EULOGY TO ARNOLD*

Within the past year, I received news of the deaths of three of my first cousins.  One was a man named Arnold Rosenberg.  His Life and his legacy is recounted by his younger brother in the following Eulogy to Arnold*.

I believe it is a vivid and timely account of how much family and our country meant and means to all of us as well as those who are no longer here.

*With permission of Stanley Rosenberg
Eulogy to Arnold at Stanley Rosenberg <philly-fatz@hotmail.com

PERRYVILLE MISSOURI RESPONDS TO TORNADO*

We heard the news first thing in the morning. A tornado had touched down in Perryville, Missouri, a quaint, town about 90 miles South of St. Louis.

The tornado tore through a path 15-miles long and one-half to three-quarters of a mile wide as it roared toward the Mississippi River. In its wake 115 mph winds destroyed a small subdivision of homes, leveling some, creating major damage to others and injuring people who did not take shelter.

A friend called a colleague in Perryville to ask if we could help. We were asked  to bring some supplies even though we had been advised to stay away from the area.

We were detoured around the exact area of touch down and directed to go to a staging area where we found the temporary office for volunteers and first-responders.  As we drove in, I noticed a number of women and children from neighboring communities carrying food dishes and other items.

The experience allowed us the privilege of supporting people from regions other than our own.

Most impressive was the well organized effort by volunteers as they recovered from what surely must have been a night of horror as they worked and walked into the following day's sunshine.


*The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Report and overview of the destruction
can be found at: Ken Bell, kbelle@postdispatch.com
March 2, 2017 edition.

FEBRUARY SKYWATCH*

VENUS DARLING OF THE SKY

ENTERTAINED US JUST A FEW DAYS AGO

DANCING CLOSE TO THE MOON IN CLEAR SKIES

HIDES NOW, AS DO WE BEFORE THE WINDS OF MARCH

RETREATING UNTIL SPRING COMES TO STAY.





*Every once in  while we sum up the month's weather
and planetary movement. We do so believing weather
could be the unifying force for all regions of our country
if not the world.

A BOY NAMED JACK

As the month of March got underway the cold winds were blowing when an elderly lady walked into the coffee shop were I sat.  She was pushing a stroller with a small child in it.  The child's eyes caught my attention.

I later learned the child's name was Jack.  He was wearing a colorful turban-like head cover. The woman pushing him was his grandmother, she told me the child's name was Jack and he was two years old.

Jack  had just had surgery to have a small plate implanted in his skull to help him regain his ability to hear.  Jack was born without the ability to hear.

There are medical terms about the surgery Jack had as there are scientific ones about
the technology which is now a part of Jack.  The small colorful head piece he wore covered a tiny switch which controlled volume on two hearing aids which he wears, not always with enthusiasm.

Later, a friend knowledgeable about the medical procedure told me it may have been the cochlear implant,

What intrigued  me most about Jack was his eagerness to take in all about him and his grandmother's attention to him.  His smile was infectious.

There was little time for all of us to talk but I did learn that Jack and his family were part of a  government medical health research program that now incorporates technology.

With all the misinformation, with all the flaws we may or may not have about existing government health programs, for me Jack represented a good reason to look to dedicated public servants and research to help show us the way to the future.