Which raises the question: Why do Beijing residents steal toilet paper? China is where paper was invented, it ought to be cheaper than rice.
Friday, March 24
Big butts
"The Chinese government responded to toilet-paper thieves in Beijing's public restrooms by installing dispensers with facial-recognition software, which allows each visitor only one sheet, approximately two feet in length, every nine minutes. 'The sheets are too short,' said one visitor." (Source: Harper's Weekly Review, Online, March 24, 1957)
Wednesday, March 1
Defend Freedom of the Press
Last fall when the Green Bay Packers won and lost record was 4 and 6, their outstanding quarterback Arron Rodgers told everyone to relax and said the team could run the table. Under his leadership, they did exactly that. They won the final six games of the regular season and the first two games of the playoffs until they lost to Atlanta in the NFL championship game.
As thrilling as this epic sports story may be, it is not a guide as to how everyone should react to the threat facing freedom of the press at this moment in the history of our country.
President Donald J. Trump labels the press the enemy of the people. His outrageous and inaccurate public statements, ridiculous and sometimes insulting late night twits, along with denying accredited reporters access to press conferences in the White House are all part of the same objective: to weaken the confidence of the American people in the press and news media. The goal is to manipulate public opinion to his interests. Throughout history, people like President Trump and members of his White House staff believe if a statement, “alternative fact” or absolutely stupid utterance, whether true or not, is said frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.
As Americans, regardless of how we voted, we cannot just sit back and hope the U.S. Supreme Court will come to the aid of freedom of the press as they did on June 30, 1971, when it overturned the Nixon administration’s effort to restrain The New York Times and The Washington Post from publishing a top-secret history of the Vietnam War called the Pentagon Papers.
We must be proactive. Freedom of the press depends on every citizen in every walk of life, What can Mr. & Mrs. Average America do? First and foremost: stay informed. Subscribe and read a variety of news publications, e.g. dailies, weeklies, and monthly magazines. Another good way is to watch a variety of news broadcasts and talk shows as time permits. Do not be taken in by glib statements about promises kept.
Thomas Jefferson said a lot of things; the one I remember the most is that given a choice of government without a free press or a free press without government, he would choose the latter. I side with Jefferson.
Friday, February 10
Lost appetite
As Published in The Post and Courier, Charleston, SC,
Feb. 10, 2017
It is Sunday morning. I am enjoying my coffee and have finished the front and Opinion sections of the newspaper. As I start on my second cup, I pause to express my dismay to learn from Steve Bailey’s “S.C.’s poverty wage trap.” a worker at Church’s Chicken in North Charleston is paid $8 an hour. In this day and age? In this community? In an environment where food workers have minimum opportunity for tips this is unsatisfactory to this reader who enjoys fried chicken occasionally. But not anymore from Church’s.
Sincerely,
/s/ Francis X. Archibald
Sunday, February 5
The horrific cost of racial prejudice
A reminder...
Years ago, I wrote book reviews for The State, Columbia, S.C. These were of new books thought to be of interest to eclectic readers of the newspaper. It isn’t necessary, however, for a book to be fresh off the publisher’s presses to warrant a review.
If a stimulating book hasn’t been read earlier a review is still justified in spite of its having been published more than 15 years ago. I finished such a book this week.
In 2000, David Lehr, M.D., published “Austria Before and After the Anschluss,” sub-titled, “Personal Experiences, Observations, and Comments.” (Dorrance Publishing Co., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222, 361 pp.)
In this memoir, Dr. Lehr, the Professor Emeritus at New York Medical College, whose research work has been published worldwide, succeeded in reminding us of the horrific cost of racial prejudice.
Dr. Lehr was born in Austria and had completed his studies as a doctor when the Germans took over Austria in March 1938. Rather than being the first victim of Hitler’s Germany, as some Austrians claim, Austria welcomed the Nazis, according to Dr. Lehr. In many instances, Austrian Nazis outdid their German counterparts in hostile actions against Jews and other minorities. Antisemitism was the order of the day.
(Germany began some material compensation of Jewish victims of Nazi persecution around 1951, while it took Austria more than another 40 years to follow suit.)
In Vienna, Dr. Lehr writes, Jewish-owned automobiles were confiscated, homes and businesses looted and taken over, bank accounts seized, students kicked out of school, and men, women. and children were assaulted in the streets, all simply because they were Jews.
