What Would Jimmy Do?

Today is inauguration day — very soon , we’ll be honored to listen to a very beautiful inauguration speech — most will say it’s the most beautiful they’ve ever heard. It’ll be in a class all by itself — no other inauguration speech, or maybe any speech, will come close to how beautiful it is.

So — we know this will be the best and most beautiful speech in all of history, but I got to wondering what would be the (far distant) second best inauguration speech. Obviously, determining the (second) best inaugural speech by a U.S. president is subjective — it depends on individual perspectives and historical contexts. But my extensive research found that one speech always mentioned in the top two or three bests (before today) is John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address in 1961. That speech is renowned for its call to civic duty and unity during the Cold War. His famous quote, “ask not what your country can do for your — ask what you can do for your country,” inspired a generation to a life of public service. The speech emphasized global cooperation and the pursuit of peace. 

Not that I’m inviting comparisons, but I thought while I was it it, I’d see what historians considered the worst inaugural speech. Again, picking one is subjective, but nearly all chose William Henry Harrison’s Inaugural Address in 1841 to be at the bottom.
The speech was over 8,445 words — it’s still the longest inaugural speech in U.S. history. The speech was criticized for being verbose, unfocused, and heavy on classical references. It rambled through historical and philosophical ideas rather than addressing clear policy goals or the pressing issues of the day.

Thankfully, we won’t have anything like that today I’m pretty sure todays wonderful, beautiful speech will be available on parchment paper (ready for framing) and probably be engraved on all sorts of jewelry and items that we can proudly display in our homes. And — available for purchase later today. 
So the excitement grows…. the whole word will be watching — and listening.
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We were having lunch the other day and were discussing a good friend of ours. I made the statement, “He’s a trip.” I periodically say that when talking about someone and I always mean it as a compliment. It’s kind of a way of saying that the person is funny, or entertaining, or in some way has a unique personality that leaves an impression. 

“He’s a trip” is an American slang phrase that probably/possibly started back in the 1960s in the “counterculture” movement. Back then the word “trip” became associated with experiences induced by psychedelic drugs. Hippie era people often described their drug-induced experiences as “trips.” And over time, the meaning of the phrase evolved beyond the drug culture to describe people or situations that quirky, unusual, or maybe amusingly unpredictable. Probably today, “trip” is an outdated word in the drug world…. I doubt that many drug users use it anymore.
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As long as I can remember, I’ve always gotten vaccines for various diseases when they became available. We also had our kids vaccinated for everything, and almost always because the doctors recommended it. 

Now — if you read the news, we were being misled all these years. Before the Covid pandemic, the U.S. was a world leader in vaccinations, with 95 percent of the population being vaccinated. But — since 2020, the uptake for all of the 15 federally recommended childhood vaccines has dropped by (at least) 2 percentage points. That represents more than 70,000 children. Cases of chicken-pox, whooping cough, and pneumococcal diseases are all up. And measles, which had been entirely eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, is back.

Why the drop in confidence in vaccines? Probably partly because of people’s concerns over Covid shots spreading to other vaccines. But the anti-vac movement actually started a long time ago. As far back as 1998 a study was published that linked the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine with autism. Even though the study was later proven to be false and improperly conducted, the seed was planted.

Over the past 30 years in America, vaccines have saved the lives of more than 1 million children — and — a lot of money. It’s estimated they’ve saved at least $540 billion in health-care costs. They also don’t cause autism. 

It appears that anti-vaccine groups seized upon rare cases and the anger of Covid vaccine mandates, to undermine confidence in all vaccines. The Republican Party embraced vaccine skepticism following the lead of Donald Trump, who repeatedly discredited claims of vaccines and autism during his first presidential campaign — that made it a political issue. Support among Republicans for requiring children to receive the MMR shot to attend public school dropped from 79 percent in 2019 to 57 percent last year.

The president-elect has pledged to “Make America Healthy Again” by putting Robert Kennedy Jr., who claims vaccines have “caused more deaths that they’ve averted,” in charge of Health and Human Services. In that position, he could pressure the CDC to stop recommending certain vaccines, which would eliminate insurance coverage for those shots. And that of course could potentially change the cost of vaccines as well  as access to them.

