Aug 27, 2020 article
August Family Newsletter
I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m not a fan of August. It’s the month of my birthday, but I don’t give a rat’s rump. It’s known for heat. drought and the start of school. Being a retired teacher, the start of school thing doesn’t bother me any more.
If I could, I would spend next August in Yellowknife, Canada. Kay told me that I couldn't go without her. That was never in my thoughts. By the way, Kay was also born in August. She’s two weeks older than I am and looks a decade younger.
Scientists tell us that August will continue to get hotter until the Ice Age of 20,015 CE. I made up the 20,015 projection, but scientists tell us that the planet’s temperature will continue to rise. This morning a political columnist wrote that Democrats are the only ones who trust in science. Now that’s a matter of concern for everyone.
Beg pardon? Oh, 20,015 CE? What used to be AD is being changed because billions of people in non-Christian nations don’t approve of BC and AD. So their calendars start in a year of their own preferable historical event.
In this era of the speed of light communications, it has become difficult to set deadlines and such with non-BC/AD nations, so proposals were made. “BC” (Before Christ) was changed to “BCE” (Before Common Era). “AD” (Anno Domini – Latin for “in the year of our Lord”) changed to “CE” (Common Era). In other words, most people have accepted a compromise. Some Muslims and Asians have even accepted the idea. The ones who care to deal with the Western World.
Americans are still working on it. Religiously speaking, it can be a can of worms. I have every confidence that elections will be won or lost based on candidates' acceptance of CE over AD. It’s likely one of those “Do you wanna go to Heaven or Hell?” issues. I haven’t seen the issue mentioned in the Bible. It might be hidden in Revelations. You can hide a bunch of weird stuff in that book.
Do you see what August does to me? It makes me write about controversial stuff. I think I need to read “The Sermon on the Mount” after this. Right now, I feel my only recourse is to use the rest of my space to come up with something good about August. I’ve got just the thing. It’s in the August 1989 issue of “Our Family Newsletter” composed, written, and printed by my little sister Jill.
In the bottom drawer of my file cabinet, there are about 250 issues of “Our Family Newsletter”. They go from 1989 through 1999. It was a time when our family was the closest. That’s hard to tell, though, because in 2000 Jill shut down the press. Or, perhaps Y2K melted her printer.
So, I’m going to select Jill’s family news stories from August 1989. I’ll start with a story about the Hayter brothers. Jill wrote, “Mom said that her four boys came by her house last Monday after playing golf. They cooled off in the pool. Mom said she was so happy that they came by. She also told me that Larry had the best score, then Mark, then Alan, then Dennis.”
Did you catch that? I finished second! I have no memory of finishing anywhere higher than last in our yearly golf tournament. Yet, there it is in print! -- Take that you losers! -- Not you Larry. You’re the best… or you cheat better than the rest of us. We weren’t above kicking a ball out of the rough or claiming a ball that wasn’t ours. But forget that. I won second!
By the way, Mom’s pool was one of those round, above-ground things, about four feet high. We never dived off the deck, but we got on each other's shoulders and made big splashes.
Here’s an article by Jill where she hammers Child Psychologists for telling parents that their kids should not be allowed to spend so much time on Nintendo. Jill has two boys. In ’89 they were probably seven and nine.
Anyway, Jill writes to a particular psychologist whose child-rearing suggestions chapped her buns. Jill wrote, “You have no idea how hard my son made my life before I caved in and bought him a Nintendo. Of course, me caving in was his intention all along, but forget that! We’re talking about a child’s happiness, here.
“You wanna know the benefits? Try this on for size. 1) Nintendo lets a child win a game against his Father, thus making him look like a total Goober. 2) Nintendo strengthens the community. – I got a phone call last evening from my neighbor Linda, whose voice was breathless with urgency. She said, ‘Is Robby there? We just got Gunsmoke (a Nintendo Game), and we can’t get past the horse!’ 3) A child who is playing Nintendo is a child who is probably not burping as loud as he can.” My kid sister always tells it like it is.
In this August issue, she included a letter that Daddy wrote her in 1972 while she was visiting our sister Susan whose husband was stationed in The Philippines. I’ll bet it’s the only letter salvaged from my Dad.
Jill needed a letter from Daddy. He always seemed to dote on his sons more than his daughters. The man was an only son whose mother left home when he was a youngster. He was brought up by his dad and aunt Mary. You would’ve loved Aunt Mary.
Anyway, Dad didn’t know much about family, but his letter to Jill was so sweet. He ended it with –"All my love – except what I have for your Mom. Dad.” I called the man “Daddy” up until the time I graduated from college. It just seemed right.
After all of this, I still don’t like August. But I do feel better than at the beginning of this piece. Family can do that to you. If you let ‘em.
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