Jews who wanted to emigrate while it was still possible were unable to take any money with them and had to sign over all their possessions before they could obtain an exit visa. Without a friend or relative in a foreign country willing to help people were stranded without recourse. Eventually, most of these same people were rounded up, sent to concentration camps, and ultimately killed.
(Holocaust victims are estimated to number 11 million, six million of which were victims simply because they were Jews.)
In his 90th year, Dr. Lehr wrote of his struggle throughout the 1930’s with his medical studies, some eventful incidents in his practice, and the personal tragedy of his family, which miraculously managed to be united years later in the United States. When the Anschluss occurred on March 13, 1938, life for Jews took the most unimaginable and dreadful turn. The horror which awaited them (and the other Jews of Europe) was unknown, unprecedented and terrible in its outcome.
There were isolated positive encounters with “the very best and noble in Austria’s truly patrician stock,” but these were few and far between before and after the Anschluss. Dr. Lehr makes the point that remembering a positive act by a caring person stands out forever in a maelstrom of horror.
Dr. Lehr felt a responsibility “to lay bare the tragic truth of the Austrian Holocaust.” He felt it was owed to the fallen Jews of Austria and to history. I believe he has done a good job of it.
Monday, January 16
Hidden Figures
When the credits began to roll at the end of Hidden Figures I sat in my seat and then began to clap my hands and slowly other customers joined in and applauded the film and the captivating story based on actual events it portrays. The applause continued for a minute or so and then we began to file out of the theater.
Variety's chief film critic Peter Debruge has nailed a detailed review of this film spot on. If you think a story about three talented, capable, strong and determined African-American women and the race to put Americans in space and on the moon is some sort of fantasy, then read his review and better yet go see the movie.
It is a wonderful film, suitable for all ages and makes me proud to be an American. Not proud of race relations in the last century, but proud that an overwhelming majority of Americans overcame prejudice and recognized the talents of people whose skin color was different from ours.
In these, the early years of the 21st Century we still have a long road to travel to truly be "one nation under God," but the story of these three women should help us travel that road.
Sunday, January 15
Leave your dog at home
On Sunday I saw a picture in The Post & Courier, Charleston, SC, of Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster sitting at his desk in the Lt. Gov.’s office playing with his bulldog Boots. McMaster is due to become Governor of SC when Mrs. Haley moves on to the United Nations next week. Will the dog be in the Governor’s office?
I thought this is some kind of crapola. Who does McMaster think he is bringing his dog to the office? Bobby Kennedy, who brought some big hound called Brutus, I believe, to the Attorney General’s suite in the Justice Department, and scared dozens of government employees. Franklin Roosevelt who had Fala by his side all the time; I cut FDR some slack since the White House was where he lived and worked.
Obviously, I am out of touch with many current opinions and practices. Today men marry men, women marry other women, some men take up with goats, etc, etc. You get the picture that yesterday’s “aren’t done's” are today’s “par for the course.”
Nestle’s, for example, allows its 1,000 plus employees to bring their dogs into its City Place headquarters in Gatwick, Scotland, daily.
Slate has published an extensive article on the subject. I found it interesting among these pros and cons someone finally asked, “what does the dog think about all this?”
Personally, I believe if a dog likes to run around, bark at the delivery man, chase cats, and bite people who think his tongue hanging out of his mouth is an invitation to pet him, he should stay home and greet you at the door with a tennis ball in his mouth.
Now all the dog lovers in the world need not jump all over my bones. It is simply this man’s opinion that dogs are probably better off at home and non-dog owning employees ought to be allowed to get on with the work at hand without having to acknowledge the boss's dog.
Saturday, January 7
Putin Influenced the 2016 Election
President-elect Donald Trump’s ego is so huge he cannot let himself believe his election was aided by Russian preference for him over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Yet, the American Intelligence Community has made the assessment that the Russian government, at the direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin, did in the 2016 election cycle conduct an influence campaign combining cyber activity with overt efforts by Russian Government agencies, state funded media, third-party intermediaries and paid social media users or “trolls.” (The full report can be found here.)
The goal of this influence campaign was to discredit Secretary Clinton, compare her unfavorably with Candidate Trump, and cast doubt on the fairness of the democratic election process in America.
