The World of Grandpa Don
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Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works
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What's New In the world of Grandpa Don |
Week Ending Friday |
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Go to the Current Event for ..
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Or to learn more of Grandpa Don and his remarkable family ...
Many of the quotes found on this page are from the daily messages I receive from Covenant House 
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We have something new starting this week. Above and at the left, between the Guest Book and the 3 Minute Retreat, you will see a link to my BLOG! People very seldom use the Guest Book to leave comments or just say "Hi" and only once in a while will they use the "Contact Grandpa Don". I feel that the web site is a great tool for "one way communication" but it is limited in that people read it but do not respond. I intend to keep this page as it is to report family events and to allow me to get up on my "soap box" and let you know how I feel about various things. I don't intend to "preach" but my intent is to let you know how I feel and what makes me speak, write and act the way I do. And so, I offer the BLOG as a way to communicate with my family and friends and, if they wish, to communicate with me and each other. I know we differ on various subjects and that is fine. "Friends agree that certain questions are important but they don't necessarily need to agree on the answers." So you can tell me what makes you tick but don't expect an argument. I respect our differences too much to do that.
So, we will try the blog for a while. I may change the format as I gain experience with it or if it doesn't work, I will delete it. I am using Bravenet's FREE version so you can expect some advertising. I have found their advertising to be "G" rated and not too obtrusive. So, jump in and communicate. All of us are interested in what you have to say. You can comment on this or any other page of the website or start a thread of your own. Have fun!
Speaking of communicating ... I phoned my big brother Jim Cecora Friday afternoon. He and Peggy are doing well and have survived the winter so far. The winter in the Land of Cleave has probably been more brutal than ours in Chicagoland. A neighbor has been coming over and snow blowing Jim's long driveway with his big machine and Jim has gratefully contributed gas money.
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Saturday morning I tried to access my mortgage information on the bank's web site. I thought it would be quicker than shuffling through my papers to find it. Wrong! I had not gone to their web site for a while ... a long while ... and it wouldn't recognize my sign-on codes. I didn't exist in their system! An 800 number was given to get the problem resolved. At that point I realized it would be quicker to go through the papers but that would only delay the inevitable so I called. Of course, after going through their automated phone system, all their people were busy so I played Solitaire for a while. (Isn't that what it is for?) I finally got to talk with a gentleman who wanted my account number. I would have had to go through my papers to get that but he found a way to work around it and we verified that I was who I said I was and that I did, indeed, have a mortgage there. A sign on ID was established and he gave me a temporary password. I was all set. Not quite! When I signed on I was directed to chose a permanent password and the one I selected did not meet their criteria so I now have another password to contend with. At this point I entered the information in my "Pasphrase Keeper" so I would always have it. I then clicked on "Continue" to get the information I originally set out to get. NO CHANCE! I found myself setting up a Security graphic and and code word that I must look for on the sign-on screen before putting in my password to insure that I was on their web site and I was using my computer. That done, I continued to go to find my account and get the information I wanted. You got to be kidding! I was then on a screen which had me selecting three security questions and giving three answers which, if the previously described security system didn't work or if I was on a different computer, I could use to confirm my identity. Finally ... I got to my account and found that the information there was two months out of date. Well, ... two months on a 30 year mortgage is close enough and I had what I wanted. Computers are wonderful ... so fast and convenient. I would suggest that the top management hold a week long executive meeting on Grand Cayman Island (with their wives and/or secretaries) to discuss their web site. I am sure that they can get the government to pay for it.
Why did I need the information? I have decided that I may want to re-mortgage my house in order to reduce my monthly payments thereby stretching out the cash from my IRA which is much reduced in value because of the downturn in the economy caused by the banks which have made questionable loans and expended too much on corporate perks and executive salaries and bonuses. Yes, I know that this will need to be paid out of the sale price of my home when I die but that will be my kid's problem, not mine.
On the other hand, my home can be considered as an asset which can be either horded to be passed on to my children when I am gone or to be used to provide for my comfort and well being while I am here and also, as I use it for it's primary purpose, it will provide comfortable shelter. The interest that I pay for a mortgage, as my dad taught me, is tax deductable rent ... an advantage not enjoyed by renters. By refinancing now, I can bring the interest I am paying (deductable rent) down in line with the earnings my IRA is now paying. It will be at least a break-even or maybe a gain.. In addition, when the market recovers, (and it will, in time) I will have a low interest rate mortgage locked in while my IRA earnings increase. Oh yes, I could simply pay off my mortgage by withdrawing the money from the IRA but that would be a big tax hit on the distribution and would further reduce the future earnings of the IRA. No, that would be dumb. As long as there is a "system" it is wise to play the system as best you can with what you have.
