When I was a little girl, the Old Testament story about Methuselah was one I found fascinating. It was a true story—I knew that because I’d been taught that the Bible was the word of God and represented truth.
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There would have been flights to book, people to invite, and maybe even a little haggling: “Why can’t Aunt Lydia come to our house this year? She was with you last year.”
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By almost any measure, the level of employment in this country has recovered miraculously since the frightening days of the onset of COVID. From an impressive low of 3.5% in February of 2020, unemployment spiked to a frightening 14.8% just two months later.
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Early morning walks—just as the sun is rising—are my favorite form of exercise. Three to four miles, and I’m set for the day. I think of it as both energizing my body and, equally as important, oxygenating my blood, so that my brain can function at full capacity for the next twelve hours.
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Her name is Gabby and she and I have been friends since she entered the sixth grade at Our Lady Queen of Angels School (OLQA) on 112th Street in East Harlem. That was seven years ago.
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A daily distraction in a busy life is the hazard of misplacing things, or more accurately forgetting where items have been left – most often very useful ones: eyeglasses, cell phone, wallet, hearing aids, face mask and on and on. In my office, that can include a favorite pen, even my still warm cup of tea. As the ad for the ghost busting agency in the movie, Ghostbusters, asked (and do pardon the appalling grammar), “Who you gonna call?”
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Some holidays are accompanied with fanfare – of the fireworks sort. Others are somber events, celebrated with flags and flowers on gravestones. There are also religious holidays – better known as holy days – which generally entail going to church, and some holidays celebrate history with parades and bands. Mother’s Day falls into none of those categories. It’s a “quiet” holiday – meant just for the family.
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It was June 1989 when the movie, “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” came out. I gagged at the title – not because the idea of shrinking the kids was abhorrent; it sounded rather whimsical. But because of the title’s egregious grammatical error.
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Have you ever noticed how many public holidays there are in the European Union? They total about fifteen days that are in common among all the member countries. In addition, each country claims an array of other days off to celebrate national events. And in Europe, when the Government is closed for a day, so are most other businesses.
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Some issues have outsized importance.
Do you remember that mix of uncertainty and excitement when you started your first full-time job? Your first day, when you had to show up at nine o’clock and stay until five in the afternoon, or some equivalent of a 40-hour work week? Do you remember the hourly rate of that first job? I’m imagining that many of you do, because a first job is a significant new phase of life, a milestone – one that marks independence, autonomy and authority over your own life.
On a nearly daily basis, we read or hear of tragic stories about people around the country, often the elderly, who are desperate to become vaccinated but who cannot get into the online system or who end up waiting for hours on the telephone in the hope of speaking to someone who can get them an appointment.
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News – from time immemorial, it’s been one of those things that we, as humans, crave. For some of us it’s the local news that we seek; for others it’s national, or international or even extraterrestrial events that pique our interest.
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Please mark your calendar or set your DVRs for the world premiere TONIGHT Monday, January 11, 2021 at 9pm EST on PBS (American Experience Films) of The Codebreaker, the film produced by a friend of mine, Hilary Steinman.