Category: holidays
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Remembering Susie
Obituary originally posted here. Photo slideshow: https://www.tributeslides.com/embed/CFSIFRAM/dem10727/11m61217470d60e0 Obituary May 14, 1946 ~ August 6, 2021 (age 75) Susie Elizabeth Duncan Sexton, 75, of Columbia City, IN, passed away unexpectedly Friday, August 6, 2021, at her home. Born on May 14, 1946, in Fort Wayne, she was the daughter of Roy and Edna (Lewis) Duncan, who, in her words,…
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In a Sense…a Broad!
As I consider myself nothing nor nobody more than Peter Sellers in Being There or at my liveliest as Inspector Clousseau, it is difficult to make “Susie” sound interesting? I am proudest of being the Mother of Roy, whom I consider the person I would most wish to be. I grew up in a very…
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what a fabulous holiday season that would be…
seriously…truly…honestly…how do we provide NOKILL shelters? as many animals as are killed every year, there are more than enough…far more than enough…homes which could add a dog or cat as a family member… we could empty the cages tomorrow…and with responsible monitoring, stop this tragic second by second situation right this moment…please adopt and urge…
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Do they know it’s Christmas time at all? 2016.
But say a prayer to pray for the other ones.At Christmas time, it’s hard but while you’re having fun,There’s a world outside your window, and it’s a world of dread and fearWhere a kiss of love can kill you, and there’s death in every tear,And the Christmas bells that ring there are the clanging chimes…
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May the merry, merry option continue! UNCLE!
“Not Ready to Make Nice” – Dixie Chicks Forgive, sounds goodForget, I’m not sure I couldThey say time heals everythingBut I’m still waiting I’m through with doubtThere’s nothing left for me to figure outI’ve paid a priceAnd I’ll keep paying it I’m not ready to make niceI’m not ready to back downI’m still mad as hell…
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Reindeer games.
My friend Beth, whose blog “I didn’t have my glasses on…. A trip through life with fingers crossed and eternal optimism.” is always such a delight, posted “girl power.” today. “only female adult reindeer keep their antlers through December. that means santa’s reindeer are probably all girls.” I replied, “Makes perfect sense to me…and how…
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Happy New Year.
This nostalgic professionally photographed family picture boggles my mind. What a serene looking group. Why did this attractive couple have one more kid? Me? Often told by a sibling, to avoid induction into World War II, BUT the war was over…sorta? I, referred to as the “black sheep” later by a nephew, (who is almost…
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Humbug or hallelujah?
Time to shout “humbug” or “hallelujah”? How do the years fly by so quickly, calendar pages flipping as if channeling special effects in some forties-era black and white movie? “Rudolph” Astaire, Burl “Frosty” Ives, Grinch Jim Carrey, beleaguered banker James Stewart, and Bad Santa Billy Bob Thornton re-running all across our television sets, which will…
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Susie, In a Sense…a Broad!
As I consider myself nothing nor nobody more than Peter Sellers in Being There or at my liveliest as Inspector Clousseau, it is difficult to make “Susie” sound interesting? I am proudest of being the Mother of Roy, whom I consider the person I would most wish to be. I grew up in a very…
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I WONDER
Once upon a time, small town newspaper editor Hester Adams published my positive yet refreshingly anticipatory teen-aged poem extolling the virtues of Christmas circa 1960. Annually, somewhat tediously, Charles Dickens’ A CHRISTMAS CAROL, in myriad formats, reminds us to set aside bitterness and past injustices while reaching out to our fellow-men. Perry Como crooned, perkily…
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A FEW APOLOGIES, SOME “SUNSHINE ON MY SHOULDERS”, AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
We got married in…a… December Colder than we care to remember! (Apologies to Nancy Sinatra and Lee Greenwood and Johnny Cash and June Carter!) First, a brief backstory highlighting a “Happy 45th Anniversary to Don Sexton” — BTW –whom I married on December 28th, 1968. My mom hexed me with a spell that my own…
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CHRISTMAS GIFT! CHRISTMAS GIFT!*
(*title borrowed from a chapter of a “Miss Minerva & William Green Hill” a dear old Southland book my mother once read aloud to me–seems like only yesterday…) Sat straight up in bed…me, the eternal free-lancing archivist…and woke up my slumbering cat friends…hobbled downstairs garbed neither in kerchief nor stocking cap but definitely clad in…
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“A horse is a horse, of course, of course, And no one can talk to a horse of course?” (A Journey from Competitiveness to Graciousness…and At Long Last, Love!)
“I’d rather have a goddam horse. A horse is at least human for God’s sake.” ~ J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye (Editor’s note: Pardon J. D.’s French!) Time to admit the truth. Choosing authorship as a pastime or a passion or a means of making a living is fraught with frustrations such as:…
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MY FUNNY VALENTINE…A “Penny Serenade”
Dutifully responding to my shameless suggestion, my son Roy bought me another book! David Denby impressed me terrifically as a guest on the Charlie Rose show, defending movies “the way they were” when author Denby and I both fell loyally, tenaciously in love with the cinematic industry — without reservation. At the height of the…
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Less Miserable –Thanks to Leading Men!
