As I look back on my elementary school days, I see friends long gone and I wonder what happened to them.  There was William (we didn’t use nicknames ‘til later) who was usually one of the first to be caught in the game of ring-o-leavio, and who seemed to come from a sad background, but he took a liking to me.  His family probably moved away, because one year and forever I missed him.

Then there was Edith, a stunning blonde who lived down the street from us for a while.  Her father was the famed Dutch Leonard, of athletic fame, (I can’t remember if it was baseball or basketball) but I paid her little attention.  You see, I was enamored of a different girl, a brunette who later turned me down for the junior prom, and yes, also the senior prom (I had a habit of tardiness).

Life has the most amusing and anguishing incidents to keep us occupied.  When it comes toward the end, all is forgiven, and all is remembered with joy.

I don’t ever recall speaking to a student like a Dutch (Deutsch) Uncle, but I do meet adults younger than me nowadays whom I want to address in such a way for their incompetence, laziness and fraud.  The other day I was having my car serviced and after I got the bill, being 86 years old, I remembered my warranty.  My service agent, named Tim, said my warranty had elapsed.  Horse manure.  When I got home I checked, and it won’t elapse until March of next year.

Don’t get me wrong. I have forgiven that incompetent, for I say the Our Father every day, but I do feel he needed a verbal dressing down.  It cost me around $400 dollars, and that’s nothing I sniff at.  But let it be.

I value my peace of mind far above my demands for justice.  There is a quietness in being in the presence of a brother like the Lord.  He’s brought far more changes than I ever could with my puny indignation.

The world you see, and I see now, is part of the world I helped create.  Not all my students went into public life, as did Steve Israel, but they formed part of the solid underpinnings of which my son is now a part.  My influence may have been miniscule, but I did pray often, and never underestimate the power of prayer.  Through prayer I have been part  of a gigantic wave that sweeps over this country daily.

I feel connected not only to my fellow Catholics here in the East, but to the many Evangelicals who have voted with us throughout the rest of the country.  I feel sorry for the Left, which has played up to get the Black vote, a mere 14% of the country.  But they and the media have played dirty pool, and the time of reckoning is approaching.

I feel it is not just the coming election (even though the Left has promised trouble) but the future of this God blessed nation.  May my grandchild, and my son and daughter-in-law reap the results of our hard work.

It happened after I got out of St. Francis Hospital to receive a pacemaker.  The doctor had warned me not to make any important life decisions for several days after the operation.  But I needed a new car, and it wouldn’t hurt to look in the show room for a new Chevy.  Well, before the day was gone, I had signed for a new, year-old Impala, which I was going to finance through Chase.  I got their letter a day late: “We find the price for this car is far beyond its value.”

My wife recalled that the following day I was in the show room, shouting at the administrators.  But it was no use, I had signed the day before.  The purpose of this composition is to show you how God makes it up to us for our worst mistakes.  First of all, I have had no serious accidents with this car.  Second, the price included two warranties, which saved me a bundle.  And third, it was a fairly big car, so the occupants were relatively safe if we got hit.  All of these things are important in life, and I’d probably have missed their value a few weeks later.

All I can say, is “Amazing grace.”

It comes at unexpected moments, sometimes when you are half awake at four o’clock in the morning.  It could only be the Holy Spirit at that time, so be respectful.  If it’s something that doesn’t work in print, it’s you, so don’t be concerned.

Life is meant to be multi-faceted; it’s part of its wonder.  We are so under-impressed by the marvels around us, that anybody out to astound the human race must get discouraged.  Where is the awe, the wonder, the praise?

Of course, then there are the books about which you wonder, how did they ever get into print?  Whoever started thinking along that line?  Well, there are millions of humans and some unlucky fellow is going to come up with that thought.  May I stick with the spirit that inspired my best seller, The Last Torpedo.