There is no evidence that voting machines or ballot counting processes were compromised. Such was not the goal of the influence campaign. The goal was to work on people’s minds, on their thinking and ultimately affect their decisions. We know Secretary Clinton won the popular vote by more than 2 million. (President-elect Trump claims he won the popular vote “if you discounted millions who voted illegally.” No one has found those illegal voters.)
The election was decided by the voters in three key states: The differences are in Michigan 11,900, in Wisconsin 22,871, and in Pennsylvania, 68,236. These three states account for 46 electoral votes. If Clinton had won these states, she could have sealed the presidency with 274 total electoral votes.
South Carolina is where I have made my home since 1959. I am originally a native of Massachusetts, but I have come to deeply love South Carolina and the people in it. All of this despite the fact that this is a Red state, one of many, and the good lord himself, running in this day and age as a Democrat, would likely run second.
South Carolina was one of only six states to vote for Barry Goldwater in 1964 and has voted Republican since, except in 1976 when it voted for fellow southerner Jimmy Carter. Voters in South Carolina were not likely targets of the Russian influence campaign, many were undoubtedly unaware of it and have difficulty, like President-elect Trump, in believing it.
The Russian influence campaign was not aimed at Red states. It was aimed where people are likely to shift from time to time, to put it bluntly where thinkers still live. It doesn't take much to swing a vote. If you can find a little doubt that is where to go to work. Plant a seed, nurture it, repeat it over and over and a vote is swung. This was the purpose of the Russian influence campaign designed to be helpful to now President-elect Donald Trump.
Trump Needs Blind Trust
Letters to the Editor
The Post & Courier
Charleston, Sc 29401
Dear Sirs:
I don't begrudge President-elect Trump his holdings, reportedly an interest in some 500 enterprises all over the world. I am, however, in that part of the citizenry that says Mr. Trump ought to put these holdings into a blind trust, not have them continue to be actively managed by his children. I am talking about a trust so opaque sixty forensics scientists with magnifying glasses could not figure out where anything is.
Mr. Trump cancelled a news conference scheduled for December 15 to discuss this issue but promised to do so before he is sworn in on January 20th. If this is like making his tax returns transparent I won’t hold my breath.
It doesn’t matter how smart Mr. Trump is, when he is President Trump he is going to get new information and fresh news every waking moment of his life. This knowledge is going to impact his decision making - whether on behalf of the country or himself - particularly if he remains conversant with his holdings as “managed” by his children. It will be supremely impossible to do otherwise.
What does a conflicted President of the United States do if the leader of country X threatens to wipe out the President’s holdings in X unless the United States does what X wants? Knuckle under? Sacrifice a pile of wealth? Go to war?
Published December 23, 2016
Thursday, December 22
"Workers on routine" - an appreciation
From 1962 to 2016, the population of the United States increased to 322 million, up from 186.5 million, an increase of more than 72 percent. This remarkable growth went unnoticed on a daily basis by most Americans, until, like drivers on the LA freeways, they began to suspect all the growth was in their backyard.
One part of the American scene that did not keep pace with this bursting through the seams growth was the federal workforce. Every two years, however, politicians rant about the size of government and promise to cut back the number of federal employees.
Over the last fifty years or so, the federal civil service grew at a slower rate than the population it serves despite the needs and demands for services which became more complex and diversified with the increasing population. (Fair Disclosure: I worked federal civil service from 1960 to 1979 in national security management positions.)
There are 2.663 million federal civil service workers and more than half of these are employed in three agencies: Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and the Veterans Administration. The man on the street would probably agree these workers are essential to security and safety and the care of those who bore arms for America.
President Lyndon Johnson referred to federal employees “as workers on routine.” This “routine” has become more complex and the skills and competence required more demanding as the years have passed. Analytical ability, judgment, discretion and personal responsibility are the norms today, a far cry from the mostly clerical workers of the 1950s.
Cabinet head appointments are all the news right now with a new administration being formed. But it is the “workers on routine” who will continue to explore the universe, hunt for criminals, attend to the public health, send out the Social Security checks, and backstop the servicemen and women who defend the shores.
(The statistics in this overview came from the January 2017 issue of narfe, publication of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association.)
Thursday, December 15
Bean soup and the third rail of politics
Question of the Day: When the dining room is serving two-bean soup and the two people ahead of you each get a bean does this mean your soup is only water?
