FATHER'S DAY

DAD, I MISS YOU. I know you're in heaven and enjoying yourself and all the fruits of your good life, but really, we miss you. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about you and wish I could be half the Dad and man that you were. Mom misses you a lot and talks about and to you all the time. She's starting to not remember things and she's a little off sometimes, but when it comes to you she remembers everything about you. I think she is really anxious to meet you again.

So just wait awhile and give it some time. Mom will be with you and you'll be together again. I think that's what she wants. I hope she stays around awhile, but you'll be with her soon enough. Let us have her for awhile, ok?

Love, your son.

ROCKY

Just thought I'd throw something out there. We lost a fine young man from our hometown a couple of weeks ago. He was killed in Afghanistan. I want to make Vietnam comparisons and the like, but he deserves more. Rocky was a good kid who won the Purple Heart in a prior tour, but he went back. This tour cost him his life. We are a small town and it hurt us all to lose Rocky. It hurt my wife a lot because she knew him since he was a kid. What a shame.

When will this end? Afghanistan is becoming a Vietnam. It is a worthless piece of dirt and democracy is a concept they don't get. 7,000 years of tribalism won't end in a great democracy. Stop killing our boys. We lost 58,000.

When will it end?

TRUE GRIT REDUX

My wife and I are going to see "True Grit." I don't go to the movies very much for two reasons. One, it's as expensive as hell and two, I haven't seen many that stack up to the movies I've watched from years ago, Gran Torino being a notable exception. I watched the original True Grit the other night. I love the movie and the performances by John Wayne, Kim Darby, Glen Campbell, Robert Duvall, and a cameo by Dennis Hopper will be hard to top. This was an Oscar winning movie (John Wayne). We'll see if the remake stacks up.

GAMING?

Today in church the sermon was about gaming God. I hadn't thought about it, but this really brought home a lot about my life. Father talked about the times in our lives when we have our backs against the wall and we make a deal with God. I was there. When I was on the plane to SE Asia I was gaming God. I made a deal with Him about getting me out safely. If He did it I'd be a better Catholic. The priests at the base I came from passed out rosaries and I took one with no particular idea that I would use it more than I had in the past. On the plane, I don't mind telling you I was working those beads! Of course, when I came back I wasn't the Christian I should have been. I got out in one piece and I'm happy about that.

When I was a cop I gamed God a lot. I prayed for my safety every night. My wife gave me a medal (a Catholic thing) of St. Michael the Archangel, the patron saint of police. I got out of the job basically in one piece and I'm glad it's over.

Father nailed it. Nearly forty years later I hadn't thought of gaming God until Father brought it up. Now I am in the position of trying to think of how I can make up for that. Is God upset that we game Him?

ISLE OF HOPE

This song epitomizes what it means to be an American. Listen and enjoy. With apologies to my friend Z.

AMERICA

I understand the draw of America. We are fortunate to be Americans. I talked to a teacher friend of mine today who is active in the German club in the area. I once belonged to this club but I lost interest when it dissolved into a intraclub fight. I walked away. My friend assured me that the club had cleared out and become what it had once been. I'll think about joining again and I hope the club will be what it was I thought it would be.

I wanted to celebrate my heritage as a German. There is no country that has contributed more to America. More Americans trace their heritage to Germany than any ethnicity. Germans have contributed more to the fabric of America than any other enthnicity. British you say? Check the numbers. Germans rank number one.

When it's all said and done America draws from the world, and why not? Freedom is very attractive. My question: Has any other country written a song extolling the virtues of a country their people have emmigrated to?

NOTHING'S GOING TO CHANGE MY WORLD

The Beatles are the greatest band ever. My wife and I watched a PBS fundraising special that featured folk music. We sang the songs together and enjoyed ourselves. I thought a lot about our music and this song kept coming back to me. I remember my daughter saying this was her favorite song. Mine too.