A Brooks Tale

‘Well, Melania, I think we have put Roy over the top tonight,’ the President remarked as he slipped into bed.

‘I am so tired…I am tired in a huge way,’ he continued.

‘Dear, what happened to you the other day when you slurred your words at the conclusion of your speech,’ Melania asked.

‘I felt like, that I was experiencing what I have read regarding the first signs of having a stroke…it was scary…but as usual…I did not reveal any fear,’ the President responded.

‘You must have a check-up and soon,’ Melania retorted.

‘All right my love…but it must remain secret if there is something physically wrong with me…the President can not afford to show weakness,’ he replied.

‘Dad always told me to never show weakness and to turn a failure into a success…if you can only claim it is a success…evidence is not important…what is important is what people see and hear and the ‘Good Story’ will be the one that is believed…facts are not important,’ the President remarked as he slipped off to sleep.

A noise of someone walking in the Lincoln Bedroom was disconcerting in the dark.

The President and the First Lady had taken to sleeping in the renown bedroom as it gave the President a feeling of being close to greatness.

‘Donnie, is that you son,’ Fred Trump quietly inquired?

‘Dad, what are you doing here…are you a ghost,’ the President said, fearfully?

‘Yes, son, you are screwing up and you need to change before it is to late,’ Fred Christ Trump said to his son.

‘But, Dad, I just wanted to make you proud of me.  You sent me to the New York Military Academy to give me discipline and make me great.’

‘I know that Fred was your favorite son…and I loved him as well, but he did not have the steel to be a businessman like you wanted…and the love of alcohol killed him,’ the President said.

‘Your bias and prejudice toward African Americans and Muslims is staggering and embarrassing,’ Fred said.

‘But, Dad, you were arrested at a KKK Rally,’ the President responded.

‘Martin is one of my best friends…he stood up for me when some said that I was not worthy of Heaven…and Medgar Evers plays Bridge with me on Tuesday nights,’ Fred responded.

‘You know, Dad, I feel like everything is crashing around me and I am having trouble understanding why so many dislike and hate me,’ the President said.

‘Donnie, I do not want you to make the mistakes that I did.  My time on the Earth was swift…and your’s will be also.  If you want people to love you…you will have to love them.  If you want people to listen to you…your must listen to them and not just the sliver of people that got you elected…you are the President of the United States and that includes every citizen…and they come in all colors and faiths,’ Fred said.’

‘Who is that with you, Dad,’ said the President?

Hi Chief, it is your old friend and lawyer, Roy Cohn.’

‘Hey Roy, what have you been up to,’ inquired the President?

‘I have been walking to and fro in the Earth, with my mentor, ‘seeking whom I may devour,’ said the President’s former Counselor.

‘Roy, we had some fun…didn’t we…we scared the shit out of a lot of people…and what about the night life,’ said the President?

‘I was unhappy throughout my life and I manifested it by bullying everyone that I encountered.’

‘I was Joe McCarthy’s hatchet man and I ruined lives of innocent people…in the name of lust and greed and avarice and because I enjoyed it, said Roy…sullenly.

‘But, Roy, you sure helped me establish myself in Manhattan as the King of Real Estate,’ remarked the President.

‘Mr President, the dark place that I dwell in and the pain that I feel…every moment…and the chains that I forged in life…are unbearable…when all that I really wanted was to connect with others and feel wanted.’

‘Life on Earth…is a test…it is an audition…it is standing at the outside of a great door…and then the door opens…and you enter…and then you understand the purpose of your life and how badly you missed the entire point,’ said a remorseful Roy.

‘Hi little brother, ‘said Freddy.  How are you buddy?

‘Freddy, I miss you every day,’ said the President.

‘I wanted to be just like you…you were wonderful in every way…and after your death I decided that I would become ruthless in business…and now in politics.’

‘No one really liked me…but you Freddy, and I decided that strength and being the hardest bastard in the room…was the only way to success…for me,’ said the President ruefully.

‘Buddy, you have made it,’ said Freddy!  You can be truly loved if you reach out and bring people together.’

‘The world is more lonely than it has ever been, said Freddy.

‘I was terribly lonely, ‘Freddy went on to say.

‘We are at the crossroads of history…and you have two paths to choose from…that is why we have chosen to visit you tonight…’ said Fred.

‘You can arise, in the morning, and lead in a totally different direction than you have over your first year…you can love black and brown and red and yellow people…you can respect Muslims and Jews and all faiths…as they all have a portion of the path to God,’ said Freddy.