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I woke up tired on Sunday. After breakfast, I took my coffee into the living room to say my prayers and promptly fell asleep. Waking with a start, I found there was just enough time to get to church. That woke me up, ay least enough to get there and to appreciate it benefits. I came home and had a light lunch and still hadn't had my first cup of coffee. That came about 1: p.m. when I sat down to read a bit from one of my latest C. S. Lewis book, "God in the Dock". It is a compilation of short essays, articles and such on the various aspects explaining and answering challenges to Christianity. Interesting stuff stated as only C. S. can do it. But it is deep stuff and a lot of it is over my head. It written in most part to reply to intellectual atheists with references to many other writers, both classic and contemporary European with whom I am not familiar. It does stretch the mind and our minds can use a little of that. One of the things that attracts me to C. S. Lewis is that even when engaged in an argument, as much of this book is, he does not argue, but simply, and many times not so simply, states his case and leaves it at that. I feel that when you argue with someone you raise his defenses and the most likely result is that he will go on the attack, sometime irrationally. You are not attacking his beliefs so much as you are attacking his ego by telling him he is wrong. No, it is my strategy to state the factors that are my beliefs, the factors that make me do what I do and say what I say and not in a way that demands that my friend accept them as his own. Should he not, no ego has been offended and he is still my friend, but if he sees merit in my way and decides on his own to accept them as his own, his ego is actually bolstered and I have a better friend.
At about 3:30 I went to Dan and Karen's. In addition to Nick, Kelsey and Ana, Karen's folks were there. Ted and Marilyn are doing fine and he is doing well with his new knee joint. He now carries a card with his identity on one side and pictures of his metal knee joint on the other in order to get through security at the airports. Kelsey had just been on her first ever ski trip and related her experiences, going too fast down the hill and the inability to stop. She had fun. Karen also told of her recent trip to Jamaica, making friends with a British and a Canadian couple. She told of her trip through the jungle on a chair lift and the bob sled ride (on a track) back down the mountain. Ana will be taking a mission trip to Appalachia in the spring with the St Julie Youth Group. My son's family has been friends with our youth director's family for years and Ana is crossing over from their parish to ours just for this experience. Dinner was tender and juicy roast pork, bread dumplings, soaked in wonderful gravy, and sauerkraut, just the way Anne made it with bacon. That was followed by sinfully rich brownies made by Marilyn. It was a delightful afternoon and evening.
As I was getting ready for bed there was a call from Bill Busby, a friend from St Julie parish. Some time ago Bill sent a story, "What Christ Means to Me" written by David Ehlert and I added it to my "Witness to Life" pages. David would be in town this week and Bill called to invite me to meet with him. We made plans to meet for breakfast at Ashford House and I am looking forward to it. Along with his story I said, "I don't know Mr Ehlert but I wish I did. I would like to regard him as a kindred spirit ..." His story showed him to be a man with ideas of faith which are very much like mine. In addition, I was told that he was writing a biography of his ancestors and their contribution to this world. I am anxious to see how that project is going. The story itself was done in a writing style similar to my own and I noticed that he even uses the ellipsis . . . as I often do . . . possibly too often in my case. But you see, I also talk that way, using pauses to empathize a point, . . . the 'pregnant' pause. . . . Or am I simply gathering my thoughts? . . . It is possible that my mind is filled with so much useless information that my memory chips are overloaded or my hard drive is slowing down with age.
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Last week I built a page on the parish web site for the Lenten
Season at St Julie. All the
liturgies were presented there. Good, I was done! . . . Not so. We got
the file with the parish bulletin for next weekend and there was a page
that included not only other events but it had listed charitable
suggestions as well. Ours is indeed, a very busy parish. And so I was
back on that page, redesigning and adding. I invite you to view
Lent & Easter. I then sent off an email to Liz who, as a
Webministry member (WebServant) is in charge of maintaining the
"Parish Spotlight" portion of the website's home page. She will
"Spotlight" our Lent page for the duration of the season. The photo on
the right is that of the view seen as one enters the worship space on
Good Friday. The blood red banners fall from above, cascading over the
alter, and spill out on the floor. Obscured from view is the great
wooden cross on the floor behind the ambo which is raised by different
families and groups several times during the liturgy.
We are not only preparing to enter the season of Lent, some with the final fling of Mardi Gras, but we are told that we are entering the time of "Recovery". The big federal government bill that launches this recovery was signed into law on Tuesday afternoon. We shall see. One of the unique things that we are promised is the assurance that all this spending will be done in full view of the citizens of our nation, indeed, of the world. We are assured that we will be able to look at the plans, the spending, and the results on a new government web site. Get your first peek at Recovery.gov . Bookmark it as a source of information ... be an informed citizen.
