One Pharmacist's View

It was a nice day, that Sunday on December 7 th , 80 years ago in Washington, D.C. The warmer than normal weather had caused New England’s famed pussy-willows to bud. The busy DC football stadium was hosting the Washington Redskins and Philadelphia’s Eagles. Strange times.

Thanksgivings are such a special time of the year. For most of us. For me it getting to see my loved ones. Sharing a big Thanksgiving meal and being thankful for one another. This year we planned a biggie. All four of my kids and most of their kids were to show up. All brought food. Lots of it.

Thanksgiving? Here again? It’s almost stylish these days to say: “Thankful for what?” Well, let’s just look back a bit. One in particular noteworthy year in my life was 1963. Fresh out of college and my military service behind me, things never looked any better.

Texas has a lot going for it. One of the things -- there is a lot of wealth and pride residing south of the Red River and the growth of North Texas continues unchecked. I remember back in the 1950s when I lived in a Dallas suburb and worked for a company called Chance Vaught, building jet airplanes.

You know, after a man retires he has more time to think. To think and perchance to dream. So said the old Bard. I saw in the Daily Oklahoman this past week that experts who do the “Farmers Old Almanac” are, again, predicting a harsh winter for Oklahoma and Texas. Sort of like last year, I wondered.

Covid perils are still holding forth. But just not so bad now as perhaps a week or two ago. And will it reload and again assert itself as the big news story of our time and be the killer it has been. I hope not. This Covid has terrorized the world long enough. Well, long enough for me.

Last Sunday was a great day here in Allen. Anyone who ventured downtown last Sunday morning would notice that starting at the intersection of HWY 48 and Broadway, the street was closed. Big fire trucks had closed it both ways and on both ends.

It’s sometimes hard to realize it in the moments they occur, but we are living tumultuous times. How do you reach back in America’s long history and try to harmonize our times with the rigorous and dangerous times in America’s past? Pearl Harbor perhaps?

Now that I am an 86-year-old person I am reminded anew almost every day about how forgetful old people are. But as I look back on my somewhat lackluster life I have to remind myself that my old age isn’t wholly responsible for my absentmindedness. I had a little bit of this even as a child.

Last week I wrote about getting rid of the itch. This disease is sort of like getting rid of ISIS. You felt like you had gotten rid of it only to discover next week that it was back in full force. Such was my battle in the 1940s with the itch infections.