‘As far as the investigations…what will be will be…but you have time to create a legacy of love and compassion and caring…that will outlive your term in office,’ said all three in a rhythmic chant.

‘I see a mushroom cloud…and I see millions of hungry being fed…it is your choice,’ said Roy.

‘Good morning Mr. President, said Congressman John Lewis…I have decided that I will attend the opening of the Civil Rights Museum with you today.’

‘It seems especially sunny and warm for this time in December,’said the President.

‘You know, John, I have not felt well for a long time…I would very much like to feel better,’ said the President.

Mary Jane and I were talking this morning about the stress that many feel during the Christmas Season.

The melodious tones of, the singer Andy Williams, tells us, when referring to the Christmas Season, ‘It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.’

‘It’s the most wonderful time of the year

With the kids jingle belling

And everyone telling you be of good cheer

It’s the most wonderful time of the year’

YouTube

However, for many…the wonder…is missing.

In the United States Christmas has become a serious commercial enterprise.

Many retail stores make the preponderance of their profits during the Christmas Season.

Throughout the years I have stood in many check out lines at malls and retail outlets and witnessed numerous people attempting to purchase toys and Christmas gifts…often with credit cards that were subsequently rejected…only for the embarrassed holiday shoppers to produce another credit card…and often two or three…to make the purchases that they felt compelled to engage in…to create the ‘Most Wonderful Time of the Year’ ambiance that popular media promises.

Have you ever shopped on Christmas Eve and witnessed the frantic panic of last minute shoppers?

Or, what of the many who have experienced loss of loved ones…and this time of year…is especially painful.

Or, what of the lonely…the ill…the elderly…and the forgotten and homeless?

Each Christmas Season the joy of the Holiday presents itself to me in the loving and caring interaction with other members of our human family.

Almost 20 years ago, Mary Jane and Aaron and Jonathon and I attended our first Christmas Eve church service at First Presbyterian.

The magic and the reverence for the Christ Child…was compelling and it was the epitome of my Christmas revelry.

The ancient axiom that it is more blessed to give than receive…is true.

To focus on others…the needy…the lonely…those who have given up expecting that anyone cares for them…is…perhaps…the reverence for the birth of him…for whom there was,’ no room in the inn.’

As I have grown older, I wish for the Christmas Spirit of humanity and caring and inclusiveness and acceptance of our differences…to be my standard for living…and to have Christmas all year.

Often, those who are not of the Christian faith see little that would convince them to want such a system of belief and lifestyle.

If Mary and Joseph and the Babe… were just the story of a select… slivered… segment of humanity…then what is the dramatic and compelling reason to be a part of this elite group?

‘For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat:  I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

Naked and ye clothed me: I was sick and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungered, and fed thee?  or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in?  or naked, and clothed thee?

Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.’

Matthew 25: 35-40    KJV

One of the first Christmas Characters that we encountered, when we visited St. Charles the Saturday after Thanksgiving, was a spritely attired old gentleman who subsequently asked a little boy to look into the window of a book store and observe the book, The Night Before Christmas, and then he gleefully announced that he was the author of the book.

I, happily, announced to Jonathon that there was Charles Dickens…to which he replied…Clement Clarke Moore is the recognized author of, ‘A Visit From St. Nicholas.’

‘According to legend, ‘A Visit’, was composed by Clement Clarke Moore on a snowy winter’s day during a shopping trip on a sleigh.  His inspiration for the character of Saint Nicholas was a local Dutch handyman as well as the historical St. Nicholas.’   Wikipedia

I was amazed that I had, temporarily mis-attributed the authorship of this wonderful  Christmas Poem…as I memorized it as a child and recited it for both family and friends and classmates…upon request.

My Mom, so loved the Christmas Poem, and she was delighted whenever I quoted it from memory!

I identified with the Holiday Classic as Santa Claus had visited our home in Eldorado…and my Dad was still with us…and it seemed that all was well with the world.

I wondered if Santa made pre-Christmas visits to all homes?

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro’ the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar plums danced in their heads

And Mama in her’ kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters, and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow,

Gave the luster of mid-day to objects below;

When what to why wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled and shouted, and called them by name:

“Now!  Dasher, now! Dancer, now! Prancer and Vixen,

On Comet! on! Cupid, on! Dunder and Blixen;

To the top of the porch!  To the top of the wall!

