The World of Grandpa Don  

Stop! Did you read the Thought and the Prayer for this week?  If not, may I suggest that you scroll back up and take a look? OK, now that you have done that, lets go on ...

It was a day short of two weeks since I had gone foraging for food and the cupboard was almost as bare as a new born babe. So, after having the last of the yogurt for lunch last Friday I was off to the store. It was a beautiful day for it and I was soon home, restocking the refrigerator and the shelves. The rest of the afternoon was one of R & R.

Saturday morning was invested in making repairs to my web site. I had looked at a couple pages of the section on "How I Became Grandpa Don" to refresh my memory of something or other and discovered that some photos were missing. You just don't get the entire story without the photos and so I reviewed all those pages, identified the missing photos, located them in my vast repository of pictures and uploaded them to the web server. Then of course when I reviewed the pages to insure I had found all the missing images I got lost in the reverie of the story. Soon the morning was gone.

After feeding Mikey I was on my way to my daughter's house. This was one of the rare occasions when Mikey had to stay home and watch the house. There would be a crowd there and Sampson is much better behaved when he does not need to assert himself as top dog. The occasion was a party for a princess ... Isabella Ann was one year old!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY... wishes go to Bella, her first.

And happy she was. Most of the clan was there. Unfortunately her great grandmother, Rose Albano, and her entire household were down with the flu ... or something. As my mom would say, "Sick in bed with the doctor." But they were represented by Jimmy, her grandson. Of course, Bella was there with her parents and she was all dressed up as befitting the princes she is. Dan, Karen, Nick, Kelsey & Ana were there. Of course, Dom, Anthony, Marc & Joe were in attendance along with my darling daughter. Tom came but Kelley was at a retreat and of course Caitlin was in far away California. Ashley drove from Indianapolis. Even Jack and Toddy came from next door. I am beginning to suspect that Bella is something of a ham, enjoying being the center of attention. She learned very quickly to tear away the paper on the packages and pull the tissue out of the bags to get at the contents although she seemed more interested in climbing on to the larger boxes than in their contents. There were many gifts ranging from clothes to toys. A favorite was a riding toy that she soon learned to climb aboard and scoot along with her feet as someone pushed her around. She was babbling all the while. Then there was her special little cake ... I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Bella's Birthday

 

God is not threatened by differences. It’s we who are. ~ Richard Rohr  .

We were all well fed and it was a delightful afternoon. I was a bit under the weather but thoroughly enjoyed myself. How could I not? Karen had brought some old photos taken at a party many years ago in the same basement recroom when the kids were teens. It was a New Years Eve party our kids had at our house while the adult contingent had  their party, probably at the Berg's. They had talked of those times at Doug's wake and Ellen McNeil had suggested that Anne Marie hold a "reunion" New Year's Eve party at her house in the "Plefka's recroom" and invite all the "kids". The children of the "kids" would have to be someplace else to make it authentic. I think that would be great, even though I would be excluded along with the other surviving members of my generation. Just looking at those old photos was a blast ... the hair ... the clothes ... the "youngness" of them all.

Grandpa Don's Bed & Breakfast was open for business on Sunday for the overnight stay of Jim & Peggy Cecora.  Although they could not make it for Bella's party on Saturday my big brother & his wife wanted to see her for her first birthday. They arrived a little after 2 pm Sunday afternoon and a little later we were joined first by Anne Marie and Anthony, then Dominick, Sarah and the star herself. We were then off to Rocco's for a hearty repast and joyful camaraderie. Afterward we returned to my house to continue the fun. Anne Marie went downstairs and retrieved some toys suitable for a one year old, toys that have been there since they were enjoyed by her children and our other grandchildren when they visited grandma & grandpa. I don't throw things away! My daughter served some banana cream pie she had brought and yes, Bella had some too and loved it. After Bella and her parents left, Anne Marie and Anthony stayed to enjoy the company and talk of the melded family. Shortly after they left, Jim retired and Peggy and I talked genealogy. Soon I could no longer keep my eyes open and left Peggy to watch TV. It was after 11. But of course there were more pictures taken, mostly at Rocco's. This is a very short slide show:

