Now on the American menu: hate as the new normal

A softball dugout In Wellsville, N.Y. spray painted with a swastika.   Photo from The Huffington Post’s US edition.

I have been struggling with this post for a week now.  It has been written and rewritten a dozen times.  I am torn between expressing the anger and disappointment I’m feeling and a contrary pull to wait and see.  In the end the need to speak out won in my internal battle.  Some of my readers will agree with me, while others will not.  This is not a political missive.  It’s a call for decency and tolerance.

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Remembrance of things past

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As a student of history I appreciate old houses and like to read historical fiction and biographies.   A few years ago I began researching my family history.  As my parents age and have forgotten their past, I am trying to revive it.  Last year we visited the house in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania where my mother spent the early years of her life   The house still stands, at the top of a hill, as does the home of her grandparents across town.  The current occupants have no memory of my mother’s family, but the place endures.  I will make more visits like this, to see the places where my ancestors lived and worked and raised families. Continue reading