I have married several of my interest on a single new page of this web site. There is my interest in genealogy and Family Trees. There is my interest in divulging my philosophy of life, ... what makes me tick. These have been joined in my newest pursuit, poetry. Yes, for a week I thought about it and over several days a new poem by Grandpa Don has developed. It is called "The Tree" . It follows close behind "Bella" who is of course the most recent addition to my tree, and the previous subject of my poetry and so it is a fitting and natural sequel. In retrospect, the poem "Bella" also included a bit of my philosophy of life and so "The Tree" is a continuation of a theme in several respects. I hope you all enjoy it. (Don't expect great poetry and you won't be disappointed.)
It occurs to me that people who can't control their egos may be weak in good judgment and general intelligence as well. Why do I say this? Take the case of our US Senator from Illinois, Roland Burris. It would seem to me that if a person of average intelligence realized that if he were being scrutinized, as he was prior to being admitted to the Senate, to insure that he had not been involved in improper dealings with his then governor to gain for himself the Senate seat of the newly elected president, and he had known that said governor and his cohorts had their phones tapped (and how could Burris not know that), he would be forthcoming about any conversations with him or any of his people. Assuming that his phone conversations would show that he had no wrong intent, the wise and prudent person would freely admit to having them and be anxious to divulge them as soon as possible. A moderately intelligent person would be able to figure out that they would become public in the investigation of the governor and at his pending trial. And so, I would think that Mr. Burris should be removed from office forthwith, if for nothing else, on the grounds of gross stupidity. If on the other hand, Mr. Burris was in any way actually involved with conversations aimed at trading favors with the governor, and he was attempting to hide the fact that his conversations had occurred, he was not only incredibly stupid, but dishonest and should be removed from office on both counts. ... Just thinking hypothetically. I leave it to others to judge. He disserves a fair hearing before they hang him. If nothing else it will serve to educate him ... if that is at all possible.
Can
anything be sadder than work unfinished?
Yes; work never begun.
~ Christina Rossetti
On a happier note, I met with Bill Busby and David Ehlert for breakfast at Ashford House on Wednesday. We are indeed kindred spirits ... all three of us. It was a delightful event but all too brief. We shared some stories and got to know each other better confirming my assumptions about this fine gentleman. We will be in touch, I am sure, in the future. David travels extensively in his business and makes a point of stopping to visit family and friends along the way. On this trip he had been at a meeting in Wisconsin, stopping at DeKalb, Illinois yesterday and leaving there this morning to meet with Bill and I. After breakfast he was an his way home to North Carolina with a stop in Cincinnati. Have I told you about Bill? I met him when he went through the RCIA process and was Baptized at St Julie a couple years ago. He is now very active here as a Senior Server and Cemetery Minister and can also be found at many social events. He also is counted as one of the "Friends & Family" of Grandpa Don. It was a great way to begin a very murky day ... wet and cloudy on the outside but bright and cheerful on the inside.
Returning home, I found the usual Wednesday morning email from Bob Lewis at the Southern HQ of the St Julie WebMinisty near Tampa. The weekly update of the parish bulletin had been uploaded to the web site server. I put together and sent the announcement to the "Include Me" Members.
Another email was from my friend Don Hall in Canada. He sent a link to the story of a remarkable 12 year old girl and her entry into a speech contest and the controversial nature of the subject matter she chose. She had been initially disqualified from the competition due to the subject matter but due to the fact that her presentation was so remarkably good, she was reinstated and advanced in the competition. And so she is, in my book, a winner on several fronts. First there is her research and speech writing ability and then there is her excellent delivery of the speech. That of course is what the contest was all about. To add to that, there is her philosophy of life and her choice and even her insistence on choosing to make that the subject of her discourse in the competition. In my estimation Lia is a winner and she will have a brilliant future in whatever path she takes.
It may be a good time to re-read what I said about "Heroes". For myself, I am eternally grateful that abortion was not legal and popular in 1930 when I was conceived, unplanned, unwed, and definitely inconvenient. I am also Eternally grateful to the parents who gave me life, as inconvenient as it may have been, and the parents who nourished that life.
Courage is
doing what you’re afraid to do.
There can be no courage unless you’re scared.
~ Eddie Rickenbacker
A week or so ago I found the name Heinrich August Lossner, Born in Saxony, Germany in 1841, on a family tree posted on the internet. He is my Great-Grandfather on my mother's side. The particular tree listed decedents which were foreign to me and since it offered a blind contact to the owner of the tree, I sent off a brief message with a link to my Lossner/Hussman page and included my email address. I received an email from Katie on Wednesday. My message had apparently been received by an "Aunt Helen" (AngelBear) who forwarded it to a member of the Zimmerman family (mlzimmann) who, in turn sent it to another family member (jzimmann) from whom it was sent to Katie (harpcrazy) who replied. It turns out that her mother Marilyn Zimmann, is my second cousin. An entire new branch has been added to my family tree along with some missing dates being filled in. In addition, I discovered that my Great-Great-Grandfather's wife's name was Elizabeth Meinke before marrying Fredrich Wilhelm Husmann (1807-1904), Heinrich Lossner's father-in-law. So the tree was extended a bit on that branch also. I sent a reply to Katie with my address so she can send copies of additional information as well as some more old Lossner photos. Of course I sent copies of my reply to Peggy Cecora and Gay (Lossner) Wands since I am sure they will be interested. To the Lossner descendants we now add the names of Prasse, Elbrecht and Zimmann. I expect to find very soon that all persons in the world are documented cousins.
