It’s here. Next weekend is Memorial Day. The start of the summer. After two summers of Covid, we’ve all been looking forward to getting back to normal. But what is normal? Inflation is at a forty year high. Everything costs more. Who predicted over $4.50 for a gallon of gasoline? Madman Putin is committing mass murder on innocent civilians in Ukraine on a level not seen since World War II. The world seems to be hoping he really is dying of cancer because we can’t figure out how to make him stop. Covid cases are back up. Health experts are suggesting we should keep wearing masks in crowded places. Most people are not listening anymore. And who would have predicted American mothers are desperate to find formula for their babies? Pass the sun block.

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No matter your views on abortion, we have all been shocked by the unprecedented leak of the draft opinion by Justice Alito, supported by five of the conservative justices, that would overturn Roe v. Wade. It would leave it up to states whether to allow abortion or ban it. About twenty states are almost certain to outlaw abortion if Roe is overturned. While every national poll shows the majority of Americans support a woman’s right to choose what to do with her body, I’m not here to argue abortion rights. But rather the institution of the Supreme Court. It’s supposed to be above partisan politics and interpret the Constitution. That’s has been eroded. The court is very much a political body and it’s helping fuel the serious divisions in the country.

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I first met Phineas and Gene fifty-five years ago. I was sixteen years old as they were. Recently I was roaming around a used bookstore. It even had boxes of books on its front porch. As I scanned the titles of hardcovers and paperbacks, there it was, a well worn paperback of “A Separate Peace”. It was that one book of the many you read growing up that you never forget. It was written by John Knowles and published in 1959. It is a coming-of-age story of two teenage boys at a New England prep school called Devon in 1942. It’s told through the eyes of Gene Forrester who reruns to the school fifteen years after that fateful summer to tell the story of his friendship with his former roommate and best friend Phineas.

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In the last two weeks we have watched innocent women and children bombed and murdered in their neighborhoods in Ukraine. They have jammed into trains in a desperate effort to flee to safety and the unknown. The men have stayed behind to fight the superior Russian army as it slogs its way through their country. Their strength and determination have been an example to us all from their president to the mothers who have shown us courage in fiercely protecting their children. All this, while not knowing if their husbands, fathers, sons, and boyfriends will survive as they fight to save their country and their future.

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Adam could not look at the flashing cursor anymore. It was relentless. Just pushing and pushing him to start writing. He felt as if it was saying, “Okay big shot, your first novel was such a success, let’s see you do it again.” He was renting his friend’s beach house for a week just to get away and concentrate on the new book. It was October. The summer crowds on the Jersey shore were gone, and the weather was still comfortable. The past year had been crazy. He finally had gotten a first novel published after a few re-writes. He had made his living writing free-lance for magazines or on-line publications. He worked as a bartender. He was stunned at the success of the book. He was being praised for a break-through first novel and as a star of a new generation of writers. The financial success allowed him to finally become a full-time writer and let someone else pour the drinks. What if people knew the truth?

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The bald eagle, our national bird, is everywhere. It’s on the great seal of the United States. It was adopted as the emblem of the country in 1787. It’s on every one dollar bill, coins, and passports. It’s up there with the flag, Liberty Bell, and Statue of Liberty as a universal symbol of American strength. It’s been a sign of government authority since the Roman Empire. The bald eagle has survived despite man’s carelessness that almost wiped it out of existence. Over development into their natural habitat, hunting, and pesticides made them an endangered species for years. The number of adult breeding bald eagles in the US and Canada has dropped by 2.9 billion since 1970. Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” in  1962 lead to the banning of the pesticide DDT ten years later. It was not only killing animals like the bald eagle, but contaminating soil and water for decades. Conservation efforts has increased the bald eagle population from 417 nesting pairs in 1963 to more than 71,400 nesting pairs and an estimated 316,700 individual birds in the lower 48 states.

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These two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl is designed to get us all revved up for the big game. We have the Cincinnati Bengals who everyone thought would have to buy tickets to get into the game. They have the story of the Boy Wonder Joe Burrow who’s leading the Bengals out of thirty years of playoff darkness. The Rams have the  quarterback Matthew Stafford story. A chance meeting on a Mexican vacation with Rams coach Sean McVay led to the biggest trade last off season. After years with the awful Lions, Stafford finally gets his chance to prove he can win the big one. This is also the time when coaches get fired and hired. There are interviews and second interviews and experts speculating on who is the favorite for a job. Then the Brian Flores story broke.

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Martin Collins didn’t expect to die. He was seventy-five. He was healthy and active. He still played golf once a week. He was on his knees weeding the flower bed in the back of his house with his wife of 50 years, Holly. The sun was shining. It was a warm spring day with the promise of summer in the air. He was thinking life was good. He and Holly had been content in their retirement. They still loved each other more then ever after 50 years which not many couples can claim. So the sudden sharp pain in the middle of his back came as surprise.

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Harry felt like he was surrounded by old women. His daughters forced him to give up his house and move into an independent living community where there were very few men. The one-bedroom apartment felt small. Of course, when he couldn’t live by himself anymore, he could move into assisted living, and finally into the nursing home, right across the parking lot, where he could get all the help he needed to finally die. He had just turned seventy-seven. He still played golf once a week and worked out on the treadmill every day. Life had changed dramatically two years ago when his wife died. They had been married for 54 years. One morning she didn’t wake up. He missed her terribly. While the suddenness of her death was like a punch in the face, he was grateful she didn’t suffer. His two daughters, his sons-in-law, granddaughters, and friends all rallied around him, but life would never be the same.

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The last week has been a time of looking back at the year that just passed. To many it wasn’t a pretty picture. We must now confront the year ahead. In its first week, we will face the one year anniversary of one of the darkest days in our history. It has been seared in our memory and the scars may never heal. The Congressional January 6th Committee is planning public hearings that may include subpoenas for members of Congress, former Vice President Pence and Donald Trump. Members of Trump’s inner circle, like former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and former advisor Steve Brannon, have defied subpoenas and have been charged with contempt and could possibly face time in federal prison.

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