Greetings and salutations from Cardinal Drive in West Columbia, South Carolina, to all my friends and neighbors in real life and cyberspace, too.
For those of you who are keeping count with me, I am now 19 days out from my first hospital stay ever – and it was a doozie. Total knee replacement of my right knee with outpatient rehab twice a week and amazing caretaking by Pretty all the other days and nights, too.
Spike and Charly were quite undone by my overnight stay and ensuing intake of a substantial amount of pain pills plus mandatory trips to somewhere they weren’t allowed to go two days a week.
For the remainder of the time, however, they have become very protective of me 24/7. Charly now stays under my recliner when I raise my legs to watch tennis and/or Law and Order SVU. She refuses to move until she hears the lever squeak to get me up.
Bazinga. Oh and never forget the Big Bang Gang who have entertained Pretty and me for 12 out of 12 years. We shed several tears when we said goodbye to them this week. We are almost as tickled to watch the reruns as they will be to collect their residuals. I said almost.
Now what I started out to to say to all of you before I went down a rabbit hole with my dogs is that I am overwhelmed by your concern, good wishes for a speedy recovery, good food, cheering visits in our home as well as in cyberspace, and the general awesomeness of our friends and family during these last days and weeks. Pretty and I appreciate your support, kindnesses, thoughtfulness, generosity and expressions of love. We are beyond Thunder Dome grateful.
The photograph today was taken by Pretty this morning – she will win Best Caretaker in any contest that I judge – ever – so for her birthday this week I have ordered a Crown full of Stars.
My birthday this year is on Easter Sunday, April the 21st. I was born on an Easter Sunday in 1946 and my birthday has been on Easter Sunday one other time in 1957 when I was eleven years old. Get this, the next time April 21 is on an Easter Sunday is 2030. Eleven years from now, right? I find that weird, but apparently some kind of sun cycles occur at 11-year intervals every 62 years. Whatever. The End.
Earlier this week three special friends came over to play Shanghai to kick off my birthday week, and a fun time of laughter and luck made the time pass too quickly. Congratulations to our winner War Eagle Nan who consistently has good luck, Donna and Robin’s luck was so-so and they were able to pay Nan on the spot, but Pretty had bad luck. Poor Pretty had to venmo her losses to Nan. I was a close second to Nan who graciously forgave my 99 cents since I was the birthday girl after all.
My gifts included two bottles of champagne which are now down to one – we popped the cork and three of us drank one bottle that afternoon. I cannot lie. I was one of the three. I also received a delicious butter pound cake with the two sauces pictured above. Unfortunately, the pound cake was not available for the picture. Again, I cannot lie. Pretty has not had one bite of the pound cake.
Last, but not least, I also was given this lovely bogonia which has the most beautiful blossom colors – I love them. They remind me of the hope that springs eternal in this season.
This Easter and 73rd. birthday I will be with Pretty and other family members in the home that will soon have new sights and sounds with the arrival of a baby daughter in October. Our family will have much to celebrate as we eat the delicious food while we talk books, politics, sports and our new favorite topic: babies.
The hope of the resurrection of Jesus in the New Testament is, I believe, the experience of redemption we all are offered every day when we forgive each other our trespasses, speak truth to power and practice kindness as our highest calling.
Pretty was with our good friend Brenda this week when she found out we are having a granddaughter in October – and Brenda captured her immediate reaction…I love this picture, and I am beyond Thunder Dome excited about the baby girl who will be the center of attention and affection from so many family members.
Pretty and I celebrated at dinner with the parents-in-waiting last night and made name suggestions which were politely received but no cigar. (Oops – did someone just say cigar?)
We are also trying out names we want to be called by our granddaughter – that turns out to be more difficult than suggesting names for her. Never fear, we are on it. Any suggestions from our friends in cyberspace?
I would like to say this was photo shopped by my friend James Ray Couser from West Columbia, Texas when I saw it on his Facebook page today, but I pulled out my 1963 Gusher yearbook and there it was…
Okay – whoever thought up this pose for the Junior Class officers must have been smoking something other than cigarettes, and why I was holding a farm tool that was as tall as I was…well, all I can say is that I’m glad Charlotte and Claire thought it was funny – even then.
Thank you, James Ray, for resurrecting this picture. I have had a good laugh and enjoyed a flood of memories surrounding that time, place and the people in my life when I was seventeen. As you will probably remember, I will be 73 this year – actually two weeks from today – so this is a timely reminder of earlier days.
