On memories and love
On occasion, I tune into PBS to view their broadcast of “Finding Your Roots.”
I have observed a common thread through most of the episodes and from most of the celebrities they have researched. The consistent admission is that most of their families talked very little about their ancestors and relatives such that they knew little or nothing about their heritage. I found that to be profoundly surprising and sad until I realized that I myself knew very little about my heritage, in any kind of detail.
So why have I reached this epiphany now?
The primary and most heartfelt reason this subject is so meaningful to me at this point is because of a promise. This past June, I lost the most precious part of my entire life, my wife of 51 years and my most loving and best friend. She battled a yearlong disease knowing all that time that there was no cure. She was the bravest person I have ever seen. It was hard for her to understand how this happened, but there was no anger, complaining or bitterness.
We were forced into many difficult discussions and many heart wrenching decisions. One of the “promises” I made to her was that I would keep her memory alive, not only in me, but also with friends and relations. By doing that, she would still be here, part of our souls and our minds. I talk to her daily and talk about her with others and will do so for as long as I am here. Is it difficult to bring up some of those memories — very much so. But the beautiful thoughts outweigh the sad ones.
So, my suggestion is: Keep the memories of those you have lost “alive,” it keeps them alive. Tell your children, grandchildren, friends and relatives about them. Encourage them to feel free to ask about who they were and what they did and how much they meant to you, through your memories, pictures, videos or whatever means possible. They deserve to live on — not to be forgotten.
Jeffrey Runyon,
Brunswick
The ‘elephant’ in college funding isn’t what we think
Tom, that story is really old. All of us have heard it, many of us have lived it. I could describe the things I did to go to college in the ’60s, but it would be about as boring. But you claim that easy money has driven up college costs, and that’s wrong
In the ’50s-’80s, states paid for a significant part of college costs, and you and I benefited. They did it because they had the anachronistic idea that education was an asset for the nation, so the nation should participate.
After the ’80s state funding declined slowly by 30% in total, and then when the 2008 recession happened, state and federal funding dropped sharply.
But the subsequent job situation has made it hard for some to pay off those loans. Tom, those kids grew up like you and I did, they did not have rich parents, or they would not have been eligible for needs-based loans!
They did not create the 2008 crisis, nor did they create the pandemic. We need to give them a break.
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