Buckle your seatbelt: The political roller coaster train left the station on November 8 and has been slowly climbing to the highest peak where on January 20th the brakes will release and America will begin a rocking and rolling four-year ride the likes of which have never been experienced in this country. The era of Trumpism will have begun. We will all be screaming our lungs out before it is over.
Celebrating the centenary of the Russian Revolution: Most of the old Bolsheviks of the last century are long gone (good riddance). Nevertheless, next year will note the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution and it will be interesting to see to whom homage is paid. Lenin is hardly mentioned these days; Stalin continues to have some mileage, but all those who came after him are minor leaguers. Khrushchev almost started a world-ending nuclear war but that’s a negative even diehard old Soviets are likely to ignore. Sheila Fitzpatrick wrote in the Diary (London Review of Books, Dec. 1, 2016) that in the early days of Communism passive peasants listened and agreed to everything proposed to them at village meetings until at the last moment someone yelled “fire” and the whole crowd vanished before signing. Something similar probably awaits all the hoopla Putin will throw at the Russian people (and the rest of the world) for whom the Revolution is an “outright embarrassment.”
54 Million Will Die Cursing: Congressional Republicans want to shrink the size of government and lower taxes. There is talk of “privatizing” Medicare or issuing “vouchers,” but a better topic would be increasing mental health services for anyone who votes to take Medicare away from 54 million people, most of whom are seniors. Seniors may have a reputation for not being able to remember what they had for breakfast but take away a benefit like Medicare and their final words will be a life long curse on those who voted to do so. Tip O”Neill said it best decades ago: “Medicare is the third rail of politics, touch it and you’re dead.”
Saturday, December 10
Brushing, walking and the next SC governor
Rest with the Angels, John Glenn.
About every month or so, sometimes two, life gives you a kick in the butt. I got my Nov-Dec kick, when, during a period of two weeks, I carried an Oral-B Model 1000 electric toothbrush around to two Wal-Mart stores and a CVS drug store looking for replacement brushes. No luck. At the CVS a sales lady helped select some brushes and said they would fit my model. I asked to try them. She said I had to buy them first, so I did. Then we cut the package open, they didn’t fit, and she reversed the sale. After “no luck” at the second Wal-Mart, I tried to order on-line. I learned Braun stopped making the Model 1000 in July 2015 and are now selling a upgraded version: the Oral-B Pro 1000. No one in the three stores knew the Model 1000 was discontinued.
A man, in his 80s, walked strangely when he came to breakfast one morning. His wife immediately went on alert. When he finished and walked away from the table he walked in the same odd way. The worried wife called 911 and took him to the ER. She waited and started calling family. Shortly a young doctor came out of the ER smiling and told the wife her husband was OK. “He just put both legs in one opening of his underpants and when he finishes re-dressing he will be out.”
Dreams do come true department: Henry McMaster, an attorney, former federal prosecutor and currently South Carolina Lieutenant Governor, will finally achieve his long held dream of being Governor when Governor Nikki Haley is confirmed as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; she having been chosen by President-elect Donald Trump. McMaster, one of the most aggressive self-promoters in S.C. politics is likely to start campaigning for a full term as Governor in 2018 while he serves the last two years of Haley’s term.
When he was U.S. Attorney for South Carolina, Mr. McMaster was the master of the press release and self promotion. According to Wikipedia: “His actions were criticized as transparently political, with journalist Lee Bandy writing that ‘no one can recall any other U.S. attorney being so public-relations conscious’ and noting that McMaster had produced more press conferences and news releases than all of his predecessors combined.”
Self-promotion worked for Mr. Trump, and Mr. McMaster was one of his earliest S.C. supporters.
Saturday, December 3
You can go back again
Tuesday next will be two weeks since I returned to Independent Living at Franke at Seaside in Mount Pleasant, S.C., where I lived from 2008 to 2013. Coincidentally, one of the thousands of pictures on my computer that popped up as a screensaver was a picture I took more than five years ago while the fountain in the small park in front of the apartment houses was being built.
The fountain was completed in March 2011 and continues to flow and life goes on. The reception from friends I lived among years ago has been warm and gracious. New acquaintances are likewise friendly. Life is good.
Sunday, November 27
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
A fresh beginning
On November 9, the morning after the election I posted this note on my Facebook page: “Congratulations to the winners in Tuesday's elections across the country. Now it is time to go forward in peace and harmony to build the best future for all Americans.”