Much has been said about the new look of Congress as the halls of our nation’s highest legislative chambers began to swarm with new members who were sworn in and trying to find their offices during the first week of January, 2019. Like wow look how many women are moving in this year (117 women elected or appointed — 102 in the House and 10 in the Senate), like wow is this some kind of record number for women (it is – the highest number of women before was 89 in 2016), like wow this makes me so frigging happy (this last one was said by me).
Rep. Ayanna Pressley was the first black woman elected from the State of Massachusetts and had hoped to be assigned to Shirley Chisholm’s (first black woman elected to Congress in 1968) old office. The office assignments were done by a lotto system with Pressley drawing #38 which meant she had little opportunity to choose the office she wanted. However, luck wasn’t totally against her because another incoming freshman Rep Katie Hill (D – Cal) drew lucky #7 and switched with Pressley. Rep. Pressley moved in to Longworth 1130, Chisholm’s old office, while Rep. Hill was just down the hall in 1108.
During her 2018 campaign, then candidate Pressley often wore a $6 lapel button with the letters BYOC stamped on it. BYOC – bring your own chair – a reminder of the faith and commitment of Shirley Chisholm, the daughter of immigrants, in the American political system and the democratic process.
Both Reps. Pressley and Chisholm shared similar fights in their efforts to become elected to the House of Representatives. Chisholm who served in the House from 1969 – 1983 ran on the slogan “Unbought and Unbossed” as she defeated two other black candidates in the primary for the redrawn 12th District of New York in 1968. Against all odds Ms. Chisholm then defeated James L. Farmer, Jr. in the general election. Farmer, the former director of the Congress for Racial Equality, ran as a Libertarian.
Fifty years later in 2018 Candidate Pressley defeated ten-term incumbent Michael Capuano in the Democratic primary of the Massachusetts 7th. Congressional District, a district where the majority was not white. The 7th. District had been represented in the past by such Democratic legends as former President John F. Kennedy and Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill. Interestingly, contemporary icons of the black caucus in the House, Rep. John Lewis (D – Ga) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D – Cal), did not support Ayanna Pressley in her challenge to Congressman Capuano. No Republican ran against Ms. Pressley in the general election so her win in the primary assured her victory which sent her to the House to become a member of the history-making group of women elected to Congress in 2018.
“I am not the candidate of black America, although I am black and proud. I am not the candidate of the woman’s movement of this country, although I am a woman and equally proud of that. I am the candidate of the people and my presence before you symbolizes a new era in American political history.”
This was a quote taken from Shirley Chisholm’s announcement to enter the 1972 Democratic Presidential Primary as the first black woman to run for president in a major political party. Although she was unsuccessful in her bid, her courage planted a seed of belief that women deserved a place at the proverbial table. That belief continued to grow as more and more women of all shapes, colors, religious faiths, cultures, sexual orientation, ethnicity, political affiliations – women in all areas of the country ran for local, state and national elections during the next fifty years.
This past weekend I heard Rep. Pressley in an interview with Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC. I had heard her being interviewed before, but this one felt different for me. She had been invited to talk about her proposed amendment on a House bill to lower the voting age to 16. I confess I hadn’t really given a thought to lowering the voting age, but I have to say Congresswoman Pressley’s passion and rationale for Age 16 voting were impressive. The amendment had failed but she had convinced 122 other members to sign on – and had also received the support of Speaker Pelosi, which I assume for a freshman must be like having a coach pick you to play for your team during March Madness.
Boston, MA, 12/5/2018 — Congresswoman-elect Ayanna Pressley listens as a fellow City Councilor wishes her farewell at City Hall. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)Topic: 06ayannaReporter:
My ability to predict the future, let alone anyone’s political future, is notably suspect. However, I told Pretty the next morning I had just heard the first woman of color to be elected President of the United States talking with Lawrence O’Donnell. Forgive me, Senator Harris. I’m hoping I’m wrong.
I celebrate Representative Ayanna Pressley in Women’s History Month and have added her to my list of sheroes – a list that already included Shirley Chisholm. The time for change is upon us. We must have old memories and young hopes. And oh yes, by the way, I am now convinced 16 years is the perfect age for voting in these times when young people lead the way with their hopes for a better tomorrow.
I'll Call It Like I See It 
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