Author Archives: Richard B. Griffin

Happy mingling among generations of family

Their names were Thomas and Bridget Keane, but to their children and grandchildren they were always Pop and Bird. They lived in Boston in the early years of the 20th Century, and raised four sons and two daughters. They were not rich, except in intelligence, affection and humor. Their faith was their bedrock, and education was valued far beyond any material success it might produce.

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Life Magazine

When I was growing up, my parents received Life magazine every week. It was a valuable source of information, especially for my father, who was a newspaperman. For me and my younger brothers and sisters, it provided entertainment, some of it scandalous.

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Offer For Help

Leaving the gym, I was walking down a flight of stairs to the sidewalk.  A few steps showed traces of snow and ice. I was gripping the banister tightly.  I had almost reached the bottom when I heard a young woman speak.

“Do you want some help?” she asked.

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Voters Less Sectarian

Something once said by the Danish philosopher Kierkegaard applies beautifully to old age as a vocation.  “What is it to be God’s chosen?,” he asks. “It is to be denied in youth the wishes of youth, so with great pains to get them fulfilled in old age.”

This vision of the later years as a time of fulfillment means that the last stages are the time when one’s life acquires its true meaning and becomes whole.

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