No one really knows, but maybe we’re not on the path to making America healthy again — maybe we’re headed toward making American sick again….
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I’ve experienced just about every emotion that exists over the past months, and one of them is guilt. I’m pretty sure guilt is something that just about everyone struggles with from time to time. But I was just thinking — we often think of guilt in an unfavorable way. Claire used to speak of “Catholic guilt” from time to time. 

And I guess, if you think about it, guilt is not always a bad thing. According to Charles Darwin, emotions evolved to help us respond to out environments. Guilt, like other human emotions, serves important functions in our lives and is often helpful. 

Psychologists say that guilt is the feeling of regret for something we have done. There are various kinds of guilt, or at least various degrees of guilt. If you gave up drinking for lent and you had a drink, that’s a relatively minor guilt. If you said something bad about one of your best friends, that’s a more serious kind of guilt. And if you do something like cheat on your wife, that’s a much more serious, or deep-seated kind of grief. 

Usually, when I feel guilty, I have the urge to do something to “fix” whatever made me feel guilty. If it’s something like taking a drink during lent, just saying, “I won’t do that again” is usually enough. If I’m feeling guilty about something that had an impact on someone else, probably at least an apology is in order and maybe some work to repair a relationship, or something like that. Really bad guilt is much harder — that’s something that just eats on you and we feel miserable about whatever wrong we’ve done. 

Guilt is the result of two related processes — the standards we hold for ourselves and our interpretation of our behavior against those standards. When it comes to evaluating guilt in todays world, it’s the underlying beliefs that matter.

So what about a person who experiences no guilt? I’m pretty sure that that’s at least part of the definition of a psychopath — someone with no sense of guilt. People like that exist…. people that practice human trafficking, unethical business practices, bombings, terrorism, drug pushers, serial killers…. maybe even future “leaders” of our country. 

So maybe guilt can be a good thing sometimes for good people… for bad people, it’s probably not even a “thing.” 
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Every day, for close to a year now, I’ve gone to  the St. Agnes Columbarium Garden to visit with Claire. A number of people have asked me why I do that. I guess I probably don’t have a good answer — it’s just something I do. Maybe something I remember from a long time ago might help explain it.

During the Vietnam War, there was a man who stood in front of the White House night after night with a candle, often alone. One rainy night a reporter stopped to interview him. He asked, “Do you really think you’re going to change the policies of this country by standing out here alone at night with a candle?” The man replied, “I don’t stand out here to change the policies of the country. I stand out here so the policies don’t change me.”

Even though life has changed, I don’t want to change. My daily visit isn’t just a habit — it’s much more. Visiting with Claire anchors my life. She is so important to me, and my relationship with her means so much to me, that I set aside time each day to communicate directly with her — it’s like giving her a call every day. To keep up my hope and assure her I’ll never forget, I keep my daily appointment with her.
It’s what I do.
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I was just thinking that I’ve heard the word “last” a lot lately. Some of it, of course, is because one year was ending and another starting. I heard people say this is the last time I’ll have to do so-and-so this year… things like that.

But anyhow, I got to thinking — last is a pretty important word in our language and we probably all use it more than we think. I always listen to the radio in my car when I’m driving and I’ve noticed “last” is a pretty popular word with song writers. I remember one of our favorite songs was “I Won’t Last A Day Without you” by the Carpenters. But there are tons of others, like: Last Dance, Save The Last Dance For Me, One Last Time, You’re The First, The Last, My Everything, Our Last Summer, Last Thing On My Mind, and lots and lots more.

And it’s a part of our everyday language — we’ve all heard, “take a picture, it’ll last longer” when someone is staring and no one wants to come in dead last and the last supper sounds ominous. 
Everyone knows that nice guys finish last and a lot of us wait until the last minute to get things done and when someone buys something expensive or splurges on something we say he’s the last of the big spenders.

