggle bus?” It means your life experience for a season (or maybe longer) is filled with struggle — nothing seems to go right, you’re stuck in the mire of circumstances that seem out of control and you just can’t seem to catch a break. How many times have I felt this way? I can’t even count. This morning, I saw my eldest kiddo on the struggle bus. She has been sick and is recovering, but didn’t want to return to school today. She was upset about everything this morning, it seemed. Mostly, she was worried about ...

Why Did We Ever Do Away With Trains?

I learned to love trains from little on. Grandma’s house was just a short way from the tracks so we heard the trains. Actually, unless we were outdoors, we really did not hear the trains. I guess we just got used to the sound so we never heard it. I do remember when they went from the old Iron Horse engines to the new streamlined ones. The sound of those was different. My mother and I would ride the Nickel Plate Railroad to Buffalo to go shopping. I was just little when we were doing this. I remember going to see Santa Claus in some of the big department stores in Buffalo and ...

Feeling The Loss Of Kobe

“Kobe is dead.” Those were the first words out of my middle son’s mouth when I answered the phone. I paused, waiting for the punchline to this really bad joke. He said it twice more. My mouth fell open. Was he serious? It felt like words had become disconnected from meanings. I put him on speaker, went downstairs calling my wife. “Marilyn, did you hear —.” She finished the awful sentence. “Kobe is dead,” she said. It had come through on a grandson’s phone. Another grandson called, and she put him on speaker. For maybe five minutes we stood around saying, “Oh, my ...

The Good Life: ‘Fear Of Bernie’ From Political Hacks

The “fear of Bernie” phenomenon by 2020 opponents of the re-election of President Trump is palpable. In my case, it is also laughable. Steven Roberts’ recent syndicated column reprinted on Jan. 17 in the Courier-Express is a prime example. Roberts claims that Sanders’ belated, lukewarm endorsement of Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee in 2016 was decisive in President Trump’s narrow victories in Wisconsin, Michigan and our own state of Pennsylvania. Those Electoral College wins ensured Trump’s victory despite a deficit of some 3 million popular votes. Roberts ...