About 2 years ago, Mom gave me photos and asked that I make sure they got delivered to Cleo Donahue. She and Cleo — and Cleo’s husband, Gene — were great friends. If I remember correctly, they were super close when Dad was in Korea. Cleo is now in a nursing home and her daughter mailed photos to Scott.
Funny how times change, isn’t it?
I have a few printed photos but for the most part, everything is on my phone and stored in the cloud. A quick email and Ben could share the same photo with a whole bunch of people.
I don’t know why, but I’ve had lines of a song running through my head today. Good ole’ Merle Haggard. Never a country music fan, I don’t know why this popped out of my brain. I honestly don’t even remember my Dad performing it. The song, Are the Good Times Really Over, was released in 1982, and the lyrics are more fitting today than ever before. Just my opinion, of course.
I wish a buck was still silver
Back when the country was strong
Back before Elvis
And before the Vietnam war came along
Before The Beatles and “Yesterday”
When a man could still work and still would
Is the best of the free life behind us now?
And are the good times really over for good?
[Chorus]
Are we rolling downhill like a snowball headed for hell?
With no kind of chance for the flag or the Liberty Bell?
I wish a Ford and a Chevy would still last ten years like they should
Is the best of the free life behind us now?
Are the good times really over for good?
[Verse 2]
I wish Coke was still Cola
And a joint was a bad place to be
Back before everybody lied to us
All on TV
Before microwave ovens
When a girl could still cook and still would
Is the best of the free life behind us now?
Are the good times really over for good?
If you weren’t sort of singing that as you read it — and if you didn’t drop your voice real low in certain spots — we can’t be friends.
TIL (Today I Learned): A town in Arizona was terrorized in 2014 by gangs of wild chihuahuas. They chased children and pooped everywhere. Read about the rogue hounds that overran Maryvale…