Category: history
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A Mexican Carnaval Cavalcade
I have temporarily escaped the wintry weather at home to enjoy a warmer climate in the mountains of Mexico. The groups of Mexicans milling about puzzled me. Were they waiting for a bus? But there were too many, and as I maneuvered jam-packed sidewalks, I figured out this was more than a casual Sunday afternoon…
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Bridging the Times from Generation to Generation
I was ten years old when Uncle Ed died. His wife, my Aunt Jean, was Grandma Rose’s sister. My grandfather helped Aunt Jean sort out her life and move on after Uncle Ed passed. Grandpa sat at his dining room table, papers strewn everywhere, working on Aunt Jean’s stuff. Aunt Jean had never written a…
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Summer Unofficially Arrives on a Holiday Weekend
Life changes overnight when you live in a summer resort town. Most of the year the pace of life is, if not quite slow, laid-back. Parking is easily located next to, or close to, your destination. Traffic lights are a nuisance, but quickly passed through. I encounter no lines at stores, and restaurants are rarely…
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An Almost Disastrous 1979 Event Remembered
My family moved into our new home in southcentral Pennsylvania one day after a snowstorm in February 1979. Me, my husband Steve and our two sons – three-year-old Matthew and one-year-old Jason – had barely settled in when upheaval temporarily disrupted our lives. The historic episode that placed my family and community in danger began…
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Futures
Mom celebrated her 100th birthday the first weekend of the New Year. Born January 2, 1925, her life embraced college, life as a wife and mother, a career as an elementary school librarian, and a meaningful retirement as a volunteer, avid traveler, and family matriarch. If asked today what tomorrow will bring, she would most likely…
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Fact, Fiction, and Myths of Thanksgiving
In elementary school we colored pictures of Pilgrims and Indians dressed in clothes they wore in the 17th century – or so we assumed. Pilgrims and Indians were friends – we presumed. We gathered around our family table and devoured delicious dishes the Pilgrims and Indians ate 400 years ago – or so we thought. …
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Election time! Vote! Especially women!
I voted! I marked my mail-in ballot for my President of choice and my selection for Senator from New Jersey. Please everybody VOTE in this important election year. Especially women. Our predecessors worked long and hard for the right to vote… The first women’s rights convention in the United States was held in Seneca Falls,…
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The Demise of the Passenger Pigeon
I doubt anyone or anything – newspapers, magazines, TV news shows, or tweets – will commemorate the landmark event of September 1, 1914. No drum roll, no banners, just a sad asterisk in history. On September 1, 1914, Martha, believed to be the world’s last passenger pigeon, died. The passenger pigeon numbered in the billions…