by sheila morris
Look, Joe and other folks, number one is that you people are not listening to 61% of American citizens who want a ban on these assault rifles according to a Fox News Poll in April, 2023.
Thoughts and prayers are not enough. Ban the damn assault weapons, ban them all.
If not us, who? If not now, when?
Six years ago in the summer of 2017 I posted my version of British poet A.E. Housman’s classic poem “When I was One and Twenty” published in 1896 in a collection called A Shropshire Lad. Housman, who was born in 1859 and died in 1936 at the age of seventy-seven, had partially funded the publication of A Shropshire Lad following a publisher’s rejection. In today’s jargon, we call that self-publishing. The book has been in continuous print since then so somewhere in London a poetry publisher in the last decade of the nineteenth century cursed himself on a Roman British tablet…or on something equally appropriate for turning down this classic.
When I was one and twenty, my father said to me,
“Work hard, be kind to others, the truth will set you free;
a penny saved is a penny earned was his advice to me.”
But I was one and twenty, no use to talk to me.
When I was one and twenty, my father said again,
“Work harder, be smarter, but always be a friend;
love family, serve country, life’s games are played to win.”
And now I’m seven and seventy I hear my father say,
“You did your best, forget the rest, your heart led all the way.”
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Tomorrow is my 77th. birthday which I have celebrated with Pretty and our two best friends Nekki and Francie in the south of France for ten remarkable days filled with delicious food, three days at the Masters 1000 Tennis Tournament in Monte Carlo, and a day at the Cannes Films Festival (or “pre-festival” according to Pretty who knows everything about pop culture) where I donated my last American dollars to a casino next to the pink carpet.
The trip was on my short bucket list – a trip made possible through the generosity of our friends whose love and laughter made my bucket overflow with happiness. The time with Pretty is always special – luckily she came home with me but told me she would like to live in Nice for two years (if she could bring her granddaughters and their parents!).
(l. to r.) Francie, me, Pretty, Nekki – country come to town
Pretty and me at Matisse Museum
Francie and me grateful for bus
after unexpected downpour leaving Matisse Museum
Francie and Nekki on hotel rooftop
Pretty happy with setting, lunch and the polka dot hat
Thanks to our trip photographer Nekki for capturing some of our memory makers.
And thanks to all of you, my readers and followers who have also become my friends, for sharing part of my journey over the past thirteen years. Impossible to imagine that time without you.
Onward.
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Slava Ukraini. For the children.
the two OG cats post Carport Kitty
neighbor cat visits regularly
Charly getting white hair, too – but still always at my side
Carl’s life is as blurry as this picture with loss of hearing, vision –
but his smell for treats as healthy as ever
loyal old man Spike at his guard post: no retreat, no surrender
photo by mother Caroline
our granddaughters three year old Ella holds year old Molly
Okay, so I shamelessly stole the 2023 Oscar winner title for this little Monday morning personal multiverse that Pretty and I inhabit every day. Mea culpa. Enjoy – no goggles required.
Thankfully, all quiet on the Cardinal front today.
Stay tuned.
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Slava Ukraini. Lest we forget the war rages on.
Women’s History Month for Pretty and me begins with March Madness every year. While we fall woefully short of being perfect card-carrying lesbians in areas like do it yourself home improvements and/or knowing all the lyrics to Brandi Carlisle’s music – no disrespect to Brandi Carlisle whose songs we do love – we get better marks for being lesbian in two unrelated categories: devotion to our dogs (and now cats), obsession with sports (particularly women’s college basketball and professional tennis).
This first March weekend we kept I-26 hot driving a hundred miles north to Greenville, South Carolina from our home in West Columbia and riding the same hundred miles back on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to watch the University of South Carolina Gamecock Women’s basketball team play in the 2023 Southeastern Conference Tournament. We rode with two of our gay boys’ basketball buddies who cheer with us in our very loud Section 118 of the Colonial Life Arena during the regular season for every home game.
