Happy New Year

Happy Thanksgiving

Just want to say, "HAPPY THANKSGIVING" to everyone. I hope you have a wonderful holiday filled with family, food, and fun.

More on 70 Years of Marriage

At a reception at the Northside Church of Christ’s building on Highway 62, Representative Steven R. Stemler honored Frank and Mary Harris on November 6, by conveying on them the distinction of Honorary State Representatives for their marriage of 70 years.

Family and friends were on hand for the celebration. “I just can’t believe it,” said Frank Harris, “we don’t deserve any of this.” He continued, “This is the best weekend of our entire marriage.”

Pondering Unemployment

On Wednesday morning, October 27, 2010, my old boss called me into his office and fired me.

The emotions that followed came over me in raging waves...sadness, fear, anger (lots of anger). If it has never happened to you, trying to imagine it will not even come close.

But...beyond the emotions...beyond the new job serch...life goes on.

Pondering Seventy Years of Marriage

Seventy years is a long time, an entire lifetime for many.

For Frank and Mary Harris, commonly called Grandpa and Nina, seventy years is how long they have been married. While theirs is not the longest marriage on record (86 years), it is, arguably, the best marriage on record.

Frank and Mary joined hands in Holy Matrimony on November 5, 1940, in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The world was a much different place in 1940. The United States of America only consisted of 48 states and nineteen more years would pass before that number would grow to 50. People in 1940 used slang terms like ameche, b.y.t., bag, barouche, city slicker, corny, grotty, gobbledygook, fuddy-duddy, etc. Gallahadion won the 65th running of the Kentucky Derby that year. Due to the war overseas, it was announced to the world that for the first time since 1877, there would be no Wimbledon event that year (nor for the next five years), nor would there be any Olympic games. Indiana won the NCAA Basketball title, the Cincinnati Reds won the World Series, the Chicago Bears won the NFL Championship, and Lawson Little won the U.S. Open Golf Tournament. In 1940, Walt Disney amazed people with his second and third films, Pinocchio and Fantasia. The year 1940 also saw the introduction of Woody Woodpecker, the Jeep, FM radio (although it was still very early in its development), Frank Sinatra’s singing debut in Indianapolis, Tom & Jerry, the first televised Hockey, Basketball, Baseball games, and the first McDonald’s restaurant. The first successful helicopter flight took place in 1940, and the first military parachute company was formed. CBS was just beginning, operating as W2XAB.

Nina and Grandpa were married in 1940 on the very day FDR whipped the Republican, Wendell Willkie, and commanded the office of President for an unprecedented third term.

Speaking of Presidents, Nina and Grandpa’s marriage has spanned 13 presidencies: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and now Barack Obama.

The marriage of Nina and Grandpa has also adjusted to many new inventions (some of them far earlier than you might think. For instance, both the computer and Velcro were invented in 1940. Since then the Slinky, Microwave Ovens, Bikinis, Polaroids, Credit Cards, Satellites, Lasers, Mobile Phones, Walkmans, and MP3 players. They have had to adjust from the Ice Box to the Refrigerator, from getting Milk and Dairy products delivered to their door to having to buy it in the super market.

On November 5, 1940, while the Nation was voting on its leaders, Frank and Mary cast a very special vote of their own: they voted for each other. They voted for building a family devoted to God, a life of service to their Creator and His church, their country, their family, and their friends. Their vote was so strong that not even death will be able to veto it. Long after they have departed to be with the Lord, their influence will be helping others to cast the same faithful vote.

Even today, after seventy years of marriage, you can just see the pure love in their eyes as they look at each other and hold each other’s hand. As one might expect at their age their hearing is not as good as it used to be, but when they look deeply into each other’s eyes they are living proof of the ancient proverb that says, “When two people are in love they communicate a thousand things without saying a word.”

Frank and Mary Harris are a wonderful couple with an amazing marriage. The world would do well to hold before it their great example of true love marriages.

BE AN AMERICAN...VOTE

Make sure you vote tomorrow!

It's Simple...VOTE!

Let me encourage everyone to Vote this November 2nd.

But before you do, invest some time in getting to know the candidates and where they stand on the issues important to you. Be informed.

Once you know who you believe is the best candidate to represent you, vote for him or her. Do not allow "party lines" deter you...vote the person, not the party.

