Columns

Thanks for the wonderful days, Jack

Every night, just before bed, he’d thank his bride of 70 years for giving him another wonderful day on Earth. That was the sweet-hearted nature of Jack Krieger, my family’s next-door neighbor for more than 30 years.

Civics lessons for the Fourth

You can become an American citizen by being born in the U.S. or you can become one by getting “naturalized.” Becoming naturalized is a heck of a lot harder. It not only means having to meet all the legal and residency requirements Congress has established, it means passing a U.S.

Craving a buffet rebirth?

“Buffets Are Back — With New Policies and Gloves,” blared the headline recent on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. That was welcome news for my pandemic-weary family. I was afraid such wide-open dining would go the way of the dinosaur. (“Look out!

Honk if you see the ball

There are still a few of us of a certain vintage who remember the rough-and-ready days of Evangeline League baseball, where rivalries were so hot that at most games you were more likely to see a big brawl than a double play.

Free speech extends to students, too

One of the first cases I studied at Villanova was Tinker v. Des Moines, a seminal case in free speech and student’s rights. In December of 1965, the week I turned four, a group of high school students in Des Moines Iowa decided to wear black armbands to class in protest of the Vietnam War.

The language of abortion changes, but not the reality

We use euphemisms to soften reality. We do it all the time when forced to discuss things we would rather not discuss or even acknowledge. Death comes to mind. I’ve completed an exhaustive study and determined that death affects one out of one human beings.

Political emails reach new lows

With Joe Biden’s presidency nearing the six-month mark, the Republican National Committee sent out a “Biden Report Card”—a poll in which Biden’s performance is graded from A to F. The RNC email begins, “Friend, Let’s be clear. Joe Biden is a FAILURE.

Is your refrigerator running?

If some retro prankster had asked me a week ago, “Is your refrigerator running?,” my reply would have been, “It’s complicated.” (Actually, I would have reported the scamp to the authorities. In these enlightened times, “Is your refrigerator running?

A summer perch in a mulberry tree

As you may have surmised one of my favorite things to do is to poke around in old newspapers, looking for little items that reflect the character of a place or of the times, or that just catch my fancy.

Sinning is bad, but not being sorry is worse

When I was in the second grade, I got myself into a bit of a theological pickle. Enchanted to the point of obsession by the art teacher’s collection of beads and baubles, I pinched a string of glass pearls one day when Sister Inez wasn’t looking.