Ah, the holidays – magical, manic, frantic, stress-inducing, scintillating! My heretofore rather mild psoriasis attack blossomed into Elephant-Man-itis. Doc appointments wriggled their way into the usual notably bustling festivities. Exhaustion and disillusionment R US! “Doctor Feel-Good” adventures invaded my individualistic “I do what I wanna do, and when I wanna do it” schedule at the…
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HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS!
Huge pink rollers in hair, barefoot, wiping my hands on a tired t-shirt, I responded to the door-bell. Son Roy stood shivering in the brisk November afternoon breeze with his duffel bag in one gloved hand and his laptop snuggled close to his chest. Within 20 minutes, both of us seated around the tidied up…
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AND … THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE? A Film Fest for Armchair Critics
“Fabulous Fifties” inform my every thought, especially during the month of April. Comedian Bob Hope, spiffy in a tuxedo with tails as master of ceremonies, sparked each Academy Award ceremony televised in living black and white year after glorious year. Monday evening telecasts eased into Tuesday mornings as one glamorous presenter after another headed toward the…
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“Once Upon a December…” and Hello, 2012!
Without one doubt whatsoever the final month of each successive year sends me into an absolute tailspin! December’s always super-special within our family, for several glorious reasons, and outdid itself in 2011! Some new folks entered our lives. Darlene Wright, Teresa Dowell and Nelleen LaFever wrote beautiful letters of appreciation sent to our mailbox. Jerry…
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS (and a Tribute) FROM THE OLD TYPE…WRITER
Thanks so much for following these columns, thoughts, and blogs (And joining me in loving both kitty cats and dogs!) How fun and fine it is to remember happy times, Sharing moments of small town life in prose or in rhymes. Memories flood into minds via our willing hearts; One leads to another in sequential…
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Thankful … to Think Outside the Holiday Box!
Christmas arrives but once a year — and years fly by too swiftly! We are manipulated and subliminally motivated by commercialism, expectations, obligations, traditions, and mounting hysteria—and then after an ulcer-producing build-up, the party’s over and next year zips forth toward a repeat performance. Senator Al Franken often spoke at collegiate commencements, as an adored…
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Ah, Sweet Mystery of a (Wonderful) Life
Sub-titled: My Funny Valentine! FEBRUARY—short, concise, often leaping, “Happy Birthday to Abraham and George,” we cheer. Ice storms interrupt “White Sales” of sheets for sleeping; Lucrative month for florists, thrown into high gear. Antony, Cleopatra, Angelina, Brad, Romeo, Juliet, Debbie, Eddie and Liz— Some romances too noteworthy—others quite sad. But Donald adored Daisy—her heart ever…
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An Investigation into “Everlasting Gobstoppers”*
Beloved melodies and lyrics which touch this heart of mine Range from poignant to perky, yet quite often seem to align With life’s pattern which causes despair and despicable grief — “Waiting” hammered home – lingering — with no promise of relief. Critiquing Carly Simon who laments “Anticipation” Or ignoring “September Song” — a tune…
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“BLUE CHRISTMAS WITHOUT YOU”
“Write it tight; write it bright; write it tonight.” ~Jay Greene Christmas arrives but once per year and both speeds up activity and slows down time itself as a stream-of-consciousness slide-show of vivid, or blurred, images of memories crowd the mind: My mother whizzing to the top floor of Wolf & Dessauer’s Department Store, via elevator, to stand in…
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Fiddle Dee Dee, I’m Thankful for Russell Crowe
My name might as well be “Maximus Decimus Meridius”, and I am here to explain myself and my family and how we classify as GLADiators. Sure, we count our blessings every November and then give mighty thanks for…stamina! Personally, I defend spider monkeys as I chastise NASA, who brought manKIND Tang, for daring to consider radiation experiments on those sentient darlings with the…
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Playing the Hand One’s Dealt
(“You play the hand you’re dealt. I think the game’s worthwhile.” ~ C.S. Lewis) Admittedly, personal discussions which focus upon politics, religion, finances, in-laws, the questionable necessity for either camouflaged Rambo-type hunting or Betty Crocker-ish canning and preserving, “Which arrived first, the chicken or the egg?” or “Is it acceptable to wear white after labor day?” all qualify as verboten. Where does…
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One Season Following Another, Laden with Happiness – and Tears (a lyric from FIDDLER ON THE ROOF)
October concluded with much pageantry in the early ’50s as “gypsies, tramps and…” pirates (sorry, Cher!) paraded around West Ward classrooms, often returning home through snowflakes. Meandering around yard signs advertising this guy and that guy running for political office, we diminutive students, suffocating beneath our masks, not only dressed up for Halloween back in the day but we also voted in mock elections. …
Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels 