The World of Grandpa Don  

Three poems have been added this week to the "My Father Wrote" section of this web site.

The first,  A Vision of Yesterday is one that had not touched me until putting it on its page and re-reading it to compose my thoughts about it. A military man, far from home, yearns for the love of his life. Did Al have someone in particular in mind when he wrote this lament of love or was it a 'generic' poem, having placed himself in the shoes, and hearts, of every other military man, as we have seen him do in some of his previous works? We don't know ... he gives no clue. Then again, it may be a bit of both. As we will learn from the next two poems recorded in this series, he did yearn for a love left behind and a writer's best work is based on his own experiences. I only wish that I had written this poem back in the 50's and sent it to Anne. I wish I could send it to her right now. Thanks dad.

The next two share a page not only because they are short but because they belong together. They are To Lucile & I Dream.  When reading these poems, the Copeland family never knew that Lucile was an actual person. Then I came along. The name acquired meaning when they found that their newly discovered half brothel's mother was know as Lucile. If there was any doubt, the description in the "I Dream" confirms it. The first question asked of me when I was put in touch with my mother's family was about the color of my eyes. I have been endowed with the "Lossner eyes", the blue is typical of her and her family. Her hair, fine, dark and long in her youth is also described in the poem. This is shown in a very young Lucile at the right.. By the age of 18 she had shortened it as in her high school graduation photo at the left. My sister Marilyn lifted her picture from this web site (down, right) and used it as the background for the page. It had to be her. At first we thought that Al and my mother met in the time between his marriages to Edith Elsholz and to their mother, Sue Polinchek, possibly about 1929. The poems were written in 1921 while Al was in Oahu, Hawaii  His unit left the mainland in April of 1919 and so he must have known my mother before then. At that time Lucille was not yet 15 years old and Al was almost 19. The poems speak of a "first kiss" and "youthful lovers". Indeed! "I Dream" recalls his "first love".  These two poems do much in my getting to know my pre-history.

If only Al had sent a post card to Lucy when he was in Hawaii and asked, :"Are you still available?"  ( see May, 1952 )  But no, there are no "what if's". That would have put many lives on a different course or precluded them entirely.  ... Shades of  "Its a Wonderful Life"!  We can't have that. ... I like things as they are.

In the process of bringing these poems to you something has happened. I had things in their proper compartments, referring to Sylvia and Joe as mom and dad while referring to Lucy and Al as mother and father. You will notice that I slipped (above) by saying "Thanks dad" to Al, my father. The distinctions are melding and disappearing. My "natural" parents are becoming more natural and real to me. That detracts nothing from my adopted parents (or relatives) and how could it. There is nothing more real than the experiences of life.

Last Saturday, besides being a beautiful spring day was one of reflection and even awe as I prepared the pages for these poems. They are insights to my father and mother's early lives. We don't know what happened when he returned to Cleveland from the service in April of 1922,  except that he married Edith Elsholz in December of that year and Lucile married Dan Cecora sometime in 1923. Al and Edith were the parents of a daughter who was  born and died on the 18 of October in 1925. Lucile and Dan were the parents of Jim and Ken.  Both marriages ended in divorce. Lucile and Al were brought together again in 1930. (corrected) My life began then and was probably the cause of their final separation as Lucile, being 'with child', was sent off to far away Chicago to live with a cousin's family until I was born in May of 1931. At that point, three families diverged, going different directions. I became the child of Joe & Sylvia Plefka. Lucile raised her two boys marrying and burying in succession, Calvin  Tropof, Paul Shippy and Andy Palkovic. She died in 2001. Al, on the other hand, married Sue Polinchek in 1933 and they were the parents of Rita, Jean, Irene, John and Marilyn. Al was born to Eternal Life in 1967.and Sue in 1999.

My brothers and sisters, I am sure, are grateful that things happened as they did, as, of course am I.  I would not have it any other way. Life has a way of turning out well if you go with the flow, making the best of where it finds you, living it to the best of your ability. Sure, I consider my sending that post card to Anne to be one of my life's miracles.(Did you read May, 1952?) But it was my miracle, not to be shared with anyone else ... except Anne ... and of course our children ... and their children ... and... Lord knows who else.  Life's miracles have a way of cascading.

Hi Grandpa!

How are you? I just thought I'd let you know some exciting things that I've been up to lately because I haven't seen you in a while. Outdoor Track season has started and I've been very busy with it. Practices are every day with at least two meets a week. I've been improving my times consistently. Hopefully my times will be good enough to run in the Sectional meet after Conference!

I've also been looking into and visiting some colleges. My mom, friend, her mom and I all went to visit Illinois State University a few weeks ago. It was nice. The campus was fairly compact which I found very convenient. My dad, mom, Ana, and I also went to visit the University of Iowa about two weeks ago. I really liked that campus. It had such pretty scenery and although it was more spread out than ISU most of the undergraduate classes are held within five buildings, all of which are on a hill called the Pentacrest. Iowa also has a very good Social Work program which is one of the majors I'm looking into...at least right now. I am looking forward to visiting Elmhurst College in the next month or two because 1.) they have a very good education program (another possible major for myself) and 2.) because earlier in the year the Cross Country and Track coach had sent me a letter requesting my stats. So if they're interested in me I might as well check them out.

Hope all is well with you!
Love,
Kelsey 

I finally took the bull by the horns and loaded my TurboTax for 2007. It immediately found and loaded all my information from the 2006 tax file and I was on my way. It asked if I wanted to download my tax information from my banks and broker and after entering my passwords it entered all the information from them for my 1099 forms. It doesn't get any easier or more accurate than that. I had printed out the list of charitable donations from my Microsoft Money program (all backed up with receipts when entered there) and guided by the list from the previous year, entered the new amounts. The amount from the report from my prescription provider for the year's expenditures was entered as well as a number of other items, all guided by the program based on last year's file. The program even picked up on a smidgeon of foreign tax deduction paid through one of my mutual funds. After I selected the option for my modest overpayment to be applied to next year's taxes I was asked if I wanted my rebate to be mailed or directly deposited. I typed in my bank routing number and account number and when the forms were printed for mailing everything was perfect. I do not E-File. Why pay a fee for speed I do not need? Snail mail will do me fine.

My State tax return was quickly figured and printed as well. Since the state of Illinois does not tax retirement income and most of my income is from my investments held in my IRA, I pay no state income tax. In addition, an estimated amount of the state and local sales tax is deducted from my federal tax liability. TurboTax  calculates all that.

The greatest hassle I encountered was the printing of the return. My printer, a HP DeskJet 697C is getting old and has a problem with the paper feed mechanism and often needs to be coaxed during the printing of mutable pages. Maybe part of my tax rebate will fund a new printer.

I slept late on Wednesday and my breakfast extended into the Opra show. She is pushing a book called A New Earth. Glory be! It is exactly what I have been touting for years! You cant live a satisfied life unless you get in touch with your spirituality. It is not a new religion or cult but the basis for all religions. The fact that we must live in the present moment and not be all tied up in the past or the future is presented by the author. What has happened in the past has brought us to where we are and is done. There is no changing it so stop being concerned about it. What will be in the future is dependent on what is happening right now, this very moment, and so make the best of what is happening now. The future will be what it will based on NOW!  They spoke of letting go of our ego and that the need to win drains us of power. I have ordered the book ... it is a must read for me.

There was a flyer in the mail this week inviting people to a seminar about how the prophecies in the Book of Revelations will effect our lives. In my opinion the term for this is "Poppycock" ! .I must preface what I am about to say with ..." It is my opinion and that of many Catholic and other Christian theologians. ... it need not be yours." .The Book of Revelations speaks to the Christians of the author's day about the persecution of the church at the time and the evils of the Roman rulers and authorities as well as the rampant materialism and errant religious beliefs. They apply to us today as a general warning against similar problems. The anti-Christ is the collective embodiment of materialism and hedonism which is all around us. As to the attempt to use it to predict the end times ... I believe it to be the epitome of our ego in trying to make ourselves equal to God. Jesus has told us that "Only the Father knows." (that time) There is a reason that we are not to know.  We are to be ready to face God right now, or at any moment of our lives. Why do we want to know the date of the "End"? ... so we can do what we want until just before? You may say that it is written that the last days will be preceded by natural disasters, war and pestilence. True, but C. S, Lewis, one of the greatest modern Christian thinkers, after observing that these conditions have existed for all times and appear to be continuing, reminds us that that description is of "normal times" during which we are to be "ready". The "end Time" comes to each of us at a different moment and day. It is the day and moment at which we are born to Eternal Life ... if we are ready ... or we will go to "Eternal Death" if we are not. That "Eternal Death" may be an existence of being eternally dead to God or as some believe, the final end of our existence  ... totally! (That could be the ultimate fate of an atheist.) I would venture to say that in the light of being told, on good authority, that "only the Father knows", it verges on blasphemy for us to try to upset that fact. And if we want to apply logic to this we must ask why Jesus, as God, after telling us we are not to know, would put clues in the Book of Revelation. I do not believe that God plays games with us. That went out with the ancient Greek concept of "the gods." They do make great stories though.

