ARTICLE
One of my early mentors, Don DeLorenzo, used to tell me, “Chum, you can’t go back to summer camp.” What he meant is — as much as certain times in our lives have great, touching memories — you must savor those recollections and move on. Events have their moments in our lives and the page continues to turn, and our lives roll on. As summer ends, I love remembering as a child how much I treasured it. Playing every day at Allentown’s great summer playground program, swimming with my friends at Cedar Beach and Jordan Park Pools, playing baseball at the vacant lot in our neighborhood and especially coming home starving and craving my mom’s lunch of summer bologna sandwiches smothered with mayonnaise. Definitely not the most healthy menu, unless you count the health benefits of a big smile on your very satisfied face. Those were incredibly wonderful times. There were also many challenging events. I recall my teachers’ horror when they discovered President John F. Kennedy had been shot in Dallas in 1963. I was in sixth grade at Sheridan school, and when I got home that afternoon, my mom and grandmother met me at the door with tears in their eyes. You see, Kennedy was their president — he was Irish Catholic, as they were, and he was elected at a time when this country supposedly wasn’t ready for a Catholic president. They loved him. His presidency was termed Camelot for a reason, and it ended all too soon. Years later, his brother, Robert, was shot and killed as he campaigned for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party. Just two months earlier in 1968, even at the young age of 15, I knew the nation lost one of its greatest leaders when Martin Luther King Jr. was gunned down. Like Kennedy’s, King’s murder ended so much promise for so many. When you create a government to give people the freedom to live life to the fullest, it can create some interesting dynamics, both wonderful and catastrophic. I recall dynamic heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali being stripped of his title for refusing military service in opposition to the Vietnam War. I can vividly picture President Richard Nixon waving goodbye on the White House lawn in 1974. Leadership was immediately turned over to then Vice President Gerald Ford. Talk about chaos. The point is this. Sure these are crazy times, but we’ve lived through crazier times before. This democracy can at times seem out of control as parties and factions wrestle for the country’s agenda. As we’ve discovered on many occasions, those who lead this nation are very human. If you’ve looked in the mirror lately, they look just like us. When you create a government to purposely give people the freedom to live life to the fullest, it can create some interesting dynamics, both wonderful and catastrophic. I smile when I hear people threaten that if a certain person is elected president, they’ll move to another country. After all the chest-pumping threats, they rarely do. Why? Because this IS the best country on the planet. The very fact that you can protest loudly and say very nasty things about politicians you don’t like is proof. Try that in Russia or China! Right now, more than I can ever recall, people are involved. Pennsylvania leads the nation in voter registration for people ages 18-29. Some people are happy that the economy is booming or the agenda is shifting conservative and they want to hold on to it. On the other side, people are angry. They don’t like what’s happening on almost every front, and they want change and they want it now. We’re clearly a divided nation and that may just be a better thing than we realize. So before you jump off the nearest bridge, know that there are ebbs and flows in democracy. Just when the right felt they’d never get control and the country was doomed, Trump runs for president. And wins. Ironically, just when the left felt they needed hope and change, a young, first term, black U.S. Senator named Barrack Obama showed up almost out of nowhere. He proceeded to serve two hugely impactful presidential terms. So hold on, Americans. The winds will shift. Maybe not as fast as you’d like or as far as you’d like, but they’ll shift. Remember freedom of democracy brings change. And change can be hard. But it sure beats any other form of government. Want proof? Research how many of those people who were for sure moving to another country in protest have actually have left this nation. It’s very few, if any, for a very good reason. It’s called democracy. It’s not perfect, but I wouldn’t want any other form of government for my lifetime, my children’s or my grandchildren’s. To read the article click here.
One of my early mentors, Don DeLorenzo, used to tell me, “Chum, you can’t go back to summer camp.”
What he meant is — as much as certain times in our lives have great, touching memories — you must savor those recollections and move on. Events have their moments in our lives and the page continues to turn, and our lives roll on.
As summer ends, I love remembering as a child how much I treasured it. Playing every day at Allentown’s great summer playground program, swimming with my friends at Cedar Beach and Jordan Park Pools, playing baseball at the vacant lot in our neighborhood and especially coming home starving and craving my mom’s lunch of summer bologna sandwiches smothered with mayonnaise. Definitely not the most healthy menu, unless you count the health benefits of a big smile on your very satisfied face. Those were incredibly wonderful times.
There were also many challenging events.
I recall my teachers’ horror when they discovered President John F. Kennedy had been shot in Dallas in 1963. I was in sixth grade at Sheridan school, and when I got home that afternoon, my mom and grandmother met me at the door with tears in their eyes. You see, Kennedy was their president — he was Irish Catholic, as they were, and he was elected at a time when this country supposedly wasn’t ready for a Catholic president. They loved him. His presidency was termed Camelot for a reason, and it ended all too soon.
Years later, his brother, Robert, was shot and killed as he campaigned for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party. Just two months earlier in 1968, even at the young age of 15, I knew the nation lost one of its greatest leaders when Martin Luther King Jr. was gunned down. Like Kennedy’s, King’s murder ended so much promise for so many.
When you create a government to give people the freedom to live life to the fullest, it can create some interesting dynamics, both wonderful and catastrophic.
I recall dynamic heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali being stripped of his title for refusing military service in opposition to the Vietnam War.
I can vividly picture President Richard Nixon waving goodbye on the White House lawn in 1974. Leadership was immediately turned over to then Vice President Gerald Ford. Talk about chaos.
The point is this. Sure these are crazy times, but we’ve lived through crazier times before. This democracy can at times seem out of control as parties and factions wrestle for the country’s agenda. As we’ve discovered on many occasions, those who lead this nation are very human. If you’ve looked in the mirror lately, they look just like us.
When you create a government to purposely give people the freedom to live life to the fullest, it can create some interesting dynamics, both wonderful and catastrophic.
I smile when I hear people threaten that if a certain person is elected president, they’ll move to another country. After all the chest-pumping threats, they rarely do. Why? Because this IS the best country on the planet. The very fact that you can protest loudly and say very nasty things about politicians you don’t like is proof. Try that in Russia or China!
Right now, more than I can ever recall, people are involved. Pennsylvania leads the nation in voter registration for people ages 18-29. Some people are happy that the economy is booming or the agenda is shifting conservative and they want to hold on to it. On the other side, people are angry. They don’t like what’s happening on almost every front, and they want change and they want it now. We’re clearly a divided nation and that may just be a better thing than we realize.
So before you jump off the nearest bridge, know that there are ebbs and flows in democracy. Just when the right felt they’d never get control and the country was doomed, Trump runs for president. And wins.
Ironically, just when the left felt they needed hope and change, a young, first term, black U.S. Senator named Barrack Obama showed up almost out of nowhere. He proceeded to serve two hugely impactful presidential terms.
So hold on, Americans. The winds will shift. Maybe not as fast as you’d like or as far as you’d like, but they’ll shift. Remember freedom of democracy brings change. And change can be hard. But it sure beats any other form of government.
Want proof? Research how many of those people who were for sure moving to another country in protest have actually have left this nation. It’s very few, if any, for a very good reason. It’s called democracy.
It’s not perfect, but I wouldn’t want any other form of government for my lifetime, my children’s or my grandchildren’s. To read the article click here.