On November 22, I left Moss Creek Plantation in Hilton Head, but I am not moving to New Zealand or Mongolia, or any other place not bordered by the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and Canada and Mexico. I have been around the world; lived for some time in China, Australia and Europe and there is no place I want to call “home” more than the United States. I simply moved about 100 miles up the road to Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
This move does not relate to the outcome of the recent Presidential election, although like many, I was shocked and am still apprehensive.
When I married for the second time on St. Patrick’s Day in March 2013, I moved to Hilton Head with my late wife, Joyce, and the house she owned. Now I return from whence I journeyed: Franke at Seaside, a continuing care community, where I spent the final five years of a 56 year marriage to my first wife, Mary. I will live in an Enhanced Independent Living apartment in The Cove while waiting for a larger apartment to open elsewhere on the campus.
This move has been an exhausting process. More so than any other I have made. Perhaps age and being alone play a part. I made a checklist of things I had to do. Twenty-four tasks came up on the list, some of them with sub-lists. Culling books, wall hanging pictures, clothing, and other creature comforts were among the hardest things to do. A local charity agreed to come by and make the pickup: more than 25 boxes and bags of items I have been hauling around since I closed our house in Hanahan, S.C., in 2007. (Think pack rat or hoarder.)
When Joyce died in August 2015, she provided in her will that I could live in the house as long as I wanted, and bequeathed to me a house full of furniture, appliances, furnishings, pictures, silverware, china, glass, and books. With the agreement of her Trustee, I am able to leave most of this behind for the use and benefit of her children.
The next phase of my life begins. I look forward to renewing friendships with former acquaintances, making new friends, and getting on with the process of life. I enjoy good health and am comfortable in my own skin. Who knows, I may even find another wonderful woman to walk hand in hand with into the future.
My email remains: arch@archibald99.com)
Posted by Francis X Archibald at 12:14 PM No comments: 
Monday, October 31
We have our memories
After my post about my memories of Vince Lombardi (below) a dear friend Barbara Smyth wrote to share her childhood sports memories. She and George married after he finished Yale in 1952 and live today at Franke at Seaside in Mt. Pleasant, SC.
Memories are made of this
George and I were not football fans as we grew up, we were Brooklyn Dodgers fans through and through since we lived in Brooklyn and our families went to games throughout the season and I listened to games on the radio after school so I could tell my Dad what happened to OUR team when we had dinner that evening. When Mom, Dad and I went to Ebbets Field, we sat in the bleachers for 50 cents each and always a double header which gave us the most baseball for our money. We packed a picnic lunch in a tiny cardboard suitcase with a quart of lemonade for the 3 of us, and off we went.
George's family sat behind first base in the seats bought for Smyth-Donegon Plumbing Supply Co. customers whenever they were not used for business. After a number of years, they electrified Ebbets Field and there were 14 night games that first season. Sometimes, Poppa Smyth would give George and his sister tickets to take a friend, and when I was so lucky to be asked, I would be all dressed up like all the other ladies at the game with white gloves, stockings and heels, and a dress, and he would have on a suit and tie, and if his dad went, he would wear a fedora and a suit. Everyone dressed like that for a Dodger game in the 1940s! Far cry from today's styles!
We have wonderful memories of those times - I think we had more dates at Ebbets Field in those years than any other place, including a World Series game in 1952. So when the Dodger management got approval in 1957 to move the team to LA in we were heart broken. The team had united everyone in Brooklyn - how could they take that away from us? I could go to work in NYC in summer and as I hung on a subway strap, I could talk to the unknown guy next to me and ask about a certain catch by Dolph Camilli or fantastic catch by Pete Reiser out in center field - everyone listened to the games on the radio reported by Red Barber, live from the field or sent in by teletype and he would add enthusiasm just like he was watching it in person. You could talk to anyone in the grocery store or on the subway - it was OUR team!!! Now that property is a huge high rise apartment complex.
At least we have our memories! Our childhood was great!
Comment to arch@archibald99.com
Sunday, October 30
A look back in sorrow
Yesterday I turned on my cable system and found myself one minute into an NFL film on the life of Vince Lombardi. I sat there for the next hour re-living the exciting sports days of the 1960s. I have been a Green Bay Packer fan since my high school days and when Coach Lombardi went to Green Bay in 1959 he breathed fresh life into the NFL’s smallest franchise and I was optimistic.
His hard-edged style turned the Packers into the most envied and successful franchise in the 1960’s, leading them to five NFL Championships, and victories in Super Bowl I and II.
Twenty-five or more years later, after I was retired, my wife and I were driving to Alaska from South Carolina and she was looking at a book of maps and my pre-planned route. She asked why we were going through Wisconsin, and I said that was how one got to Canada. She said that was ridiculous and I agreed. “I want to go to Green Bay,” and she just smiled. She knew the lure of the Packers.
The first day in Green Bay started with a tour of the stadium, along with a dozen or so others. The docent pointed to one end of the field and asked if anyone on the tour knew what that was. I quickly replied, “That’s the South end zone where Bart Starr dove to glory in the Ice Bowl and the Packers won their third straight NFL championship.” I knew. Packers 21, Cowboys 17.
My two oldest sons (12 and 9 years old) and I had watched that game in 1967, glued to the black and white TV, anxious all the way. In the final four and a half minutes the Packers drove 65 yards, culminating with Starr’s quarterback sneak. It was third down, no time outs left, 13 seconds on the clock and there would be no time to kick a 4th down field goal and tie the game at 17 all. Lombardi told Starr to go for broke.
The coach went on in 1969 to the Washington Redskins (where he was given a part ownership in the team) and in 1970 died from cancer. One of the saddest days in sports history. As the film showed his funeral in St. Patrick’s cathedral in New York City, I had tears in my eyes, even after all these years.
Comment to: arch@archibald99.com
Thursday, October 20
Matthew KO's Kayaks
Matthew KO’s Kayaks
Like the heavyweight it was, Hurricane Matthew tore through Georgia, South and North Carolina in early October leaving havoc and misery for many residents in its path. Downed trees, collapsed roofs, flooded streets and homes, water and sewer lines broken, caskets disinterred, debris everywhere. Emergency services and first responders taxed to the max. There was a report of a man who called a pizza delivery service to take a pie to his grandmother and tell her to call him. They did, she did.
At my house there was no serious damage. One limb from a neighbor’s tree fell across the edge of the roof but it was harmless. My cleanup was easier than for thousands of others.
All around Moss Creek, the last gated community before reaching Hilton Head Island, the affects of the storm can still be seen. It will be weeks before all the debris is carried away and restoration can begin. The golf courses haven’t re-opened yet. Horrors. Psychiatrists are on hand. (Just kidding.)
Lesser known damage sites include this kayak storage area at Moss Creek. This is at the marina where at least two boats left in the water to ride out the storm capsized.
Comment to: arch@archibald99.com
Sunday, October 2
Gratitude in Life
Why I am grateful
When I woke this morning, October 2, 2016, it was the first day of my life I was 85. I am a guy who has had a good life; one who studied, worked, laughed and cried, and loved and lost. During the past week I looked back on the many people and life events I have to be truly thankful for. My attention is with specific individuals and cohorts of people whose place in my life is deeply personal to me. By listing them here I hope to pay homage to them and let it be known publicly how truly grateful I am to:
- a loving God for the blessings of life and overlooking my failures and foibles.
- my country - the USA - for the privilege to live in freedom and opportunity to dream, to fail, to succeed.
- my parents, Francis C. and Anne C. (Wynn) Archibald for giving me life.
- my siblings, children and extended family members who make life interesting and fun.
- the public school teachers and Xaverian Brothers who instructed me through high school.
- my higher education professors and teachers who opened wide the doors to knowledge.
- Ed Cavanaugh who helped me get my first job as a teen-ager.
- Ed Quigley, part-time employer and kind friend who urged me to join the U.S. Air Force.
- Lt. Col. John A. Brock, USAF, mentor and career facilitator.
- the men and women who made my working life challenging, successful and pleasurable.
- Carl Meynardie, publisher of The Hanahan News, who gave me a column and expanded a voice.
- the friends and allies who supported my political and elected service.
- the medical practitioners who take care of me.
- my late wife, Mary Frances Cooper, who married me, loved me, and gave me five children.
- my children who each developed in a different way and make me proud to be their father.
- my late second wife, Joyce L. Wahlrab, who loved me unconditionally.
- the innumerable men and women who touched my life, and I theirs, during these 85 years.
The timeline of a life is uncertain, but I look forward to the years ahead. I pray for long life, that I might love and serve My Lord, My God, and assist those in need in some small way.
Comments to: arch@archibald99.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)