Now dash away!  Dash away!  Dash away all”

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;

So up to the housetop the coursers they flew,

With the sleigh full of toys-and St. Nicholas too:

And then in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound:

He was dressed full in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys was hung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack:

His eyes-how they twinkled!  His dimples: how merry,

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry;

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard of his chin was a white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.

He had a broad face and a round little belly

That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly:

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.

He sprung to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew, like the down of a thistle:

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight-

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.’

‘A Visit From St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore   Wikipedia

For the past several years I have noticed a trend toward news programs and written periodicals, such as newspapers and magazines and internet sites, and radio programs, that are focused toward certain groups.

These focused sites exist for both liberal and conservative individuals.

As regarding the immediate concern regarding senatorial candidate, Roy Moore, when accusations, from several women, including one that was fourteen years of age at the time of the alleged incident, there was a quick and appropriate reaction by the Republican Speaker of the House and many Republican Legislature and Senators.

The Republican National Committee withdrew their support of Judge Moore…only to reinstate the support when it became clear that he had a good chance of winning the election, next Tuesday, and President Trump endorsed him.

A similar occurrence happened when the Access Hollywood video was revealed, regarding Presidential Candidate Trump, with outcries demanding his withdrawal from the Presidential Contest.

Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, had a conference call where he notified the Republican members of the House that he would no longer campaign for Mr. Trump and that they should do what they must to secure their re-election chances.

Morality, is a slippery slope, and should be approached, politically, with caution and trepidation.

Neither political party has cornered the market on morales.

When former President Clinton was impeached for issues surrounding the Paula Jones case…I did not defend him and expected the Senate to find him guilty.

I was shocked and saddened when the truth of the Monica Lewinsky affair was revealed.

I am a ‘live and let live’ regarding consensual relationships…as long as they are between two consenting adults.

I do not believe that, sexual harassment and sexual assault and pedophilia are to be ‘looked over’ for the political expediency of majority political power!

Often, my Republican friends, of which I am one at least fifty percent of the time, tell me, when mentioning, pedophilia and sexual harassment and sexual assault, what about Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton.

My answer is that this is a false equivalency and not remotely the point!

If the former Secretary of State is found guilty of a crime…let her pay the penalty that the law prescribes.

Former President Bill Clinton was impeached in the House of Representatives and found not guilty in the Senate.

I voted for Ronald Regan and at the time of his Presidency I thought that he was wonderful.

I voted for George H. W. Bush and thought that he was a ‘class act’ and that he handled the Iraq War…brilliantly!

I have become a more liberal Christian..as my life has progressed…but where are my fundamentalist friends…They would have never approved of President Trump or Judge Moore?

Time Magazine’s Person of the Year are the Silence Breakers.  These are the many women who have spoken out regarding sexual harassment and sexual assault and pedophilia.

I applaud these brave women!

It is hight time and overdue for women to speak out on the pervasive and malignant occurrences of misogyny and objectification and assault and harassment and, God Help Us, Pedophilia!

I witnessed my mother sexually harassed…and I hated it!

I respect women as brilliant and worthy of everything…and more… that men have been the beneficiaries of for my lifetime!

The degradation of women and the objectification of women and the harassment of women and the assault of women…enrages me…and there is no excuse for it and it should not be tolerated and it is the beginning of the end for our society…when it is sacrificed for political expediency and political power!

If it was your mother or your sister or your daughter or your granddaughter…would it be alright to elect a Republican Candidate for the Senate…in order to keep the seat out of Democratic control?

What if your wife…or your sister…or your daughter…or your granddaughter….was sexually abused by the President of the United States…would that be alright for the sake of political expediency?

Christmas 1989…was a particularly unpleasant experience for Mary Jane and I.

We had spent Christmas in Eldorado and had been the recipients of some hurtful comments from one of my aunts.

Up until that time…I thought that, perhaps, we were one of the few families that had a dysfunctional family member…that was adept at spoiling everyone else’s Holiday Revelry…but I was soon to discover that there were others in our ‘Debbie Downer’ Doldrums.

As Mary Jane and I returned home, by way of Carbondale, we decided to take in a movie to lift our Christmas deflated spirits.

We saw the National Lampoon masterpiece, Christmas Vacation, and literally forgot all of our bad yuletide experience.

We laughed so hard that tears came to our eyes…and we knew…that there were others like us.

I could relate to so many of the scenes.

