My Favorite Book

This topic brought to the LBC this morning by shackman.  It seemed impossible at first, but with a little thought and consideration …

It was 50 years ago today.  It seems so long ago and yet it seems like yesterday.  Every American can remember where they were.

It was in June of 2011 when word came to me that my father had fallen and would not recover.  It seems so long ago and it seems like yesterday.

It was about 4 1/2 years or so ago.  An idea came into my head that sprouted into the Loose Blogger Consortium.  It seems so … well, you know the rest.

What ties these together?  Emotion, caring and personal impact.  Jack Kennedy’s assassination is etched in every American’s psyche indelibly because we embraced him.  He had impact just by being and acting out who he was.  His charisma and his family’s ushered in a new vision of America.

My father and I shared many memories and reflections on JFK over the decades just as we shared so much else.  Both of their losses impacted me deeply, not to speak of the impact on my mother, who shared 63 loving years with my dad.

Now let’s close this circle.  Along with the LBC came relationships of a type that I would never have anticipated at the time.  We were few at the beginning, but we were very much into the idea of trying an experiment where each blogger would simultaneously write on a single topic and THEN go see what the others had written.  The core group was really Ramana, myself – and this long legged lass from the Emerald Isle.

Well, over time and over sharing and over caring, we all became closer and began communication on the side in a variety of ways.  We have had a surprising number of ups and downs over this period, for that is the lot of mortals.  And the loss of my father to me and my mother was no exception.

What most don’t realize is that one of the true stabilizing forces for my mother at that time was this lady that I became acquainted with on the Internet, this charter member of the LBC.  Marie – Grannymar – talked on many occasions through those early days on Skype with my mother and helped her through.  And helped me through.

Now, this lady of Ireland who has become what we think of as our cousin for we are almost half Irish, is hanging up her LBC pen on this the 50th anniversary of the death of our Irish President.  There is a poignancy to that, and I want to deeply and humbly thank my friend for all that she has done and all that she has meant.

And that brings me back to our original topic with this choice as my favorite book: