Ted Cruz's Father Gives Epic Speech

COMMUNION ON THE MOON

Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. (Melody Beattie) Americans need a day dedicated to gratitude. I have noticed that in the lineup of most of our holidays that Thanksgiving is perhaps the one least given over to secularism - the one we still observe in a traditional fashion. We need it to keep our focus clear and to teach our children what it means to be thankful for family, friendship and faith. We need a time to gather around the table with extended family and enjoy turkey and dressing and gravy, two kinds of potatoes, cranberries, hot rolls, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie and whipped cream. We need it, not for the calories, but to create an awareness that there are those who don’t have those blessings, because in the hectic pace of our everyday lives we tend to forget those in need. Family and food are important, but above all else, Americans need a rededication to our faith. Faith brought the pilgrims to the ne...

ANNIE, THE CAT'S MEOW

I first met Annie back in February 2004 after Milan told me to let him know what I wanted for for Valentine’s Day and he promised would get it for me no matter what it was. He has often joked that he should have have put some conditions on that. But he didn’t, and so I headed straight to the Humane Society animal shelter. It had been two long years since we had put our beloved Maine Coon cat to sleep, a big pile of what appeared to be nothing but fur, but had a huge heart hidden inside. We had named him Ollie in honor of Col. Oliver North who was our news hero at the time. I entered the cat compound at the Humane Society. There were only two cats inside, a brown tabby who ran to the other side of the pen away from me, and a little black and white girl who came running over to me and when I picked her up, she snuggled her head under my chin and began to purr. It was love at first sight. She was new there and they had not given her a name so I called her Annie. She was alway...

Monday will be Memorial Day. The mere mention of the holiday generates swirls of memories in my mind. Our observance of the day has probably undergone more changes in the seven decades I have lived than any other holiday we have throughout the year. Tradition tells us it started as a way to honor the Civil War dead, but soon included all military graves, and now we decorate the graves of friends and family, too. Graves have been replaced by urns containing ashes, and today many people have memorial services instead of funerals. I’m not making a judgment with regard to that, just recognizing that once again things that were familiar to me so long ago are becoming more rare today, like the fact that it is mostly the older generation who now decorates the graves. My Grandma Dame always called it Decoration Day. That was back when we observed it on May 30, regardless of what day of the week it fell on. I dislike the fact that it was changed in 1968 to the last Monday in May and...

Straight From The Hart

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