When life imitates fiction--or vice versa

Of all of my characters, Patrick O'Malley and Grace Johnson have to be my favorites. Many readers relate to them. I get a lot of people who ask me "Why did you pattern Grace after me?" These are people I have never met and I have no idea who they are or where they live. I usually just reply, "Grace is not really anybody, but she is a little bit of all of us."

Grace (a recent elderly widow) met her dilemma when her kids decided she shouldn't be alone in New York City, so they set the plans in motion to move her to a nursing home. In desperation, and not ready to hang it up for a long time, she went to her friend Patrick (a retired cop) to ask for his help. He took her to the Haven of Rest Homeless Shelter, where they not only accepted her, but loved her and hired her on staff.

We all know there are people who need to be in a nursing home, but it seems like sometimes it is just a cop-out of the kids taking care of their parents. Like they say, everything in life comes full circle. Parents who cared for children have now become parents who must be cared for by those same children. It is a humbling experience for "the old folks." All too often, it is easier to "stick them someplace" and thus salve their conscience. It used to be that families looked out for each other. It was quite customary for a grandma or a grandpa to live with one of their children and their families. My good friend, Martha Garvin (from Musical Memories) had a visit from her son, my opera buddy Brad, on their Thanksgiving program. I always enjoy Martha's program as she takes us down Memory Lane through a lot of the old hymns we grew up hearing and loving. That particular program, however, I think is my favorite. Martha and Brad reminisced about Grandma Reed living with them for somewhere around 15 years. Oh, the fun of listening to them talk about the special bond between Grandma and the entire family (including her son-in-law, George Garvin, Martha's husband). There is one difference in today's world which does explain some of it, I suppose. Back then most mothers were home being homemakers. Today's economy makes it necessary for many women to be out working, as it takes a 2-income life to survive just to pay the monthly bills. That would leave Grandma or Grandpa home alone, and many times that is an impossible situation.

What does really irk me is when it is obviously a way of escape. When I lived in Grand Forks ND, there was a woman in the nursing home whose son was a doctor at the adjoining clinic. He would go several times a week to see his patients, but he almost never went to see his mother. Sounds to me like he took the "Hypocritic Oath" instead of the "Hypocratic Oath."

As I read the Grand Forks Herald this morning, which I do almost every day to let me know what is happening "back home," I was met with this article: Mother is Evicted.  Yes, that figures into a big part of the plot of my Patrick and Grace Mysteries. Since St. Patrick's Day is coming up before too long, I'd like to invite you to read the first book in the series, In St. Patrick's Custody, which centers around St. Patrick's Day. As Patrick says, "Everybody is at least a little bit Irish on St. Patrick's Day."

I will soon post a teaser about the upcoming (4th) Patrick and Grace Mystery, so stay tuned.

Meanwhile, I miss not having my kids close enough that they can visit once in a while, but when you think about the fact that they might think my lifestyle is a bit off-the-wall (I am "retired," which basically means that I keep so busy that I got tired, then I got re-tired, then got re-tired yet again to the point that I've lost track of how many times I've re-tired) they might be tempted to put me away, and like Grace, I'm nowhere near being ready to slow down.

Making sense out of $ and ¢

OK, so President Obama (and most of the rest of America as well) are upset with the big banks and the guys and gals on Wall Street still getting all those big bonuses. I suppose, if I were among them, I wouldn't object, but I'm not, so...

But I have to wonder, why are we singling them out? Anybody who has read the headlines or listened to the news, or even the late night comedians on TV knows that there has been a war going on. No, I'm not talking about the one in Iraq or the one in Afghanistan. I'm talking about the one between NBC, Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien. I am getting too old to stay up to watch either of them, so again, why should it concern me? Yes, it does. Because, as I read the news, NBC has offered Conan a nice big fat $45,000,000--yes, that is $45 MILLION--to get off the air. Not only can he not be seen or heard on NBC, but it seems that they have put a muzzle on him, forbidding him to do any interviews on other programs or to start another program of his own for 6 months. Funny, but FOX hasn't, at least as far as I've heard, put such restrictions on Simon Cowell when he leaves American Idol. He will even be bringing his own competing program to the same network. It all reminds me of the government programs that pay farmers NOT to plant crops, yet the cost of everything at the grocery store seems to be more expensive than the last time you went. So what will Conan be doing for 6 months? My guess is that he will be writing a book, for which he will get umpteen million dollars as an advance, but that is purely speculation on my part.

The same policies that seem to be recommended for the bankers, Wall Street people, etc. don't seem to extend to the sports world either. I moved to Wisconsin just about the time the Brett Favre battle hit the fan. There was a lot of speculation at that time about whether or not he would retire, then he did retire, then he un-retired, then the Packers decided they didn't want him but New York did, then after just one season they didn't want him but the MN Vikings did. Reportedly he got $12,000,000 (yes MILLIONS again) for his first year there, with an additional $13,000,000 for his second year there. As a former Minnesotan and a current Wisconsin, I am just happy that I am not a big football fan. I'd have to have a split personality to figure out who to cheer for. There are many other multi-million dollar paid sports figures. And then there is Tiger Woods, who sort of cooked his own goose, but I somehow don't think he is living on Poverty Row until he makes a comeback, which I am sure he will do in time. I can't find a lot of sympathy for his loss of endorsements, but I do feel for his wife and child.

Anyway, I'm trying to figure out where the double--or triple, or whatever--standards should end. I don't like our money going to give millions of dollars to support the people I can't afford to hire because I'm way out of their league. Considering the ups and downs of the stock market, the scam artists fleecing the people they represent, etc., I guess the best thing I have going for me is that I have never had enough money to invest anyway. Who knew one day that would be a blessing? You can't lose what you don't have. I'm also glad that I don't have any desire to pay the new higher prices to go see the Packers next year, not even if they are paying the Vikings. Ah, the simple things in life!