Bella Goes to Rocco's

Monday morning Mikey wanted to get up at 6:30 but I put him into my bed and lulled him back to sleep by scratching his belly. Or, more correctly, put both of us back to sleep. It was 8:00 when we got up, got dressed and went down stairs. Peggy came down a half hour later and by 9 Jim had come down. After Jim checked the oil in his car, we were off to Ashford House for a delightful breakfast. They were then on their way back to the land of Cleve.

It was a great weekend. With the late breakfast, I only had an apple for lunch. I need the fruit!. Even at that it was a late lunch, a quick afternoon and the evening went by like a zephyr. I slept well.  By Tuesday I had all the photos downloaded to my computer and there was sorting to be done for the slide shows. Some photos, as usual had red eye but for some unknown reason the red eye fixer of my photo program would not work. I apologize for that in the slide shows.

 

The power of God is capable of finding hope  where hope no longer exists, and a way where the way is impossible. ~ St. Gregory of Nyssa .

I had not been able to find a 1930 census report for my Copeland siblings mother's family. Marilyn has given me information about her mother's siblings and I decided to see what I could find on their families. Starting with Mary Palinchik, I looked under her married name, Ballas (Ballsh) and up popped the missing 1930 census report for the Polinchik family under yet another misspelling, "Poliashik". Mary Ballas and her son were living with them and so she was included in the report. The following is what I discovered:

Sometime before 1930 the family moved to Cleveland and lived at 2198 W. 100th St.  In that census with the Palinchik name misspelled as "Poliashik", Andy (64) was listed as a Janitor in a factory and along with Mary (56) living at at home were Sue (25) a twister in a silk mill, Catherin (22) a shade maker in a lamp factory, John (20) a radio inspector in a radio factory, Joe (18) a packer in a cigar factory, Betty (15) & John (12) both unemployed, along with their daughter Mary Ballas and her son John. Mary (32) worked with her sister Sue as a twister at the silk factory. Her 13 year old son John was listed as being born in Pennsylvania. The parents listed their birthplace as Czechoslovakia.

I also found a 1920 census with Mary, her husband John Ballash, and their son living in Homestead, Ward 2, Allegheny, Pennsylvania.  By 1930 they had changed their name to Ballas but I do not know what became of the husband. There are several Balash and Ballas families in PA in 1930 but no way to connect them to Mary.  I also ran across a Social Security Death record listing a John Ballas as being born on 18 Jul 1917 and died November of 1986 in Portage, Porter Co, Indiana. This may be Mary's son and I asked Marilyn to verify that. (It was not him)

Bob Lewis sent a link to Let's Say Thanks It is on a website sponsored by Xerox and gives each of us an opportunity to send a message of thanks to a service person serving our country and US. (That includes the US and us.) They have been doing this for a while and I have featured the link before but as they say, ... "Out of sight, Out of mind." Take a moment and say THANKS.

From their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future.  ~ Plutarch .

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were "rain days" but that's OK because I wasn't going anyplace anyway. My glucose readings have been all over the map. Maybe I have been living too high on the hog, careless about my snacking and just relying too much on the medications to do all the work. They can't. With all the goings-on my meal-times and med-times have shifted and that is not good for a diabetic either. I need to get back to my routine, the routine that was working for me. We dote on our "freedom" but there can be too much of a good thing. It needs to be coupled with self-discipline or we destroy ourselves with too much of a good thing.

