"In a bet, there is a fool and a thief" (Proverb)

.....There are many ways to gamble in life.  I learned to gamble in WWII, which in itself was a huge gamble.  I began to play poker in our quonset hut when we weren't on duty.  I became very good at it, somehow being able to read opponents' body language and eye movements.  Then after the war, while going to college, I went to a poolroom almost every day during the summer, and I began to gamble playing pool.  There was also a Western Union ticker in the poolroom giving the results, inning by inning, of baseball games, so I gambled on baseball games and won a lot more money that way then I did playing pool.  I'm reminded now of my role in "Music Man" produced here in Huntington Lakes when I had to learn the difficult monologue, "There's trouble in River City"...all about the evils of a new pool table in town.  I know now how evil gambling on pool is since I lost money at that six-pocket game.  According to Harold Hill--my role--billiards is the game to play because pool is "trouble".  The kids in knickerbockers spent all their time playing pool and neglecting to pick dandelions, or getting the screen door patched, or  getting the beefsteak pounded.  Never mind failing to get the cistern filled so that their parents could have water on a Saturday night.  And they also gambled on horse races where the jockey sat right on the horse!  Can you believe it?Most certainly there was trouble in River City.  

.....When I retired and set up camp in Florida and learned to use a computer I found several casinos on the web where I could send in some money that I could use betting on any kind of a ballgame.  I really was successful, but after awhile I found that I was spending all my time figuring out who was going to win and who was going to lose.  I eventually gave it all up in order to do other things--like work on my memoirs.  However, I learned that there were Las Vegas style casinos in Florida where you could play slot machines, blackjack, or my favorite card game--poker.  But--

                                  You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,

                                             Know when to walk away, know when to run.

                                           You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table,

                                           There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.

....Thank you Mr. Rogers; you're so right.  Well, after I finish countin', I usually go to my favorite way of relaxing and play the slot machines.  This particular casino was owned and run by the Seminole Indians.  The machines are fun, and while they are swallowing up your money, they play sweet music.  Oh, well, since we stole the land from those Indians in order to build condominiums and swimming pools for grandchildren,  I suppose they deserve to get rich, and then wealthy--which they are. So, then, in my life I've found numerous opportunities to gamble, without becoming addicted...but the biggest gamble of all is life--if you're "sittin' at the table" in your own life, and learn to put enough money in the kitty, you can win.  If not, you lose.

                             

"Man is the artificer of his own happiness" (Thoreau)

.....For the past few days after several of my friends, students, and colleagues have died, I have been thinking about life’s real purpose.  At the very least, in my own mind, after the death of a loved one, there need follow a celebration of life and a continuance of the quest for happiness. Happiness is a state of mind and difficult to achieve, but the task must be pursued.  At this latter stage of my life, I don’t remember when or whether I was ever happy; but I believe I am happy now.  I know I was happy in the classroom both as a student and as a teacher.  But happiness eluded me when I was not engaged in some academic environment or in some sporting event, or being transported to magical places by a book or by my imagination.

…..But now, I know I am happy when I recall and relive the relevant events of my life; my survival of WWII, my college career, my teaching and coaching career, my performances on the stage, my running of two marathons; my travels around the world; the wounds of divorce; the writing of a book and publishing my memoirs;  raising a family; and as fortune would have it, a beautiful second marriage.  All of these things…and more, have been my goals and have lighted the darknesses of life. I have learned that if one is not happy, to find it, passiveness won't do it-- there must be lit a burning hot fire revealing the pathway to a primary human desire--peace of mind. 

"There hath passed away a glory from the Earth..." (Wordsworth)

.....I am feeling very well this year, but sadly, several of my colleagues, friends, and former students have passed away. During WWII, I saw more than enough of death and destruction, that I am loath even to talk about the subject; I am inured to it. During the 30 years that I was teaching and coaching, I never said anything about my experiences in WWII, and so lately many colleagues and students have learned about it--some from my book, "Memoirs of a Tailgunner", some from elsewhere...I don't know. But lately, death has once again, after these many years, come to invade my spirit. It has been several months since John "Moose" Reardon died. He was our athletic director and football coach for many years, and loved by everyone. When he retired Rhoda and I met John and his wife for dinner dates a couple of times. Just in the past few months, Sam Schiffer, Tom O'Connor, and Howard Wolfe have passed away. Sam and I spent many years coaching soccer together; Howard and Marge were here for dinner only about a month ago, and his death so soon after that was a stunner--but no more so than the passing of Bob Marsden yesterday.  Bob was a fine athlete and he was going to play baseball until I told him that he could win lots of medals if he joined my track team and ran in the sprint events because of his speed. 

.....The thought of winning medals appealed to Bob, and it came to pass over a couple of years that he did win many medals running the 100 and 220 yd. dashes.  I called him "Flash".  Bob and I became very close as an athlete and a coach often relate in that way. I loved Bob as a son, and he reciprocated that love. The height of his career came one year as he ran in the mile relay with three of his fellow athletes at the Millrose Games in Madison Square Garden. This became possible when that relay team won the Nassau County Championship on Long Island. But he is no longer with us. He will not be forgotten...and neither will the rest of that team, Bill Sherwood, Barry Meyer, and Chuck Hendrickson...the Four Horsemen! Bob Marsden never stopped smiling. He was a star athlete and a star person; I mourn for him. He shall be missed.