And it’s always nice to have the last laugh and we all know that he who laughs last laughs best. Some people think it’s important to get the last word and when we finally accomplish something, it’s so nice to sigh and say —  at last! And then there’s always that last chance or last hurrah and of course there’s the last out. But don’t forget those famous last words — “if it’s the last thing I do.”

And last but not least, if you read the Bible, Matthew 20:16 says, “So the last will be first, and first will be last.”
By now, I know some of you are hoping this will be my last post, but I leave you with this: Live every day as if it were your last, because one of these days, it will be.
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For some reason, we still get paper calendars in the mail. We used to give them to Bobbie the Nun — I’m not sure what she did with them, but she was always excited when we sent them to her. The ones we got for this year, I’ll just recycle — so if you want one, let me know right away.

Anyhow, I was looking at the one from the Smithsonian and something caught my eye. I admit I’ve been a little (probably a lot) on the pessimistic side of things lately, but when I looked at the 2025 calendar, I noticed that the first three days of 2025 are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I’ve recently looked for signs in everything and everywhere — and — the first sign of 2025 just jumped out. The acronym for the first three days of the year is WTF. The pessimistic me immediately thought this was a bad omen. 

I certainly had been hoping for a really good year in 2025, but I just had this uneasy feeling. I won’t exactly call it extensive research, but flipping through my phone, it appears that the last time a year started out on a Wednesday was 2020…. we probably all know what 2020 was like…. think COVID.

I also noticed that January of 2025 will have 5 Wednesdays, 5 Thursdays and 5 Fridays. I’m pretty sure that doesn’t happen too often. That means that not only will we start out January with the W-T-F but we’ll also finish the month with another W-T-F.

Well, I’m not sure if this W-T-F start is really a bad omen or not. But you might want to dig out that rabbit’s foot or burn some incense just to be on the safe side.
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I had previously wondered about 2025 starting out as a potentially bad year, and the news from New Orleans didn’t make me feel any better. I guess it’s only natural to wonder about the future. For years I’ve been fascinated by Nostradamus. I’ve read a about him over the years and some of his predictions that he made so long ago appear to have been pretty accurate. I agree that a lot of what he wrote was kind of vague and subject to interpretation, but without using much imagination, some of his writings seem pretty accurate. The only other “seer” that I’ve read much about is Baba Anga, who’s also made some pretty amazing predictions.

In case you’re not familiar with them, Nostradamus was a 16th-century French astrologer and physician. A book he published in 1555 — Les Propheites — contains over 900 4-line “stanzas” that have been interpreted as predictions of future events. Baba Vanga was a Bulgarian mystic and healer that lost her sight at a young age. Even with her disability, she became renowned for her accurate predictions, including significant events like the Chernobyl disaster and the 9/11 strikes.

I was curious and did some extensive research to see if either of these prophets had predicted anything that might happen in 2025. Of course, you can find anything you want on the Internet, but I found an interesting article that indicated recent interpretations of both their prophecies suggest they foresee severe global challenges in 2025.

Nostradamus warned, “the ancient plague will be worse than enemies.” That may indicate that Europe may face another pandemic along with “cruel wars.” He also highlighted natural disasters, and predicted that Brazil will experience volcanic activity and deadly flooding. 

Baba Vango predicted conflict would erupt between two countries in mainland Europe, leading to devastating consequences. She suggested that these events could trigger a global apocalypse. And — she envisioned alien encounters during major global events and anticipated that humans would achieve perfect telepathy during the year. But — on a darker note, she predicted a “Martian war” with aliens. 

Naturally, interpretations of Nostradamus and Baba Vanga’s prophecies vary —some view their predictions as literal, but others think they carry symbolic meanings. No matter… both of them evoke fear and fascination because of their forecasts of war and chaos. 
One of the reasons Nostradamus, especially, has captivated audiences is that many of his predictions have proven to be correct. He is credited with foreseeing the rise of Adolph Hitler, the French Revolution, and the assassination of John F. Kennedy. His predictions also included the COVID pandemic and the 9/11 attacks. As I mentioned earlier, Baba Vanga accurately predicted the Chernobyl disaster, but she also predicted the death of Princess Diana, and the emergence of ISIS, so she has a pretty good reputation as a powerful seer.

