A major disappointment for me: my nephew, Jack Griffin, did not get to buy the Boston Globe as he and his associates wished and I had hoped. Instead the New York Times sold the paper to the owner of the Boston Red Sox.
Jack would have brought to the Globe journalistic experience that John Henry, the new owner, lacks. Also Jack has deeper roots in the Boston area than Henry, allegedly a requirement of the seller.
I write with enthusiasm in celebration of your birthday. You may still feel mixed about such events, but for me, and many others of your friends, it’s an occasion for rejoicing. For me, it counts as a gift that you have lived so long. So thank you for continuing to provide so much pleasure for us who value your friendship.
I will raise more than one glass of red wine in your honor. May you continue to find pleasure in your family members and friends for whom your life continues to be so important.
Were you to be asked which country least needs to urge its young adults to visit their parents, what nation would you choose? Almost surely China, right?
Wrong! This July, the government there put into practice a new law requiring them to do so. It’s called “Protection of the Rights and Interests of Elderly People.” And it means business.
A party at the home of our next-door friends and neighbors, Emily and George, proved notable for more than the cherries picked from their backyard tree and eaten by us guests. It also brought together ten adults, both old and young.
Today, April 18, 2013, would seem to be an important day in American history. Yet, the occasion has attracted precious little media attention. You might expect many notices hailing the arrival of the Digital Public Library of America. The DPLA, after all promises “to make the holdings of America’s research libraries, archives and museums available to all Americans—and eventually to everyone in the world—online and free of charge.”
Nothing has proven itself once more. After spending hours trying to find a password to suit my new printer, I was in despair. Why did it not answer any of my reliable code words built up over the years?
As I came out of my house one afternoon, so did a neighbor come out of his, three houses away. When he saw me, he turned toward me and to my astonishment called out “Habemus Papam.” These words, meaning “We have a Pope,” astounded me.
First, I could not recall hearing Latin spoken on our short street before that day. And, more surprisingly, the neighbor who spoke them is Jewish. He did graduate from a Jesuit university, a fact that may have stirred feelings about the new pope, a Jesuit.
By using the unexpected phrase, my neighbor made me feel new solidarity with him.