That applies to our health, our lifestyles and our relationships with the world. Unbridled freedom leads to chaos and self destruction Freedom without responsibility and wisdom leads to disaster. It is largely a matter of the short term and the long term. We often hear the criticism that someone is "shortsighted" meaning that his actions do not consider the long term effects of what he is doing. Eating that big piece of cake and then taking a second helping is a good example. For the moment, the taste is great and the satisfaction is immense. But what are the long term effects. Supporting the union representative who promises to get us more benefits and higher pay, and indeed, follows through and does just that, is wonderful for the short term. But what happens when the price of the product we are producing becomes non-competitive and no one buys it? We loose our jobs because the company fails. We scream and holler that the government must apply tariffs to keep the "cheep" products out of the country. That is applying another short term solution to a problem caused by shortsightedness. The (unwritten) "laws" of supply and demand will prevail over our artificial efforts to circumvent them. To begin with, other nations will apply tariffs to our goods, such as farm produce, in retaliation and a different part of our economy will suffer along with us. We must always ask ourselves what we can reasonably expect in the long term from our actions. It is also a matter of measuring our "wants" against our "needs". Do I really need to have that piece of cake? Do I really need a car that can go 140 MPH and can pull a 40' boat? And ... just because a Joe Doaks has a $1,000,000 home, do I need one? Our actual "needs" when you come right down to it, are really quite basic.

To carry the idea a step further we need to define "short term" and "long term" as well. The definition will depend, to make things more complicated, on the subject matter. For that piece of cake, the short term is really short ... a couple of minutes while the long term can be from hours (discomfort)  to years (health and fitness).  For the increase in salary and benefits the short term can be for several years but the long term can be for many more years or decades. And then there is the really BIG one as when we are tempted to commit a dishonest act. The short term effect may be anything from hours to years but the long term can last many years, and extend into eternity, ... and may effect many others, ... victims, as well as our family. That brings up the point of considering who our short term decisions actually effect. It is sometimes just us, as with that piece of cake, although in the very long term an adverse effect on our health often adversely effects our family as well. The ramifications of inflation (our pay and benefits) impact the nation and the world. In this day and age we are no longer isolated in local economies. Economies are linked to the entire world. There really is no "them & us" it is all "we". When you are in a life raft with others is behooves everyone to look out for each other. Whether we like it or not, this Earth we live on is one big life raft and the universe is one big ocean. We have a survival guide and everything we need if we use it all for the long term benefit of everyone on the raft. May I suggest that the survival guide is called Christianity?

Christianity is not just an individual's path to self salvation, a ticket to heaven for one. It is a way of life. Before it was called Christianity it was called "The Way". It is, beyond a doubt, our survival guide for life on earth and is meant to be used as such. When we are dismissed from Mass each weekend we are told, "The Mass is over, Go and serve the Lord." Many presiders add, ... "and each other." Maybe it would be better if we were told, "The Mass is over, go and live what you have learned today." If we really believe the teachings of Christ, we will live as He taught ... in the short term. In doing so, the long term will take care of itself and the bonus is that when our time comes ... or more correctly, when it ends ... we will be welcomed into His Kingdom, having survived the shipwreck that we humans tend to make of His creation.

 

Each day is a new life. Seize it. Live it. ~ David Guy Powers .

Frank Schober sent a link to a U-Tube video which features a man who has it all in perspective. You will find it entertaining and you will laugh. He also has a message for all of us and I invite you to view ...

Thanks Frank. I agree with Jack Rushton 100% in his outlook on life. I like to think that I could be as steadfast in my beliefs if I were in his situation. I have added a link to the U-Tube video on my "Inspiration" page.  If you want to know more about this remarkable man visit It's Good To Be Alive

However ... even though I firmly believe that it is good to be alive ,,, especially considering the alternative .. sometimes there is pain involved. Such was the case for me during the night spanning Wednesday and Thursday. I have mentioned that I , being as delicate as possible, have been having problems with regularity. This has been complicated and exasperated by the existence of, and there is no way to be delicate about this,... hemorrhoids. I was up several times during the night, in much pain, unable to relieve the problem. When morning came with still no relief,  I let Mikey out but knowing I would be too uncomfortable to go to Bible Study, went back to bed when my friend came back in. (I envied him because he obviously does not share my problem.) I was finally able to get some unbroken sleep and didn't get out of bed until 9:30. I will be seeing my cardiologist next week and will ask him to recommend someone to alleviate the problem of the hemorrhoids. In the mean time, I will cope. (Temporary relief arrived shortly after noon.)  (OK, you know a lot more about me than you wanted but maybe it explains why I am a bit out of sorts at times.) By the way, are you having pumpkin pie next week? (Rita, from the parish didn't know she was contributing to this page when she sent the "Happy Thanksgiving" cartoon.) Click on it for a better view.

