"Suffer the little children to come unto me..." (The Bible)

.....Well, the birthday girl arrived on time for lunch at China Gardens even though they first drove south instead of north.  The four girlfriends she brought down with her were exceptionally sociable and we all had fun at the round table.  One gal had a lobster at my suggestion and she loved it.  My sister ordered a 2 pounder. Cantonese sauce on the side for dipping!  With garlic!  I had spare ribs and fried rice.  I'm not used to having spare ribs and fried rice for breakfast, because I usually have breakfast around that time of 11:45.  I sleep most days until 11.  Sometimes I don't have breakfast until 1pm;  if I decide to go out, Dunkin' Donuts has a great coffee roll.  Speaking of pastry, I had Publix make up a birthday cake for this event, and it was served with our dessert of ice cream.  I had them put six candles on it--one for every 10 years.  I don't think there was time to put on 60 candles.  Anyway, Robin blew out the candles with one breath.  Rhoda had to go bowling, but she finished in time to meet everyone at the airport at 3pm.  The girls flew back to Tallahassee at 3:30.  A fine time was had by all.

.....I find it hard to believe that I have a daughter who has reached the magic age of 60--because what does that makes me?  It's really a very weird feeling. Robin has three siblings who are in their 50s.  I think I liked them all better when they were little kids--let's say Robin 10, Joel 8, and Bobby and Bonny 5 years old.  You see, they used to listen to me then.  When I told them to keep quiet they did; when I told them to go to bed, they did--after a while; when I told them to finish their plate, they did cheerfully.  You never saw four kids so well behaved in a restaurant.  I think at this age they all bonded, even though JR kept punching Bobby in the arm when I wasn't watching.  

.....When they all reached high school age, I brought them to North Shore H.S. where I was an English teacher.  Bonny came a semester to my Shakespeare class where she sat in back of the room with her boyfriend.  Every day she had a new boyfriend who plied her with weed.  Robin was in my Speech and Public Speaking class.  I gave her a 98.  Joel and Bobby were never in my class, but I did coach Joel on the soccer and track team.  Bobby was never on one of my teams, but he did have one distinction--he kicked the first field goal ever for the football team; I believe it was about 35 yds.  They all graduated--Robin to Oneonta State, Joel to Cornell, Bonny to the New York School of Dog Grooming, and Bobby to the college of hard knocks.  To conclude, it was absolutely wonderful to see my daughter Robin on her 60th birthday even though it was only for about four hours.  It was way better than not seeing her at all.

"Women and Elephants never forget." (Dorothy Parker)

.....I'm sorry about politicizing yesterday's blog post.  I really made a pact with myself not to get involved in politics, because I know I'll always have good friends who will not agree with what I have to say--and I don't want them to drop me like a hot potato.  And I'm also sorry to have used such a worn out cliche; but I can't think of anything else with which they can drop me.  And speaking of dropping, I am guilty of dropping several things during the day.  Every day.  I don't know what to do about it.  Today, while sharing lunch with Rhoda at the Bagel Tree, I first dropped the bill, and then I dropped my ID card from my wallet and she had to pick them up.  I really do expect to drop a few more things during the rest of the day; and perhaps with no one around to pick up after me; I certainly cannot bend down to do it--not with my back.  But dropping things is not my only bete noir; I also rip the skin off some part of my body at least once a week; my skin is paper thin.  If Rho is around when it happens, she just dips into her purse and pulls out whatever size band-aid is required.  Amazing, eh?  But that's what she does.  I attribute the condition of my skin to having been exposed to the sun for most of my life, and failing to use the proper sun-screen--or any sun-screen.  Live and learn.

.....As long as I'm confessing stuff, I might as well divulge a few other faults, some of which I can control, and others which I cannot.  For example, I find it very frustrating not to be able to place the mouse pointer right on the monitor where I need it without a few tries because I have tremors in my right hand; this, I suppose, is a product of ageing--I admit it.  I have aged like everyone else, but I've had more practice at it than most.  And, consequently, I've become very good at tremorrizeing a lot better than most.  Then there is the cane; I've had to use one to get around the house without falling down and breaking another hip, and I doubt whether or not I can find a hip donor.  But the real problem is not the cane, rather it's my memory.  I can never remember if I left it in the den, or the kitchen, or the living room or bedroom or bathroom.  And if you've been listening, guess who has to find it.  It's embarrassing.  Of course, I do have one or two other faults, but I do not feel like continuing this self flagellation. 

.....So, let's review for posterity's sake: I'm a liberal, a Democrat, a dropeasy, a bleeder, a trembler, and a partial case of dementia.  I have some good qualities also, but I've forgotten what they are.

"Tomorrow to fresh fields and pastures new"

.....There's not much time left until President Obama delivers his State of the Union address.  At that time Congress will be under the control of a Republican majority.  Until then, there have been a few bills that have been placed before Congress for approval--or disapproval.  Yesterday, Senate Republicans stalled the dreams of young immigrants all across the nation.  It was a bill that would have allowed those who arrived here illegally before age 16 to become legal residents, students, and soldiers.  Passage fell five votes short, and denied millions of youngsters who were brought here illegally by their parents, through no fault of their own, the opportunity to become citizens.  They have no other country.  They are Americans.  They speak English, they graduate from high school and college.  The failure of Congress to pass this "Dream" act is a violation of humanity.

.....The excuses given by those Republicans for denying that bill are ludicrous; Sen. LeMieux of Florida expressed sympathy, but he and other members of the GOP said they could not grant "amnesty" to those who came here illegally.  These young people did not "come here illegally"--they were brought here.  And who is to blame for allowing millions of illegals to cross our borders in order to live a better life?  China built a wall 5500 miles long, Israel built a separation barrier 402 miles long, East Germany built a wall 96 miles long...at least something was done about keeping out the unwanted besides just talking about it.  But the opposition by Republicans has nothing to do with their lame excuses; the real reason is that if these million or so immigrants were given the right to vote, they would vote for Democrats.  The great majority are Latinos.  And I truly believe that is the reason behind the Republican "no" vote.

..... Now take our newly elected billionaire governor of Florida, Rick Scott.  He is determined to roll back "Obamacare."  And why? He has his business interests in mind rather than the well-being of the state's 3.8 million uninsured.  U.S Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz claims that "Scott is interested in making sure that health care corporations make as much money as they can."  Scott has founded a chain of urgent-care walk-in clinics and he is heavily invested in Pharmaca, a company that runs drugstores and pharmacies.  Why people have voted this man into office, I will never understand.  Whose interests will he have in mind?  Certainly not yours and mine.  Oh, well, I will also never understand how Time Magazine could name that Facebook guy, Person of the Year.  I have never even been voted Person of the Week--and look how many weeks I have lived in--about 4,472 of them.  That's a whole bunch of weeks for having been ignored.