It cost five dollars. It was five feet across and a foot deep. It was plastic and blue. I bought it last year for our four little granddaughters to play in at our house at the Jersey shore. Last Fourth of July our two sons, their wives and their daughters were all here together for the holiday. The kids played in the pool. We took pictures. This past weekend my older son and his wife were here, and their girls played in the pool. We’re looking forward to my younger son and his family coming next week. But his girls won’t be able to play in the pool. Someone stole it.

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It’s been just over 31 years since the worst day in Philadelphia’s history. It was the most difficult and frightening day for one local television news operation that stood up to the challenge, and upheld the highest standards of journalism under tremendous pressure. If you are old enough, and from Philadelphia, you probably know about MOVE. It’s been described as a back to nature cult lead by a man named Vincent Leaphart who called himself John Africa. They believed in revolution against authority. They ate raw fruits and vegetables. They didn’t use soap. Wouldn’t kill animals, even bugs. They wore long dredlocks. They believed John Africa was god.

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Rory, Jordan, and Jason. They may not be known just by their first names yet like Arnie, Jack, and Tiger. But Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, and Jason Day are more than just the three best golfers in the world. They’re the refreshing, youthful face of sports. Three exceptionally gifted athletes from around the world we can root for and admire. Every golfer is amazed by their strength, accuracy, and steady hands as they play a game at the highest level. While the rest of us play a game with the same rules, but that’s about as close as we get to what they seem to do so effortlessly. But, there is much more we can learn from these three guys.

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It’s unofficially the start of summer, and we feel frustrated, helpless and angry. The only happy person seems to be the laughing  woman in the Chewbacca mask who became the latest internet sensation and even got to ride to work with James Corden. A recent poll of voters by AP and the NORC Center for Public Affairs says seventy per cent of us say we are frustrated with the presidential race. Over fifty per cent of us say we feel angry and helpless. There is some good news. Sixty five per cent of us say we are interested in the race, and thirteen per cent say we are proud of what’s going on. Although, I think it may be hard to find the proud ones.  With all this interest and frustration, can we get more than fifty per cent of eligible voters to actually go to the polls?

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It marks the beginning and the end at the same time. It’s your coming out party into the adult world. It’s the end of your life in the cocoon of childhood, your teenage years, and those college years where you had the last chance to be carefree, and yes, stupid. You could put that college debt out of your mind until you graduated and got a job. I understand that these years aren’t carefree for everyone who has to work their way through school, and whose families have to struggle to get them through to the big day. Graduation Day. Proud families show up on campus for the ceremony. Caps and gowns. Processions. Pomp and Circumstance, and, of course, the Commencement speaker. The person who is suppose to inspire you as you take that big step out of the cocoon.

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It has fewer than 80 pages. It’s a book every writer, reporter, and anyone interested in writing just about anything should have. “The Elements of Style” by William Strunk and E.B. White is a simple guide to beautiful writing. It was originally written, and privately published in 1919, by Cornell University professor William Strunk  who used it as a text book for his students. Fortunately for all of us, E.B. White was one of those students. White went on to become one of the great writers and literary figures of the 2oth century. He started out as wire service and newspaper reporter, and worked in advertising before joining The New Yorker magazine staff in 1927 where he worked for decades. He was called the greatest contributor to what was considered America’s greatest literary magazine. If that wasn’t enough, he wrote several children’s books, including “Charlotte’s Web” which one readers’ survey identified it as the top children’s novel.

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We all have the dates of days that are important to us. Birthdays, anniversaries, deaths. As someone interested in history, and its impact on the present and future, I’m probably a little too obsessed with historical dates. But they give me a guidepost to events and help me understand the flow of history. It makes me think about the impact the event had on people that day, and how we view those events today. Next week one will be the anniversary of one of the most significant events in 20th century world history. Do you know what happened on May 8, 1945? Depending on your age, it’s more likely your parents or grandparents may know. It’s V-E Day. Victory in Europe. The day the Germans surrendered ending to end World War II in Europe. Millions gathered in Times Square, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and Trafalgar Square in London to celebrate the triumph over evil and death. It wouldn’t be until three months later, August 14, 1945 that the war would be completely over. Of course, you know that’s V-J Day. Victory in Japan. Again, huge crowds gathered around the world. We’ve all seen the picture of the sailor kissing the nurse. Right?

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America used to be the place where people came to be included in the greatest country in the world. Where if you worked hard, you would be absorbed into the great melting pot. You could find success and happiness. Now, we know history tells us we weren’t so inclusive all the time. We can start with slavery, and work our way through discrimination against Irish and Italian immigrants. Interning Japanese American citizens during World War II. Blocking Jews from entering the country during World War II as they tried to escape certain death at the hands of the Nazis. We have made strides since the civil rights movement of the 1960s. But some would argue we still have a long way to go.

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Presidential elections can change history and the direction of the country for years.  We are in the middle of one of the most contentious and divisive campaigns in our history. But history also tells us about another presidential election that most people don’t know about. It changed the country. It changed the lives of millions for generations. In 1876, the United States celebrated its Centennial. The wounds of the Civil War were still fresh. Republican President Ulysses S. Grant was coming to the end of his second term. He was even considering running for a third term. But while Grant was one of the greatest generals in American history, he was one of the worst presidents. Grant was too trusting, and surrounded himself with many dishonest and corrupt men who put their own greed ahead of the good of the country.

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It’s a city that sings. It sings about love, loss, hope, and even drinking. It even seems to sing about its history. Sitting on the banks of the Cumberland River, my wife and I spent a weekend in one of America’s great cities. Nashville will make you tap your feet, enjoy rich southern food, discover history, and realize people can still be polite. And it is all wrapped in the sound of country music.

As you stroll down Broadway, you can hear music flowing out of the door of every honky tonk. You walk from the bright sunlight of the sidewalk into the warm darkness of music and beer. There will be a sea of cowboy hats on top and cowboys boots on the floor. Young men and women will be crowded onto a small stage singing for tips. You can hear the joy and ache in their hearts and the wail of the fiddle as they sing about the ups and downs of life and love. Places like The Whiskey Bent Saloon where a three hundred pound cowboy, dressed in black, sits at the door behind dark sunglasses checking IDs. He told me he’s been in Nashville for 34 years. He works 60 hours a week at that door. I said you must love the music. He said he couldn’t tell me the last song he just heard. I guess he was very focused on his job. Because the young guy and girl singing were making magic with their voices singing the Garth Brooks song about being “too young to feel this old.”

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