So as we enter 2025, it’ll be interesting to keep Nostradamus and Baba Vanga’s predictions in mind. They both warn of conflict, pandemics and global catastrophes. So both believers and skeptics can make their case. But I’m especially interested in the alien invasion prediction. I’ve been reading a lot about drone sightings over New Jersey…. just sayin……
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Hello 2025,
In 2024 I met suffering, sadness, trauma and misery.
And — grief came into our house.
I welcome you with no expectations or resolutions and I hope you will be kinder and take nothing from me.
— 30 —

A couple of days ago I talked about some of the more famous “drops” that occur on New Year’s Eve. But it occurred to me that I’ve welcomed in the new year in lots of places over the years and a lot of those places have some odd traditions.

Here in the U.S. we tend to celebrate with fireworks, parties, festive food and booze and of course a lot of people think its’s necessary to sing Auld Lang Syne.  But in some parts of the world the new year is celebrated with their own traditions — many of them handed down for many years, but still practiced. A few of these traditions I’ve witnessed in person and some I’ve heard about from others…. I thought it might be interesting to mention a few.

I remember in the Philippines they had what I thought was strange tradition — on New Year’s Eve round was the king. Round fruits were consumed, and clothing with round patterns (circles or polka dots) were worn. The shape was thought to bring good luck. Coins are round, and those represented prosperity.
The Greeks have a new year tradition of hanging an onion on their door. It’s said to symbolize rebirth, as the onion peels away to revel many layers. They also have a tradition that parents should gently bop their kids on the head with an onion to wake them up on New Year’s Day. 

I’ve never witnessed it, but effigies of famous people, newsworthy politicians, and cartoon characters are set on fire on New Year’s Eve in Ecuador. The effigies are usually of a relevant figure representing the year that’s past — the burning represents cleansing the bad and welcoming in the good.
If you’re in Japan at midnight on December 31, you’ll hear bells ring 108 times. It’s a practice called Joya-no-Kane. The bells are rung from Buddhist temples all across the country. The number 108 represents what is known in the faith as the “Earthly temptations.” I haven’t been there in a number of years, but I’d bet that tradition is still followed.

Finland has a really unique New Year’ Eve activity that has a fortune-telling aspect to it….
Finns melt a mini tin horseshoe in a pan until it completely melts and turns to liquid. Then they pour the metallic goo into a cold bucket of water, that instantly cools it and it becomes solid again. Whatever shape the melted horseshoe takes is said to represent what’s to come in the new year. I would guess they’d wish for a heart, or four-leaf clover or something like that….

We were with our friends the Oxforts for number of years on New Year’s Eve and they shared a German tradition — in Germany (especially southern Germany) everyone ate a Berliner doughnut (Called Krapfen, I think) on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day. They are frosted doughnuts that were once reserved as a festive treat — the Oxforts usually used melty chocolate or vanilla cream. They’re really good with champagne, by the way.

There is an old tradition in Ireland of banging specially-baked Christmas bread against the walls. On New Year’s Eve the bread is thrown against doors and walls in your house. It’s supposed to help bat away lingering bad spirits and make some room for the good ones. Some of our friends from Ireland said it was a very old tradition and not practiced much today — but it does sound like fun.
In Scotland, they have a tradition known as “first-footing.” The first person to cross the threshold of a home after midnight should bring gifts like coal, shortbread, or whisky, symbolizing future prosperity.

A tradition  in Czechoslovakia involves cutting an apple in half to reveal the future. If there is a star in the core it suggest good fortune.
And Russians write their wishes on paper, burn them, and mix the ashes in champagne, symbolizing the infusion of hope and dreams into the New Year celebrations.

Everyone celebrates and starts the new year a little differently, but every tradition has it’s own charm and significance. I think it’s great that these customs bring people together and symbolize hope, renewal and joy for a fresh start.
So here’s to the New Year — my favorite toast goes something like, “May the tears you cried this year water the soil of next year.”
Happy New Year to all!!
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