HERE KITTY, KITTY, KITTY...

Whether hiding under a bed, copping a few zzz's while curled up in a ball on the sofa, or peeking out from behind a curtain, you never quite knew where this cat would decide to cop-a-squat.

Searching high and low for this little kitty turned into an everyday occurrence.

Unfortunately for Dad, his back was often the best seat in the house for Sammy! Fortunately for Sammy...Dad didn't mind...too much.

Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty - ca 1990

PHOTO CREDIT:

Photograph entitled "Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty - ca 1990" is from this author's personal collection.

IT'S ALL COMING BACK TO ME...

I generally do not like having my picture taken. I've never considered myself very photogenic. I do, however, try to take at least one new photo every 5 years or so...sort of like a mile marker for how quickly or slowly my looks are fading as I age. The picture that I took at the end of last year wasn't too bad (if I do say so myself). As a matter of fact, it's one of the few photographs I've taken over the last several years that I actually liked. I was really quite proud of it, so much so that I felt safe to leave my house without using a disguise or having to place a bag over my head for fear of someone recognizing me from it. I even felt secure enough to update my Facebook™ profile photo without worrying about snarky comments. I took the plunge and posted my new picture. All of the feedback that I received was positive, and then it happened...

THE BACKSTORY:

A couple of years ago, a former coworker (a woman I'll call Anna) sent me a "friend request" on Facebook™. I've technically known Anna for about six years, though I haven't seen or worked with her for over two and haven’t really spoken to her in at least one. We weren't particularly close, but there really wasn't any reason I could think of not to be "friends." She seemed like a kindhearted person as I recall, and I got along with her fairly well... so I accepted her friend request. That was my first mistake. Mistake #2 happened about a few months ago... 

CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT...:

Curiosity is a double-edged sword. After not hearing from Anna for over a year through regular channels and never through social media.... she sent me a private message via Facebook Messenger™. My instinct was to just ignore it. Besides...the message was more than likely just small talk...

'hi, how are you?'💬...

'oh really?'💬...

'that's nice'💬…

'see ya...bye.'💬.

I thought about pretending that I accidentally deleted the message when I tried to open it. But... curiosity got the best of me, as I wondered what Anna could have to say after all this time. Could it be that my new profile picture showed up in her newsfeed, and it prompted her to say hello? Only one way to find out...open it. As I suspected, the message started out with...'hi, how are you?' It ended though when she took aim and fired off a single shot...figuratively speaking. She wrote that she had just read an article about a reasonably popular character actor. The Internet did indeed have several stories and pictures of him because he had died the day before, but what did that have to do with me? Anna went on to write that she thought that he and I looked exactly alike... especially our eyes. As a side note, this actor had a particular look about him, which made him ideal for portraying gangsters and other rough-type personalities.

And there it was, folks... another random off-the-wall comment lobbed directly at my looks (see my previous post entitled Landing the Second Punch). I'd like to say it was totally unexpected. Still, as soon as I read her comment... memories of past conversations with this woman came flooding back. All I could say was, 'are you kidding?' It made me wonder what kind of vibe I was giving off. After more than a year of no contact... this woman was compelled to send me a message out of the blue, comparing my looks to that of a male actor, 20 years older than me, and dead?

BUT SATISFACTION BROUGHT IT BACK:

I really had nothing else to say to Anna after that...and even if I did...it wouldn't have been anything that she would want to hear. My lack of a reaction was probably the best comeback I could have come up with. If she meant her comment as sarcasm... an adverse reaction on my part would have fed her satisfaction at hitting the mark. The fact that she spent the next few minutes trying to walk back her idiotic statement to an unresponsive audience was mine.


In the end, I decided to take the high road and assume that Anna meant no harm (and maybe she didn't, but seriously...) Why couldn't she have at least picked someone younger, female, slightly less weather-beaten, and alive for the comparison?! 😕 It's all coming back to me now as to why I haven't spoken to her in over a year.

LESSONS LEARNED:

There are two lessons to be learned here...

