We grew up in a neighborhood in South Philadelphia, bounded by Snyder Avenue to the north and the Philadelphia Navy Yard to the south and from Broad Street east to 7th Street.  It was an ethnically mixed neighborhood.  I lived in the 2400 block of Hutchinson Street, and he lived in the 2300 block.  As […]

I received the following in an email.  Enjoy!   1. If time doesn’t wait for you, don’t worry!  Just remove the battery from the clock and enjoy life!   2. Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person is like expecting a lion not to attack because you are a […]

In the latest annals of “Let’s get real,” we turn to the travesty that occurred recently in Italy.  Recently, an Italian court was forced to remunerate “moral damages” of 5,000 lire (approximately $7,400 in U.S. dollars) to one Soile Latusi, a Finnish immigrant who had achieved Italian citizenship and who had sued the nation for […]

In the United States, the fourth Thursday in November commemorates an event held in 1621, a meal between the Pilgrim settlers in Plymouth and the Wampanoag – a Native American tribe residing in what is now southeastern Massachusetts.  The feast was a celebration of the bountiful harvest and the assistance provided the Pilgrims by their […]

A battle is shaping up over whether or not to legislate English as the official language of the United States of America. But, is this debate taking place in the Halls of Congress or in State capitals throughout this land? No. It is being played, or rather “sung,” out on the Internet, America’s new town […]

Considered Unconstitutional, our politically correct society shuns certain words, phrases, and symbols as if they were nuclear waste.  However, these same phrases are not only allowed to exist, but seem to be celebrated in everyday transactions.   Consider, for instance, how often an automated telephone system, a check-out station at the supermarket, or the U.S. […]

Compiling a Christmas wish list to give my husband is somewhat of a chore.  As any such list involves music and gift ideas for our precious pup, the hubby demands the exact name of products and exactly where he can purchase them.  When a friend told me about ShopWiki.com, I thought I’d hit pay dirt.  By […]

If you were born into the Roman Catholic faith, you must be familiar with St. Christopher, also known as the Patron Saint of Travelers.  Despite his status as one of the Church’s most popular Saints, much of what we know of Christopher’s life is attributed not to fact but to legends, including the tale that […]

Eighty-seven years ago on this date, my mother was born.  World War I was a memory, and the United States was embarking on a period of prosperity known as the “roaring ‘20’s” when women were Constitutionally-recognized as “equal” to men and technologies like automobiles, trains, and mass communication by radio and telephone began to proliferate.  […]

Dreams have puzzled, motivated, and terrified mankind for all of recorded history and probably beyond.  Although dreaming is universal to the human condition, surprisingly little is known of its purpose and significance in our lives.  And yet, our waking preoccupation with our dreams is a testament to the deference with which we treat them.   […]