The good news of the day, ... and there is always good news when there is life, ... is that when I got around to my email there was one announcing the availability of Kindle for PC. I have been fascinated by the Kindle product which you may know is an electronic book reader, tablet size and capable of storing a vast number of books and such. It is light weight and you download books to it and read anyplace and any time, even in bright sunlight. There are thousands of titles available. My goal was to get one when the prices became more reasonable. (You see, it is something I want, but do not need.) Well, Kindle for PC is FREE! Since I already have an account at Amazon, within a couple minutes I had it installed on my computer and was shopping for a book. I found one that I knew I would like and within a few seconds it was downloaded to my PC and I was into the first chapter of "John Adams" by David McCollough. I can adjust the font size to my personal preference so that is great. Lets see you do that with a book. Many of the books can be had for $9.95 as was this one and it takes no shelf space. Why did is select that book? Well, John Adams, the second President of these United States, was my second cousin (six times removed) and I considerer him to be not only an exceptional man but a kindred spirit since we share many of the same values and beliefs. Our nearest common ancestors were John Bass (1630-1716) and Ruth Alden (1630 - ? ) Their daughter Mary married William Copeland while their daughter Hannah married Joseph Adams, John's grandfather. But, I digress. The Kindle for PC is in Beta release but it works well with its very basic features.

After my supper went back to the book instead of playing computer games. It is a fascinating account of life in general in the 1700's along with the conflict with England. Names like Webb, Bass, and Thayer are mentioned, all names which also appear in my database of ancestors and their families which make it all the more interesting.

 

Become so wrapped up in something that you forget to be afraid. ~ Lady Bird Johnson   .

Friday morning, today, Mikey and I were awake at 7:00 rested and refreshed. My problems of the past days had passed. (Pardon the pun). But that reminds me of the story of the cannibal who passed the missionary in the jungle. (OK ... that's bad.) I quickly got dressed. let Mikey out, checked my glucose (86) and was of to the lab for blood tests. I was in and out quickly and back home by 8:00. Then my normal morning rituals began. By the time I sat down in the living room to have my coffee with God and Anne the sun was shining brightly, the first time all week. I felt like a new man, on top of the world. Mikey came and stood in front of his chair and looked to me for help. I tried to encourage him to use the steps and he almost looked like he would do it for a moment but then just sat down. All I had to do was get up and stand behind him and he bounded up.

Encouragement is all that is required in many cases. John Adams would have been content to be a farmer but his father encouraged him to get an education. After his basic education he went to Harvard, the only choice at the time. Education was much different at the time. John became addicted to reading and after Harvard never was without a book. He read the classics in Latin and Greek. He was prepared to become a clergyman but chose instead to follow the law. It was in that pursuit that he thought he could do the most good. Aren't we fortunate for his choice. And ... speaking of encouragement, I invite you to read this story. For further inspiration and encouragement I further invite you to view "A Story With a Purpose".  It arrived in an email from Frank Schober just before I was about to wrap up and publish this page for the week but I had to add it here. Thank you Frank for sharing this story of your wonderful wife. Your buttons are popping all the way to Chicago. And thank you God for putting Annie and people like her in this world. It is a better place for her being here.

I wish you all a very wonderful Thanksgiving next week. If you are like me you have much for which to be grateful.

This has been, in spite of my discomfort at times, a great week. It was full of life and the people who contribute to that life. Sure there are problems but they can be overcome or outlived. I can only say ...

I Am blest I Am  anointed I Am overjoyed .