"What is life without a dream?" (Rostand)

.....Life is not life unless you live it.  Do what your heart and mind tell you to do.  Risking to achieve what you really want is scary, sure, adventurous, at times it's even romantic, but it helps you to grow.  Accept risk. Accept responsibility. Put a lawyer out of business.  However, remember--whatever you decide to do because you want to do it, be it to write a poem, quit your boring job, or run a marathon--do it with ruthless personal standards of excellence.  Challenge yourself, or if you delay, someone else will do it to you.  Amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic.

 

.....Socrates said "The unexamined life is not worth living."  I finally learned that truth when I went to college, so I have always stopped to examine me. When I graduated from high school, I was an unexamined idiot who worked as a bank teller counting money that wasn't my own.  And then came the war, and I yearned to kill Germans for causing my father to become a triple amputee.  Here was an opportunity to do what I always wanted to do; a romantic idea, it was.  So, I joined the Navy to kill Germans because I didn't like the thought of slogging through mud in the Army and getting my boots all dirty. 

 

.....Trading the money-counting occupation for the Navy boot camp was like the difference between boiled chicken for dinner and a two pound lobster.  The challenge was there and I succeeded. But when boot camp was finished, I found myself forced into a new occupation--scrubbing pots and pans in the kitchen.  I went from heaven to the deep blue sea.  But not for long.  I begged the Chief to send me to a school that would help me get into combat and kill some Germans.  By this time I decided one or two Germans would do.  The rest is history and stories to tell the great grandchildren. Following the war's end when I heard anyone say, "Life is hard" I was tempted to ask "Compared to what?"

"Have no friends not equal to yourself" (Confucius)

.....and life goes on.  When Helen Herbstman died, another good friend will no longer share the bread with us. We have friends and we have acquaintances, and friends are very few these days; even so, it is fine to know them.  Acquaintances are those you can chat with, and perhaps even share an evening dinner with them. But you really don't know too much about their lives.  Friends  are those you've known for a long time; who understand each other and for whom you would do anything if  needed.  They are the kids who grew up with you; who went to school with you; who loved being around with you. They're gone.  The friends who went to war with you were far more than simply "friends"--they were buddies, and that is a huge responsibility.  They're also gone.  At this moment, I cannot speak for RH+, but I have about six friends, two of whom live overseas, one in China and one in UK; and it's my good fortune to have one "buddy" whom I rarely see. Memorial Day is coming, and I'm sure my buddy and I will remember the guys on our crew who are missing on that Day, and we will be thinking about them; and who will know it?

.....and life goes on. My Chevy Malibu which I bought on my birthday in 1999 is gone. It's been sold.  It had only 94K miles on it; I asked for $19K for it, but had to settle for $1K. There was hardly  anything wrong with it.  So, it was missing a tail light.  So what?  And the AC did not always kick in. So what?  So the "remote" did not work, but all you had to do was use the key to open the door.  So what if it had a few nicks and scratches here and there?  I'm 90 and I have a few myself, but the car was only 15 and a car "doctor" could take care of the problems in a week or two for a few bucks.  Or send the bill to Medicare.  It pays for everything. The buyer shouldn't have any complaints.  He'll probably sell the parts; and I can donate my organs.  Not much difference between us--only the car passed away sooner, which has its benefits if you think about it.

.....and life goes on. One of the issues of retirement living is where or what to have for dinner and at what restaurant. I can't and shall not leave my post (no pun intended) without a tip or two (no pun intended).  The sine que non of help in choices is to collect as many coupons as you can from the newspaper each day, and The Jewish Journal.  If the spouse is also tired and/or retired, chances are she has been using the oven as a piggy bank.  So, now that you have a good pot pourri of coupons, toss a few of them up in the air (as you did once or twice with baseball cards) and choose the one that has the most (or least) color in it--or the biggest or smallest one. If one of them turns out to be a Japanese place, you go and dine on suchi that night which is different from all other nights (no pun intended).  And as Iago advised, "Put money in thy purse".

Vive La France! Vive Napoleon, et al! Donnez-moi la Champagne, s'il vous plait.

On Thurs. May 8, the French Legion of Honor Medal was awarded by the French Consulate to Dr. Norman Ross at the Boynton Beach Civic Center.  Moi??

  Upon presentation of their military file as detailed hereunder, USA veterans who risked their life during World War II to fight on French territory, may be awarded this distinction. Those selected are appointed to the rank of Knight of the Legion of Honor. The Legion of Honor medal is not awarded posthumously.

 

 Created to honor extraordinary contributions to the country, the Legion of Honor is France’s highest distinction.

Since only a small number of Legion of Honor medals are awarded each year in the United States, care is taken to nominate only those with the most distinguished records. It is important to have such decorations as the Bronze Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, or Silver Star earned in French territory in order to have a competitive record. 

It's a good looking medal, but I don't know what I will do with it.  I hope it will come with as good looking a box to put it in.  I suppose, too, that I will have to use a few of the French words I learned in WWII such as merci beaucoup, and voulez-vous un cigarette? or even voulez-vous couchette avec moi?  And since I will be appointed a "Knight" may I have the right to be called Sir Dr. Ross?  Or Dr. Sir Ross? No. I have since learned that recipients are called "Chevaliers".
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.....OK. It's now May 10, and I must say that the ceremony was awesome! It's indescribable so I won't attempt to describe it.  However, I will say that as I received the medal, which was pinned to the lapel of my jacket, that I was kissed, on not one, but on both cheeks! The French are a bit slow, however; the award ceremony took place about 69 years--to the day--after the end of WWII on May 8, 1945. (JR, it was 69 years, nest-ce pas?)

 

.....My '99 Chevvy Malibu, with 94,000 miles is about to pass away.  Since I gave up my keys to RH+, there is no need for the car to remain parked in the parking lot.  Found an ad in the newspaper called "Cash for Cars", so I called them and they will be here on Monday to give me an estimate--I will be satisfied with $1200.  It just cost me $700 to have my scooter lift transferred to Rho's car.  It needed a "hitch", and the charge for the labor to switch the lifts was $75 an hour.  And I thought doctors were bad.  In my next life, I will become a dermatologist or gynecologist, and I will be an auto mechanic on weekends.