(clockwise) Garner, Brian, Pretty and me
standing in line on beautiful day in Greenville at Bon Secours Wellness Arena
Garner and me with Carolina logo featuring our
Gamecock mascot The General
Garner took this pic of me and ESPN analyst Holly Rowe on College Game Day
(Holly Rowe is the person in pink – Gamecock fans behind me)
Pretty and I love our Gamecock women’s basketball team
the smiling faces of Champions – 2023 SEC tournament
(2022-23 regular season Champions, too with perfect record of 16-0 in the conference)
Photo by DWAYNE MCLEMORE, The State Newspaper
Head Coach Dawn Staley also happy as she cuts the net
photo by DWAYNE MCLEMORE, The State Newspaper
Head Coach Dawn Staley was named SEC Coach of the Year for the sixth time in 2023 as she completes her 15th. season with the University of South Carolina; the 2023 Tournament Championship win marked the seventh SEC title in the past nine seasons. Coach Staley’s Gamecock teams have won National Championships in 2017 and 2022, but the best team may be her current one which has an overall record of 32-0 staying in the #1 spot of the AP Poll every week from the beginning of the year. The 16-0 regular season record for the Gamecock women made them conference champions for the sixth time under Coach Staley. This team is one for the record books, but what is a remarkable team without great players?
The names of seniors Aliyah Boston, Zia Cooke, Brea Beal, Laeticia Amihere, Victaria Saxton, Kiera Fletcher, and Olivia Thompson will leave behind a stellar history for women’s Gamecock basketball not only for their team championships on the basketball court but also individual records that set high standards for the players who come after them. These young women have been inspirational in their dedication to their craft, community, and loyal fans who look forward to following their futures.
Thank you, Coach Staley, for guiding your teams to greatness – it’s been such a fun ride for your fan base which includes Pretty and me. More than that, however, thank you for preparing your players for making our world a better place.
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Slava Ukraini. For the children.
Collins is in town and wants to go to the zoo, I texted Pretty yesterday afternoon; they’ve invited us to bring Ella and Molly to go with them. Collins is the five year old granddaughter of our good friends Francie and Nekki – Collins lives in Charleston but she and Ella went to the zoo together in the days before Molly was born so they weren’t strangers.
Do you think it’s too cold to take the girls to the zoo? Pretty texted back. Of course, we think any temperature below 60 degrees is freezing. I know, I know. Ask the people who live in other parts of the country about cold – they will laugh at us. Ella is our three year old granddaughter, Molly just turned one year old last week, and we’re worried about a sunny mid afternoon with temps in the 50s.
It’s a sunshiny day, I said, we’ll keep them warm. To the zoo we went.
Collins (left) and Ella in zoo’s fun photo booth
Francie and I crashed photo booth party –
think the little girls had more fun without us
we did see a tiger in between photo booth, carousel, playground…
and souvenir shop
Nana Pretty with grands watching the tiger –
Molly taken with big striped cat, Ella studying caves
Molly kept warm in stroller – had big time watching, absorbing new sights and sounds
put me down, Naynay – I’d rather walk
(won’t let he who shall remain nameless take my red hat away from me)
thanks to Nekki for this last screenshot with Pretty, me and the kids
this is how we roll with them now that Molly is walking, too
Ella lives in her own world – we are privileged to share it when it suits her.
Pretty sent this text to Francie and Nekki last night after we dropped Ella and Molly at home with their parents: “We had such a good time this afternoon. So funny to me that we now have our grandchildren playing together…”
Next week Pretty and I have our 22nd. Anniversary; these two friends have been with us from the beginning. I know for sure I never dreamed of having these awesome little girls in a million years, but I have celebrated family in new ways with Pretty who brings the fun with her sense of humor that still makes me – and now our granddaughters – laugh.
President John F. Kennedy said children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see. I love that idea and ask for wisdom to do my part in supporting these little girls with the same love, kindness, understanding and patience my grandmothers gave to me in a time long ago and far away but never forgotten.
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Slava Ukraini. For the children.
I'll Call It Like I See It 
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