1. Make sure that you know your audience before you say or put in writing something you might regret later, and...
2. Friends are people that you choose to have in your life. They should build you up ...not tear you down. Going forward...I will need to be a little more selective in who I choose to "friend" on social media sites.

Before I close out this post...I want to go on record by saying that my doppelganger was a very talented actor. I have no firsthand knowledge to the contrary, and so I'm sure he was also an upstanding guy 

(emphasis on guy). It was never my intention to disrespect this man if that's the way it appears. As to his identity, my lips are sealed.

My vent is over, and now if you'll excuse me... I need to log on to Facebook™... there is someone, I mean something that I need to delete... 😉

Me - 2019

 RESOURCES:

The photo entitled 'Me - 2019' is from this author's personal photo collection.

Clip Art: 'Zipper Mouth Emoji' by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

Clip Art: 'Thumbs Up Emoji' by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

PLAY BALL! ...

Ah, …sweet love. It may look like mom is preparing to slug dad with a baseball bat, but it was just a bit of harmless fun while on a picnic. You see, the photo was actually taken at the Brookfield Zoo.

Let's Play Ball! - Jul 1945

Along with the couple they were with, the two lovebirds decided to take a break from watching the animals and their sometimes-crazy antics and do a little playing around themselves. With a lovely picnic grove on the grounds, they had the perfect setting for this silly baseball game.

Mom & Dad at Play - Jul 1945

What style...flair and grace! 

What shenanigans!! 

What a great team these two were!!!  

PHOTO CREDITS:

Photographs entitled "Let's Play Ball! - Jul 1945" and "Mom & Dad at Play - Jul 1945" are from my personal photo collection.

ONCE UPON A TIME...

There are many cleverly named bookstores and websites that use the word, 'bookaholic' or 'bookaholism' in their titles. I cannot say for sure that there is no Webster's Dictionary definition for either term. Nor do I know if it appears in any medical books or journals that I have seen (albeit I didn't look very hard or at all). To me, it's sort of a made-up word. One that you might find in an urban dictionary. In today's world, you throw 'aholic' behind any other concept, and it means to be addicted or obsessed with something. A bookaholic, in my estimation, is a lover of books or someone that is addicted to reading. Some of these individuals may attempt to read multiple books all at the same time. I believe that as long as there are libraries and these cleverly named bookstores, that this is a disease for which I hope there is no cure.

Clip Art by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

I love to read, and I pretty much have a book of one kind or another in my hand at any given time. It is a habit that has been handed down to me by my mother. Mom loved to read and would read stories to me when I was a small child. That is quality time in which I encourage every parent to participate.

Learning the Dewey Decimal System - Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia.com

The first time I ever set foot in a library was in elementary school. Once a week, my class was brought into the school library. We learned the fundamentals of library etiquette, as well as how to use the Dewey Decimal System to look up a book. Once we mastered these skills, we were allowed to check out one or two books every two weeks. The first book I checked out was 'Little House in the Big Woods.' It was the first book in Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie series. I brought the book home, and while it wasn't exactly to my liking, my mother got a hold of it, read it, and loved it. For the next several weeks, I would continue to check out two books...one of the Little House books for mom and another book for me.

As I got older, I cherished that memory of sharing books with my mother. My love for reading inherited from her grew out of that, and I am truly thankful. These days, I've added to my reading repertoire of works of fiction, to include books on history and biographies. I also love genealogy, so if I can combine my favorite type of books along with my passion for genealogical research, it's a win-win for me.

Recent events that are pandemic in nature have ground to a halt my ability to obtain books conventionally. Before the stay-at-home order currently in place as of this writing, I had been on a kick of reserving books from the public library. It's so much easier and cheaper to feed my reading addiction that way. The risky part of borrowing or reserving a book is that you only have three weeks to read it. If a library allows me to reserve as many books as I want at one time, they obviously must think I can get through them all in 3 weeks... right?

Since there were several books that I wanted to read, I reserved five of them. It would be no big deal if I were a speedy reader, and these books were less than 200 pages or were auto-renewable. Note to self...some are not. Also, if sitting down with a good book and a steaming hot cup of coffee were all I had to do all day, it would be no big deal. Hmm, if only that were true.