Again, I express my apologies to all my friends who look at the Book of Revelation differently. What I have said is my belief and need not be yours. If your concept of things leads you closer to God, so be it.

 

Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity:  it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all. ~ William Faulkner

Spring is here. My lawn service arrived on Wednesday afternoon. The winter debris is gone and my lawn is aerated and fertilized. The soil of Orland Park, after the builders have stripped most of it and sold it, leaves mostly clay and it needs all the help it can get. And since there is so little of the loam left, the roots of the grass are shallow and subject to the invasion of weeds of every kind. I confess to be anti-natural and have weed killer applied in order to be pro-green. They do use "pet-friendly" chemicals for this purpose.  Have you noticed, this is an imperfect world and I seem to do some things to keep it that way.

I hope all of you had the opportunity to watch the ABC Prime Time special Wednesday evening. about Randy Pausch's last lecture. This man, fast approaching his "End Days", not only tells us how to live but he is a prime example of how it is to be done. He certainly would not be concerned with the supposed prophesies of Revelation.  His advice in three words ...":Tell the truth." And he says that if he could add three more words they would be ... "All the time". Randy believes in integrity. He also believes in living in the present moment. He is grateful for what his life has been and where it has brought him. He is also  ready for what comes next. For more on Randy see ... About the ABC show  and The lecture .

Randy does not speak of religion or faith and in one respect, that is good. His advice transcends the differences in various religions and living as he advocates would satisfy all religions. For my part he was living as Christ would have us live.

On a lighter side, we have more Grandchild news. Joe Albano has made the Deans List at Robert Morris College. Congratulations Joe. While the baseball team seems to be floundering, Joe is holding up his end and more. He had been catching every other game, giving his shoulder a rest on the off days but since he is the best hitter on the team they have him playing 1st base instead of sitting out alternate days. He is batting  .348 and batting 2nd in the order. We'll call him "double threat Joe".

I awakened on Thursday in a befuddled state thinking it was Friday. I knew I didn't need to take Mikey to the groomer because his appointment had been postponed a week du to a death in Paula's family. It was during breakfast that I realized that didn't delete a day of the week and I still needed to go to bible study because it was actually Thursday.  My bewilderment carried through the day, not that I did anything stupid (I think) but I was running on "slow", not accomplishing much, and just feeling tired. Maybe it was the cold rainy weather. Even Mikey was subdued and lazy. It carried on to my computer which at one point just refused to function and had to be re-booted. Even my Expression Web program, used to create this page, did some strange things and disrupted the format of the page. So ... if you see anything strange here ... I mean stranger than what it usually here ... chalk it up to general befuddlement.

Friday was better ... much better. It was warm, 60⁰ and sunny but a smidgen to windy to be comfortable. During my reflections, my thoughts went to Randy Pausch's words about always being truthful. I would add that we should start by being truthful to ourselves. First by acknowledging that we are far from perfsct and then remembering that sign, you know ... the one we put up that says, "You are entering life again today ... expect adversity." We must be honest enough with ourselves to admit that we are not the center of the universe and that we can not have it our way all the time. We must train ourselves to bend in order to be at peace with the world and ourselves. The computer may need to be rebooted and the printer may be balky ... things happen. We may not be first in line and the nearest parking space may be far from the door. We must be able to keep our options open and realize that the noise we hear may be opportunity knocking.

It is only possible to live happily-ever-after on a day-to-day basis. ~ Margaret Bonnano