In one scene Clark Griswold, Chevy Chase’s character in the movie, is a junior executive who hopes to rise on the corporate ladder.  He stands by as the CEO and several of his executive staff enter a conference room where he begins by greeting each one with, Merry Christmas, until it is obvious that they are responding to him as if he was not there.

Clark, then wishes the last four of the long line of sycophants; ‘Kiss my ass,’ Kiss his ass,’ ‘Kiss your ass,’ Happy Hanukkah.’

Cousin Eddie arrived with his family and dog, Snots, in the RV…unexpected.

In another, classic scene, the family is preparing to sled down a steep hill on metal saucer sleds, with Clark spraying silicone lubricant on the bottom of each.

Cousin Eddie asks Clark to not spray his as he would not want to have the metal plate in his head dented…or his hair part would not look right.

Eddie goes on to mention, in regards to his metal plate, ‘Every time Catherine, his wife, revved up the microwave, I’d piss my pants and forget who I was for about half an hour or so.’

Or as Clark’s Uncle Leo asked, as Clark was cleaning up his massive live Christmas Tree…that had burned up in his living room due to a squirrel biting through the extension cord, ‘If you are not doing anything constructive…bring me my Stogie!’

The hope that Clark has for his annual Christmas bonus is not forthcoming and is replaced…on Christmas Eve…with a Jelly of the Month Club Membership.

Clark had been counting on the annual bonus for a down payment that he had already placed on an in-ground swimming pool.

Clark Griswold had given his best efforts to provide a quality and memorable Christmas holiday for his family…and was thwarted by less than considerate family and a Boss…that new him so little he refereed to him as ‘Greaseball.’

Toward the conclusion of the movie, Clark asks his father how he made it through all of the Christmases that he oversaw…he responded that he had a lot of help from Jack Daniels.

So, Christmas brings surprises…every year.  It is about a natural and loving interaction with family and friends…and should contain no expectations.

Christmas is a mindset…it is in your control…it can be a Season of Joy…but it starts from within you!

Photos: Stock photos of Christmas Vacation.

‘Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.’      Albert Einstein

My buddy, Steve, and I were texting, last evening, and we both commented on the swiftness of time.

I began working at Southern Illinois University on October 10, 1978 and Steve began working for the University nine months later.

Steve noted, that when he and I began our SIU’ careers…we were the youngest members of the department.

It seems that everyone with whom I speak regarding the return of the Christmas Season says the same thing…how did it get here so quickly?

It was just yesterday that Mary Jane and I were putting up our first Christmas Tree, a full seven foot tall model, and hanging all of the new ornaments that we had purchased to adorn it and wrapping the Christmas gifts for our new baby, Aaron,…Jonathon had yet to make his appearance on the Stage.

I was hoping and praying that I could become a foreman in Building Services…as there were not many of them and I knew that the additional money would greatly aid our little family.

We attended church services on Thursday night and Saturday night and twice on Sunday.

To this day…I think in scriptures…and I am pleased that I do.

I remember Reverend Hazelip, from Texas, who visited our little church so many years ago.

He said that all of life is a stage and we are players upon it…’So play your part well!’

I recall, one Christmas Season, after Christmas Day.  We did not have much money and we did not have many groceries in the house and I had received a Texas Instrument Computer and a used portable black and white television to display the computer on.

I was reading a book on Hunger in America and it was cold in our little drafty house and…I was a little hungry.

When I became a foreman in Building Services an African American Building Service Worker told me that he believed that I had come from humble beginnings and that he thought that I was a young man who had fallen on his knees and asked God to help him.

The gentleman who told me this…was so right.

Mary Jane and I visited the Paducah Art Colony, one Christmas Season, several years ago.

We entered Nancy Calcutt’s Studio and fell in love with a pastel of a young woman with a large hat.

Later, we were riding in the horse drawn Christmas Carriage that was driven by, Jay who is another artist in Paducah, and Nancy joined us for the ride.

The combination of our first Calcutt’ Pastel and the Christmas Carriage ride and the connection that we felt with Nancy and her husband Charlie…propelled us on our love of Original Art or Fine Art.

I recall, celebrating the Christmas Season with our dear friends, Jo Ann and Peter, and our exchange of gifts…shortly before Christmas.

Jo Ann and Peter had a magnificent Christmas Tree…such as I have never seen.

And it was adorned with the most unique and rare and antique ornaments and I marveled at it.

Jo Ann made the most excellent Italian Coffee for us.  And, I liked it…almost to much.