Wednesday marked one of the major events in my life and that of my family. It was in 1986, Anne's Re-Birthday. It was the day of her by-pass surgery and marked a turning point in her health. It was also a turning point in her spiritual life and to a greater extent, my spiritual life. It was indeed, a life-changing event. I invite you to read about it in Chapter 15 of How I Became Grandpa Don. In particular, or if you read nothing else, read Born Again at the end of the chapter. That chapter was written in early 2004 and is the last chapter to be "published". Chapter 16 is partially done. and there are 3 additional chapters outlined. It has been so long that there may need to be a chapter 20. And apart from the existence of all these grand children ... and now a great-grandchild ... I have not come to the punch line of "How I became Grandpa Don" or when the name was first created. (I'll only say that is had nothing to do with any of my family.) I really need to get back to that project but I am so busy living life and enjoying it that I don't have time to write about it.
A very light snow fell Wednesday evening followed by a steep temperature drop. When I took Mikey to Touch of Class Thursday morning there were some slick spots on the streets and their parking lot was down right icy. But, with some caution and the experience of too many years of winter driving it posed no problem.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Jim. My big brother has reached another milestone in his life and we wish him health, prosperity and many more. (((HUGS))) to you Jim.
Our newly discovered cousin is an accomplished musician. We give her a blatant plug by inviting you to visit her web site. Visit Katie Zimmann. She also does triathlons, when not nursing her broken ankle, and teaches in middle school. It occurred to me to check the book that had been given to me by Jim and Peggy. It was published in 1953 as a 100 year history of St. Johns Lutheran Church of Euclid, Ohio and bore several notations by my mother and mention of Lossner Family members. As soon as I opened it I found a picture of one of Katie's lineage (not ours), A Union Civil War Sergeant who lost his life during the battle of Chancellorsville, VA in 1863. A few pages later there was an 1889 school photo with Fred Elbrecht standing next to Richard Lossner. In that same photo were their cousins Louise, Henrieta and Edward Prasse. An 1891 school photo included Lydia, Louise, Hattie, Ida and Ed Prasse as well as Fred Elbrech and Walter and Richard Lossner. By the way, it was noted that the schoolmaster taught up to 80 children in his eight grades in the one room school. The names of other Elbrech and Prasse children were numbered in several other later school photos. There were family members included in a photo of the 1939 Ladies Aid group I stopped looking half way through the book hoping that someone in this section of descendants in the tree of my ancestor has a copy of the book. And I didn't even look at all the names listed in the text of the pages. With so many of their family in it, I can not imagine that they don't have at least one copy. Later it dawned on me that many of the others in those photos and mentioned in that book were also cousins having parents who were the results of marriages with other Lossner and Hussman daughters. Incredible!
I no sooner talk about my current reading of C. S. Lewis being a bit over my head when I read a piece that is so straightforward and understandable that he makes a liar out of me. I refer to "The Trouble With "X" ... " I read this short essay Thursday afternoon after my annual February 18th shower. I will not describe it for that may prompt you not to read it and it begs to be read. Please take a few moments to read "The Trouble With "X" ..." You will immediately recognize the people of whom he speaks and readily understand his point. I guarantee it.
This has been a very busy week and it has resulted in a very long page for this week. Don't forget to leave your comments and questions in the Blog. I will endeavor to respond if response is appropriate. A link to the Blog is found at the top of the page and below for your convenience. I will start the Blog with a reference to this page to get the ball rolling ... a "seed" to start the thread of conversation.
I certainly hope that you enjoy life as much as I do. If this life is so great, just imagine what Heaven must be like!
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Grandpa Don
Plefka
. Links
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Following the link is ...
the name of the person who led me to it.
Boogey through Life ... Alex Kapocius
Johnny's Story
Born Again
America ... Mary Moscal
The
Truth ... Bob Lewis
(Don't assume you know what is coming....seriously.)
Cemetery Escort Duty ... Larry Hdettinger
When
a Soldier Comes Home ... Mary Moskal
Anne wanted everyone to be 'Nice'.
This button was in one of
her dresser
drawers I cleaned out in August of 2004
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