Good morning everyone, I hope everyone is feeling well today, we are promised a beautiful day, temperatures in the 60’s . To me that is beautiful. Rocco’s big birthday bash was scheduled for Sunday and being it is outside the threat of rain made Amanda change the date to Saturday. She was lucky everything fell in place , only two people cannot make the new date. She has an ice truck coming and about 40 kids in the afternoon , plus all the other guests. This should be interesting, but you only turn 5 once so it might as well be a good one. I of course have been running around the state for specific things, everybody works but me.

This week a former student posted a picture of a magnificent horse whose name just happens to be Ironbound. It was a beautiful animal. I happen to love horses, they are a symbol of freedom and loyalty and many other attributes. Then in the car the next day I heard the song Be my Baby by the Ronnets. This brought back such memories, you know I always associate things that somehow appear together or close to one another. When I was young the area which is now Willowbrook Mall was a stable with acres of riding areas. Every week I would be there riding a horse , I truly enjoyed that experience and they always had music playing and the song I loved to gallop to was Be my Baby, so everytime I hear it, it congers up those carefree days of youth. When they closed I rode a few other places and like everything else life got in the way with different responsibilities studies, work, time. So my career as an equestrian came to an end. The last time I rode was in college at a park in West Virginia. To my surprise years later Amanda took an interest in riding, I was thrilled to be back in a stable with its familiar smells. However she had a good seat as they say, she was a good rider, I was not as good as her, she even had the form. The instructor wanted her to compete and she wanted to . But as things happen she took a fall from the horse, this was around the time Christopher Reeves fell and it spooked her, she did not get hurt thank god but she started to be afraid to ride eventually ending her experience. But as I believe all experiences you do make an impression on your life, they make us who we are, they give knowledge and make us well rounded. The more you do the better person you become. So in a little while if his parents agree I would like to introduce Rocco to the equestrian world, it will also get me back to a stable to see those magnificent animals. And it will add to his knowledge base.

So it’s Friday and the weekend is upon us against. Don’t waste the time , look for something fun to do today and the rest of the weekend. I will be working with Amanda and that usually ends with one of us storming off. Too much alike I think, that’s the creative mind. So wish me luck and we will talk soon, Til Tomorrow!

Good morning everyone, today is April 21 , 2021. It is Wednesday already hump day. The weather again they say will be cloudy with a chance of rain. We shall see. I hope today finds everyone healthy and safe.

This summer we witnessed something we should never see, it was beaneath the dignity of our great country and the ideals for which it stands. We saw one of its citizens killed by a policeman , a man who dedicated his life to serving the people. Now I do not presume to know the whole story, all I know is he was choked to death for supposedly a minor infraction. Now yesterday the police officer was convicted of murder. That’s what should happen in our country if you take the life of another person. Presumedly our system of justice worked, as it has for over 200 years. What has me concerned is the mobs of people around the country waiting for the verdict to be handed down. That worries me what if he was found innocent on some of the charges, not all after all he did take a life and deserves some repercussions.. would the mobs accept that or would they proceed with mob mentality and burn and loot the cities and put innocent citizens in jeopardy. What are we Cossacks that would destroy a city and take what they want, is that justice. The mere fact that businesses had to board up the windows and doors shows there was fear abound. Again who would be able to stop these mobs, the police and by what means that today would not be considered police brutality. I fear that this behavior could become commonplace in our society and the idea of a fair trial a thing of the past. I know this sounds extreme and believe me I don’t mean to insult or cause or cause people to become upset over my remarks. But throughout history we have seen mob mentality and what it can do. Do we want to live like that? Please don’t use race as an excuse for this behavior because there is not a black person or white perso I know that condones these actions. We are all hard working people trying to tweak out a life for ourselves and all live the best way we can. This is caused by agitators trying to get what they want, and we all know that this can spread, it breeds contempt and hatred. Look at what happened in Nazi Germany , no one believed Hitler would get that far, or Russia with Stalin, and Cuba with Castro. I could list more but that only proves it can happen.

Again, while Mr. Floyd was being accosted by Derek Chauvin where and what were the bystanders doing besides taking videos, maybe they couldn’t have stopped it but do something, you just don’t stand there like a mope and watch someone be killed. What kind of human being are you. Again this is becoming commonplace to, this is not the first time we talked about that.

I guess my fear is for the American Justice System, we cannot allow it to be eroded just because we don’t like something. Individuals cannot determine the outcome of a trial. Again if we allow that we really will be losing our rights forget about the stupidly of not wearing a mask. Then where will we be.

Have a great day, and remember always remember to find something good to make you happy, especially in this world we live in. Talk soon, Til Tomorrow!
No

Good morning everyone, today is April 20, 2021 Tuesday. I hope all is well with everybody today. The weather I don’t know what to say each day the forecasters predict one thing and we get amother so we will just have to wait and see.