We spoke of adventures to come and our friendship and our love for SIU.

I remember Christmas with Mom and Dad…and Laughing Santa and the love that I felt and the security and joy of the Season…and the smells that were unique and special to the event.

Mom looked like a model and Dad made me think of John Wayne.

I was happy and I knew that life was going to be wonderful and complete and happy and fulfilling…and you know what…it has!

The Jay Brooks that you see at sixty years old…is the culmination of all of the experiences that I have had over those 60 years.

‘When I consider they heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained: What is man, that thou art mindful of him?  and the son of man, that thou visitest  him?  For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor.’   Psalm 8: 3-5

‘All the world’s a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances,

And one man in his time plays many parts,’

As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII [All the world’s a stage]   William Shakespeare

Jonathon and I were talking, over lunch, and I was reminded of what I told a former SIU Chancellor…twenty years ago.

I noted that although there were many ‘Black and White’ issues that confronted University life…the preponderance of the University runs in ‘Shades of Gray.’

It is rather easy to write about or think about or speak about difficult and complex issues and feel that your opinion is righteous and just and the only way to think about the subject.

It is much more difficult to experience, what you are so adamantly convinced of and certain in your rightness, only to discover that what you thought was patently a ‘cut and dry’ issue…is, indeed, complex.

Many are against abortion.  They would do almost anything to protect the unborn child and ensure that it is able to be born.  Many of these same people seem to have little concern for countless children who are born into poverty and no medical coverage and food deprivation.   They support the reduction or elimination of Food Stamp Programs and access to decent medical care and view those who are in poverty as lazy and shiftless and that they simply need to work harder if they want enough to eat.

We look on in consternation at the proliferation of the homeless in our communities.  We are saddened and curious as to how so many of our fellow citizens came to such a low estate.  Studies have proven that a majority of the homeless suffer from mental  illness.  Yet, our government continues to cut or eliminate mental health programs.

Across or country many football players and cheerleaders have chosen to take a knee during our national anthem.  These individuals are representing many in their community who have been marginalized and abused and made to feel that they are not a participant in the American Dream.

Many of the fans in the stands…have fought in wars and many have had loved ones and friends killed and maimed…and the flag means everything to them.

I have written regarding my support for peaceful protests.

Mary Jane and Aaron and Jonathon and I were caught in the middle of one last Friday.  I did not feel supportive nor empathetic nor did I want to join in the endeavor to close the individual businesses in the St. Louis Galleria…I was there to Christmas shop…and I felt the love and joy and enjoyment of the Season…until the shouting began.

‘Being taught to avoid talking about politics and religion has led to a lack of understanding of politics and religion.  What we should have been taught was how to have a civil conversation about a difficult topic.’      The Other 98%

Neither political party is all right or all wrong.

We, humans, seem to really bond with symbols?

I have visited many beautiful churches…especially in Europe.

The Vatican is breathtaking!

But, the Church is not the building…it is the people that fill the building.

I love Southern Illinois University…but SIU is not the multitude of wonderful structures that are found on the Campus…it is the wonderful people that comprise the Community.

Our beautiful…red…white…and blue flag…that men and women have died for in order to ensure that it stands over a free and democratic people…that comprise a ‘Melting Pot’ of immigrants from all over the world.

Let us all love and support and revere what the symbols of our land exhibit…

UNITED STATES – SEPTEMBER 11: People seek refuge inside a bank building after the first tower of the World Trade Center collapsed. (Photo by Corey Sipkin/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)

‘Give me your tired your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.’

‘The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.  Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.’

‘I lift my lamp beside the golden door!’

From the poem, New Colossus by Emma Lazarus, inscribed on the Statue of Liberty

Another Christmas is upon us.

While President Trump and the Republican leadership of Congress met over lunch to discuss their Tax Overhaul Plan…North Korea launched a ballistic missile.  It is believed that they may be able to launch a nuclear missile in 2018.

Today, we erected our 2017 Christmas Tree.

Human care and worry and strife and war…has always been a part of life on our planet.

‘ On a crisp, clear morning 100 years ago, thousands of British, Belgian and French soldiers put down their rifles, stepped out of their trenches and were seen, Christmas, mingling with their German enemies along the Western front.  In the hundred years since, the event has been seen as a kind of miracle, a rare moment of peace just a few months into a war that would eventually claim over 15 million lives.’

