Thoughts For The Day From Papa ‘a

Good Morning All & Happy Tuesday!

Only 10 shopping days left until Christmas!

A great big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sister-in-law, Val Newbold!  Here’s to you, Val, on your special day of celebration yesterday (Dec. 14th)!  I hope you had a great day and enjoyed yourself!  All of your family in Spokane sends you our love and good wishes!  You and my brother, Matt, have made a great team over the years and have two outstanding young women as daughters!  Nerys & Lacy are lovely women, inside and out, and you’ve got a great son-in-law in Nate, to boot!  You’ve done yourself proud, for sure!  Hope you had fun on  your birthday and have fun on all the days to come!

Speaking of birthdays, Happy Birthday to actor Don Johnson of “Miami Vice” T.V. series fame, who is 71 today and to actor/comedian Tim Conway of “McHale’s Navy” T.V. series fame and “The Apple Dumpling Gang” movie fame, who would have turned 87 today (he passed way last year).  Here’s to both of you!  Tim Conway is one of my favorite comedians…his role in “The Apple Dumpling Gang” was one for the ages…one of the funniest movies around, for sure.  If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out.  You’ll be glad you did!  A great movie for family viewing too, I might add…

I was sad to learn the other day that singer/songwriter Charlie Pride died at the age of 86.  He led a remarkable life for sure.  If memory serves me correctly, he was the first black country western singer to make it big.  He was a pitcher in the Negro League in the 1940s before blacks were allowed to play in the major leagues (Jackie Robinson accomplished that break through in the late 1940s).  Not to mention that he was well thought of and an outstanding human being.  Here’s to you, Charlie Pride!  Thanks for all the great music over the years and for being a true trailblazer in country music!

I was also sad to learn this morning of the death of Tony-winning choreographer and actress Ann Reinking at the age of 71.  She was Seattle WA native and she and Broadway producer/director Bob Fosse helped spread a cool, muscular hybrid of jazz and burlesque movement to Broadway and beyond.  One of her associates on Broadway said she was “one of the most mesmerizing people I’ve ever seen on stage.”  Trained as a ballet dancer, Reinking was known for her bold style of dance epitomized by her work in the revival of the Kander and Ebb musical “Chicago.”  Here’s to you, Ann Reinking, and thanks for all of your contributions to Broadway musicals, dance & choreography!  Our lives are richer for it, for sure!

On this day in 1966, the beloved Walt Disney died at the age of 65.  He helped bring so much joy into the lives of children of all ages.  Here’s to Walt Disney and “The Magic Kingdom.”

We recently observed the 79th anniversary of Pearl Harbor (“a day that will live in infamy”) and a retired Spokane dentist, Stanley (Stan) Parks, who served in World War II wrote a guest opinion in our local paper this morning entitled “Why Americans must never forget Pearl Harbor.”  I thought it was worthy of sharing it with you.  Here are some excerpts:

“…We were now forced into a world war.  It changed our country into one of patiotism and complete dedication to the war effort and it changed my life.  I went to school the next day and saw one of my friends totally distraught.  His brother was on the battleship USS Arizona which was sunk in Pearl Harbor.  In the following weeks, several of my classmates joined the armed forces.  Our country went to full mobilization…

…My mother who had been a housewife all her life took a job in a factory that supplied battlefield rations.  She felt it was important to help and such was the case all over the country.

The men in the field knew that Americans were united in the war effort.  The news from the fronts was not always good.  Our casualties mounted and some of those flags in the windows with blue stars became gold stars.  The American fighting men were magnificent and slowly the tide turned and victory followed victory.  It wasn’t easy and we suffered many casualties but the indomitable American spirit held fast as we fought for unconditional surrender and total victory.  Over 407,000 Americans died and 672,000 were wounded in World War II.

Every once in a while I hear from someone flippantly ask:  “Was it worth it?”  Our country as it is today is the result of the sacrifice of those men and women who left our shores to fight a tyranny that had no bounds.  You can be certain that had the war been unsuccessful, civilization would have gone through a dark age that one cannot imagine.

Those brave men and women who came back from WWII built a United States of greatness and freedom that you and I have greatly benefited from.  They were also responsible for saving Europe, much of Asia, as well as the enemy we fought (Japan), for their better life today.  I, for one, am grateful to have served with my fellow countrymen and women and keep the United States the greatest country in the history of mankind.

Dec. 7, 1941 must never be forgotten.”

—Stanley C. Parks, Lt. USNR ret., DDS, WWII Navy Officer LST, Spokane, “Why Americans must never forget Pearl Harbor,” The Spokesman-Review, Tuesday, December 15, 2020, page C3.

Do you think we will keep the “indomitable American spirit” of which Mr. Parks writes?  I, for one, believe we can if we put our faith and confidence in the Lord God Almighty and seek to do His will.  What do you think?

 

Here is the fact for the day:

Eskimos keep their food in refrigerators to keep it from freezing.

 

Here is the word definition for the day:

“Lagniappe”:  A Louisiana French word of unknown origin meaning “Something given as a bonus or extra gift.”  Isn’t it grand to receive a little something extra when a gift is given to you?  Perhaps a “lagniappe” would be helpful to those of our fellow Americans who are suffering from sometimes arbitrary coronavirus business shutdowns/closures and/or curtailments not of their own choosing…

 

Here’s the thought for the day:

“I’ve never really taken anything very seriously.  I enjoy life because I enjoy making other people enjoy it.”

—Tim Conway, American actor & comedian (December 15, 1933-May 14, 2019)

 

Here’s to a great Tuesday and lots of love and good wishes always!

Press on,

Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, Mark, etc.)