As you know I am a firm believer In happiness, I really do believe that is is good for our self being. However that is not the reality of life. We spend most of our lives being unhappy or sad and we are always waiting for the miracle that will bring us joy. Many years ago I attended Weight Watchers, more times than you could imagine, but the lecturer was a wonderful speaker and person and in one session she explained that we need to take control of ourselves because we are always waiting for everything to be in place to live ,lose weight, be happy, but it doesn’t happen that way. In an average month most of us are happy about 3 or 4 times. The rest of the time we are in some kind of turmoil. I listened to her but it took me many years to realize she was right. The only person or thing to make you happy is yourself. Believe me I work on it everyday it is not something that comes easy to us. Everyday will bring us a new test something we need to deal with, so we have a choice, we can walk around sad and depressed or we pull our pants up and deal with it, the best we can and move onto better things. Because being in a better frame of mind actually does make us feel better. That’s why I am such an advocate of finding something no matter how big or small that can bring us joy and happiness. Not what other people want but what you want. Yesterday you know what made me happy and many of you might even find it foolish but Amanda asked me to go to the store with her for the weekend party and she was buying the napkins, just the array of colors for a split second made me feel happy, I don’t know why maybe the vividness of the colors or the combination she chose but I was happy for that minute. So you see it could be a nothing thing. We have to learn to look at life and things differently.

Now I talked a lot today about what might seem pointless but I don’t think it is. I think we need to stop and look at our lives and what brings us good feelings. Remember this is a one way street we are on, and we can’t go back and start over, we can only go forward .

We will talk soon, Til Tomorrow!

Good morning everyone, today is April 18, 2021, Sunday. I know god gave us this day to rest but I don’t think that will be possible for me today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROCCO. Today will be a very busy and exciting day around here. Of course there is no where in the world I would rather be than right here today, no matter how hectic it gets and this is only the beginning. We have a whole week to look forward to. Yesterday i received a comment from a very dear friend explaining how her family also celebrates a week for birthdays, I guess that’s why she is a dear friend and we are both probably a little crazy but what is life if we can’t celebrate it, and a birthday is the beginning and each year an extension of life. Life is too short not to enjoy everything we can we are not making this journey twice.

I would feel very remiss if I don’t mention the funeral of Prince Philip yesterday. Many of you might think who cares it’s nothing to me and basically you are right. It really means nothing to Americans. However, you know I am a little bit of an Anglophile and a Francophile so I just felt sympathy for the Royal Family and over the years I have watched all the weddings and ceremonies, and read countless books on the British Monarcy. The latest book I read really before COVID was a biography of Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth, that their relationship was really one of the great love stories of all time. To survive a marriage for so long with so many obstacles is a fete today. Yesterday when she was in church I remarked to Marylou she looks like a lonely little old lady. She answered she is an old lady. But it was different, to me she looked lost, I guess I pick up on things like that because I cannot ever imagine something like that happening to me , I would be lost there would be no purpose for me anymore without my soulmate.

Enough of that, we need to focus on the better things in life. So today is Sunday take advantage of it to enjoy yourself remember it is a gift to you so don’t waste it. We will talk soon Til Tomorrow!

Good morning everyone, today is Saturday April 17, 2021, the weather is anyone’s guess, but it is the weekend. Congratulations to all teachers who went back to in person teaching this week and the students. It could not have been easy for any of you. However this is the beginning of returning to some kind of normal life. These children need that more than we will ever know. We as adult will carry the affects of this year probably for the rest of our lives but the children cannot continue like this without it destroying them.

Now, Welcome to the week of Rocco, you already know he starts baseball today. But tomorrow is his birthday, he will be five years old, you also know that entails at least a weeklog celebration. Birthdays are the biggest celebration of the year in my estimation it celebrates your birth. The birth of a child is the most important event in a family. It insures that your lineage will continue another generation. When Amanda was pregnant I was ecstatiic and could not wait for the birth but as luck or fate would have it that week I became ill, so ill that I was hospitalized, and she and I were in the hospital at the same time. The only thing I remember was the nurse telling me I was a grandfather. Other than that I remember nothing, so I was transferred to a New York hospital. I still do not know how Marylou didn’t lose her mind during this time. The second most important event in a child’s life is their christening, it welcomes them into their faith which will last a lifetime. It defines who they are. Again I was not able to be present, missing these two events really shook me but eventually I came home and because Rocco needed to do things, library school, the little gym and all the other events children do he was my therapy and I improved he got me moving. So 5 years old is like a milestone, you start school and your independence starts to bud. From now on you grow into Yourself.

So today I will start the preparations for tomorrow, that will be my enjoyment for the day. Remember it is Saturday a day for shopping. I’m sure I will hit a store or two. Try to improve the economy, while enjoying yourself . Talk soon Til Tomorrow!