‘ Most accounts suggest the truce began with carol singing from the trenches on Christmas Eve, ‘a beautiful moonlit night, frost on the ground, white almost everywhere’, as Pvt. Albert Moren of the Second Queens Regiment recalled, in a document later rounded up by the New York Times.’       Silent Night: The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce of 1914   Time Magazine

As I reflect on our, last Friday, visit to St. Louis and the stark and jarring difference that occurred between the Holiday Shoppers…and large number of people who devoted their day…to disruption of the shopping…to focus attention on the manner in which they have been treated and their increasing marginalization.

We all see life through the prism of our own experiences.  If we have been treated fairly and equitably and with love and concern and if, as the Presbyterian Church says, ‘ have Voice’, then we wonder why everyone does not feel as we do?

Many in our country…are not treated well.

Many seek opportunity…but the doors are shut.

Many seek, ‘Voice’, but they are not heard…and, thus, the alternative that they seek…is loud and stark and jarring and unpleasant…and, indeed, it may not remotely address the real concerns that they have…but it is the outgrowth of a long history of nothing working and hopelessness and despair.

‘ And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.  (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)  And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.  And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)  To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.  And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.  And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.’   Luke 2:1-7   KJV

We had a wonderful time at St. Charles on Saturday.

We visited the Artist who created my, ‘Trump Tie’, and he was showing us photos of his recent visit to Mar-Lago.

We had our traditional Reuben Sandwiches at Braddens’ Restaurant and Debbie was tending the Bar and she served me, once again, a tremendous Grand Marnier…more than I probably deserved!

I purchased another Lithuanian Candle House…which means that I now have three.

When we host our family and friends for Thanksgiving…we want everyone to be comfortable and happy and well served and at peace.

I think that, perhaps, our Heavenly Father wants happiness for all of his Human Family…and not just those of us who have, ‘Voice’, and were able to become good capitalist and achieve the American Dream?

Have you ever thought about your family tree?

My sister, Tammy, and I were talking about our father’s mother, who I had never met, and she found a picture of her on the internet, along with a few others.

The blond girl is our grandmother, Verna Smothers.

I am the oldest of our Dad’s children.  Although I am the only child of Willam Brooks and Neva June Askew, I have six brothers and sisters.  Two are from one union and four are from another.

I did not see our Dad after my sixth birthday and had never heard of his mom and our grandmother.

This is a photo of William Brooks and Verna Smothers, who are our father’s parents.

This is a photo of our grandmother and grandfather and our dad in the middle.

I can vividly remember our grandfather, Brooks, visiting our home, in Sauk Village outside Chicago, when I was probably three or four years old.

Accompanying grandpa Brooks was his mother and our great grandmother, who was a Cherokee Indian, and his sister, Lois, who my mom was very fond of.

They all lived in California…although our Dad was originally from the town of Ashley in Southern Illinois.

Here is Dad and his three sisters and father.  The girls seem very happy…but he does not?

Dad was a World War II Veteran and he worked as a mechanic on Semi-Trucks…the big rigs.

I remember Dad loving to ride his Harley Davidson motorcycle and wear his leather motorcycle jacket and his motorcycle hat.

My Mom told me that he often carried a gun…but did not have a concealed carry license or permit.

This was Dad’s birthday. He was 57. Taken in Tennessee

I remember riding between Dad and Mom on the Harley and the wind blowing and we seemed to be riding very fast and I was a little scared.

A photo of Dad’s Dad.  I think that they may have been a little adventuresome?

I have communicated with my sisters, Tammy and Jolene and my brother Brock, and they all are excited about Tammy discovering these awesome pictures

We hope to find out more about the mystery…who was our father!

Springfield, Ohio “69”

‘A group of blind men heard that a strange animal, called an elephant, had been brought to the town, but none of them were aware of its shape and form.  Out of curiosity, they said: ‘We must inspect and know it by touch, of which we are capable.’  So they sought it out, and when they found it they groped about it.  In the case of the first person, whose hand landed on the trunk, said ‘This being is like a thick snake.’  For another one whose hand reached its ear, it seemed like a kind of fan.  As for another person, whose hand was upon its’ leg, said, the elephant is a pillar like a tree-trunk.  The blind man who placed his hand upon it’s side said, ‘elephant is a wall.’  Another who felt its’ tail, described it as a rope.  The last felt its’ tusk, stating the elephant is that which is hard, smooth and like a spear.’   Blind Men and an Elephant, Wikipedia