Pondering Drunkenness

Have you ever read a story in a newspaper that you just could not bring yourself to believe? It is one of those little news stories buried deep inside the newspaper. You know the ones I'm speaking of...they are located on the side of the page, in small print, that only the most devoted newspaper reader finds. It is the kind of story that is so stupid and crazy that it can only happen somewhere else...in a distant state or country...because you are certain no one around where you live would ever do something that stupid.

I have. In fact, it happened to me this past weekend. I was at work and a co-worker asks me if I had read the Saturday paper. "Of course," I replied. "I always read the paper from cover to cover."

"Did you read about the drunk and the Opossum," he asked?

I laughed. "No. I guess I didn't see that one."

"Well, you just gotta read this," he said pointing to a small story located on the side of the back page at the bottom.

I picked up the paper and began to read. The more I read the more I laughed. It seems a man named, Donald Wolfe, from Pennsylvania, was arrested for "public drunkenness" when police found him trying to give "mouth-to-mouth resuscitation" on a possum that was "long-dead" and lying "along a highway." I laughed so hard I could hardly finish reading the little clip of news because my eyes were so filled with the water of hilarity.

Later, I pondered Mr. Wolfe's actions and the events that brought him to his ignoble fame. How drunk does a person have to be to perform life-saving measures on a dead and decaying possum along the road? How many friends did he reassure that night that he was perfectly able to handle his alcohol? Was he influenced to drink the brand of alcohol he drank because some commercial promised that drinking it would bring him nice cars, beautiful women, and a happy life? I wondered, too, if the police had him on video as he tried to be a possum hero? Finally, I wondered if his wife...if indeed he has one...would ever be able to kiss his lips without thinking of that fateful night when Mr. Wolfe locked lips with a possum?

Pondering "Stick People" Art

Although the only form of "art" in which I am proficient, I have always disliked "stick people" artwork. Until now...

In February, I was blessed to travel to Cincinnati, Ohio to witness my first professional Hockey game. I went with some friends from church and had a blast! However my friend, Todd, said it best when he described watching the game (also his first time) as watching a "silent movie" sporting event. No one "called" the game. We just sat there watching a bunch of guys ice-skating fighting over a little black puck. Hey, we didn't figure out which team was Cincinnatti until 17 minutes and 30 seconds into the game.

But on the way home my friend, Kyle, showed me a picture of some "stick art" that moved me. I don't know why, it just did. At my request, he sent me the picture. I love it! It is simple. It is to the point! It is profound! It strikes at the heart of our purpose here on earth!

"I've got your back!"

Pondering My First Fortune for 2010

My friend Ashley blogged about her first fortune of the year: http://www.ashleystravel.com/2010/01/first-fortune-of-2010/. When reading her post, I thought she had a good idea but doubted I would write something like that. However, as always, things change.

My Chinese craving hit me only a couple of weeks in 2010. Having just gotten my allowance for the week, I headed to my favorite Chinese restaurant. The Hot and Sour soup was delicious, just like remembered from 2009. The Coconut Shrimp danced on my pallet, followed quickly by Black Pepper Steak and Shrimp, Sweat and Sour Chicken, an Egg Roll, and dessert. I was in Chinese heaven.

Then came the bill and the Fortune Cookie. Now I do not eat Fortune Cookies, but I do enjoy reading the fortune and adding that special line at the end. However, before I can tell you what my fortune said, I have to tell you about my New Year’s Resolution.

I have a tendency to be very negative sometime. Even now, I can hear my wife and friends saying with a sneer, “SOMETIMES!” It is true. There are days when nothing escapes my negativism. Yet that was all going to change in 2010. I was going to be positive. I even got out my positive affirmation card and memorized it again: “I am a positive person, and I radiate that to those around me.” Yes, 2010 was going to be my positive year.

Therefore, with that knowledge now in hand, I turn back to my first fortune of 2010. With great expectation, I broke open the cookie, pulled out the paper, ignored the “speak Chinese” side, and turned to what enlightenment awaited me. To my utter shock and despair, I read these words: “Come back later…I am sleeping. (yes, cookies need their sleep, too)”.

What! I could not believe my eyes. I was furious, and yes, I was most certainly negative. Cheated out of a proper fortune, I approached the manager. The manager, however, was not amused and totally irrational. He did not believe I deserved another cookie, and he refused to “comp” my meal.

So, I ask you. What should I have done here? What would you have done? I will tell you what I did. Now, both full and defeated, I went home and lived up to my fortune. I took a nap.