Regarding Life, I think...by Regina Carey

This is a tribute that to my father who passed away in 1987.  Recently, I have been thinking about him a lot; in particular, about one time when I did not honor him as I should have. Because of this, I am now trying to show him honor, coming up on 25 years since his passing, by attending as many military ceremonies as I possibly can.  This is also my reason for writing about him now. My father was military. He was born in New York City. His father was from New Jersey and his mother was from Limerick City, Ireland. When he was two years of age, his father died; so, his mother sent him to Limerick to be raised by his grandmother. There, he lived in poverty in a country that was in its own battle with England. When he was approximately 16 years old, he returned to the States. Of course, he was a citizen because he was born here and never became a British citizen while living in Ireland (there were no Irish citizens in those days). Up...

People hate us. They think we are evil, rude, ostentacious, obnoxious and conceited. They don't understand why we expect the best, they think it is egotistical of us. What they don't understand about us is that we are the descendants of those first immigrants; that we began as a nation of people who fled persecution and brought little or nothing with them; who had to work hard, starting from scratch with nothing, to build a nation, and, they succeeded. Another side to the story is the fact that we are not all descended from one group of people; people from nations that once warred against each other learned to live side-by-side here in the U.S., to become friends and neighbors, to work together for the same goals, be them monetary, political or religious goals, to become one people, one nation, one nationality. That coming together enabled us to create and innovate in ways the world had never seen before. That is American Exceptionalism. Other nations may consider them...

For most of my life, I have been getting uninvited visits from what I refer to as "the Just family." They are not a real family, that is a euphemism that I have created to describe know-it-all advice givers who always use the word "just" when telling others what to do. They make everything sound easy to fix; and, they never consider what the person they are talking to may have already done to handle a situation. No, they know it all. They have all the answers and they are more than willing to give them to you. Take, for instance, the situation of the family member with a drinking problem. This family member has stopped thinking clearly for some time, at least as long as they have been drinking. Anyone with an alcoholic family member knows that it is impossible to reason with them, mainly because they are not all there. They have been replaced by an alcohol-soaked brain. Now, let us imagine talking about this with some friends. Suddenly, someone overhears the convers...

Here's a cute one: ..... "The Top 10 Reasons God Created Eve" .... 10. God worried that Adam would... always be lost in the garden because men hate to ask for directions. * 9. God knew that Adam would one day need someone to hand him the TV remote. (Men don't want to see what's ON television, they want to see WHAT ELSE is on!) * 8. God knew that Adam would never buy a new fig leaf when his seat wore out and would therefore need Eve to get one for him. * 7. God knew that Adam would never make a doctor's appointment for himself. * 6. God knew that Adam would never remember which night was garbage night. * 5. God knew that if the world was to be populated, men would never be able to handle childbearing. * 4. As "Keeper of the Garden," Adam would never remember where he put his tools. * 3. The scripture account of creation indicates Adam needed someone to blame his troubles on when God caught him hiding in the garden. * 2. As the Bible says, "It is ...

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