It's not difficult to reserve books. All you need is a library card and knowing what it is that you want to read. Nowadays, the public library makes it quite effortless. I never even left my sofa. All you need to do is select the book, reserve it and wait for it to become available. The library then sends you a notice to tell you that the book is in so that you can pick it up.

My problem began when only one of the books I reserved was available. My queue positions in line to receive the majority of the others were anywhere between 49 and 300. I believed that I had a good, solid month or two before the rest of the books would be ready. Foolishly, I thought it was safe to go ahead and reserve a few more. After all, one or two were bound to come in within the next week, and I would be able to get through them before the other books became available. I reserved an additional five books, bringing my total number on hold to ten. If I haven't said it before, let me repeat borrowing books or reserving them from the library is a good thing! Unless you reserve ten or more at one time, and eight of them come in all at once!! I knew I should have reserved audiobooks!!

The moral of my story is twofold. The love of reading is an intangible gift that can be handed down from parent to child through a simple gesture such as the reading of a bedtime story. It is a gift that will last a lifetime. Also, while taking advantage of this gift, try not to go overboard when reserving books at the library. One or two books at a time should suffice. The others will be there when you're ready to read them, and whatever you do, don't place too much stock in queuing positions!!

Hello, I am a bookaholic... 

Photo Courtesy of ifandorbutpublishing.com

SOMEONE NEEDS TO KEEP AN EYE ON THINGS...

The eyes are the windows of your soul, or so they say. So, what does it mean if your back is to that window? In the case of this cutie, it just means she was looking for a place to sit. 

Natalie on the Back Porch - May 1949

Getting a little help from a perfectly placed step chair in front of windowsill under the watchful eyes of mom and dad, and her own pensive yet slightly nervous stare...Natalie found the perfect perch from which to watch all the comings and goings.

How else is she going to know what is going on?  

PHOTO CREDIT:
The photograph entiled "Natalie on the Back Porch - May 1949" is from my personal photo collection.

THE WEDDING...

Let me start out by saying that most, if not all, couples are beautiful, handsome, and ridiculously happy on their wedding day. What happens after that is between them. Marriage, in general, is a work in progress. From the moment "I do" is said in front of witnesses until a grieving spouse utters a final, "I love you" or "Until we meet again" at the gravesite.

It was hot on 2 July 1944, with the sun shining brilliantly. It was a beautiful day for a wedding. The church was awash with the intoxicating fragrance of the various flowers adorning the altar, and the cymbidium orchids that made up the bridal bouquet. A nervous groom stands with his groomsmen at the foot of the altar, anxiously anticipating the moment his bride enters the chapel. The bridesmaids lined up at the back of the church, waiting for their musical queue to start their walk down the aisle.

The priest signals the organist with a slight nod, and the first chords of the wedding march are heard throughout the church. With one foot in front of the other, the youngest members of the bridal party start down the aisle, strewing rose petals as they go. The bridesmaids, followed by the maid of honor, take their turn, slowly heading down the aisle to meet their counterparts and wait for the bride.

The DeLio-Poppa Bridal Party

From L-R:  Patricia DeLio, Joseph Lipari, Antoinette Borsellino, Onofrio (Norfe) Borsellino, Vera Lenahan,  Marilyn DeLio-Poppa, Rocco Poppa, Elizabeth Poppa, Florence DeVito, Barbara Segreti and August (Augie) Poppa

Here comes the bride, escorted down the aisle by her eldest brother. What should have been the happiest day of her life was slightly marred by the passing of her father six months before the wedding after a long illness. Clutching onto her brother's arm, the beautiful bride walked down the aisle with her head held high, all the while focusing on the loving gaze of her soon to be husband.

Within the hour, the ceremony is complete, the vows have been exchanged and sealed with a kiss. The happy couple walks back up the aisle and is greeted by a hail of rice and good wishes for a long and joy-filled life together. Those wishes came true. I would like to introduce my parents... 

Mr. & Mrs. Rocco Poppa