June 6, 2026
Opinion
Old friends are best
I moved back home after 50 years of a satisfying teaching career. I tried to keep up with my old friends, but mostly lost touch. It is a fulfilling gift to reconnect with old friends. The question is “Why?”
Memorial Day: A Veteran’s reflection on the faces we carry
M emorial Day arrives each year with the same familiar rhythm — flags placed neatly along sidewalks, families planning long weekends, stores advertising discounts and free meals. For many Americans, it marks the unofficial start of summer. But for those of us who wore the uniform, especially those who carried it into combat, Memorial Day is something far heavier. It is not a celebration. It is a reckoning.
Protecting your hearing
H earing loss is often seen as an inevitable part of aging. However, data from the National Institutes of Health indicate that one in two people over the age of 85 has hearing loss, which suggests half of all individuals in that age bracket do not have this issue. That should be encouraging to individuals concerned by the prospect of losing their hearing in their golden years.
Growing up on penny candy
Recently, we reminisced about Dippity Do, Hai Karate, Mr. Bubble and other products from our youth. That opened the floodgates. Many of you shared memories of products we rarely see today. Let’s take another trip down the aisles of A & P, Piggly Wiggly, and Shop-Rite stores we visited every Friday night. As you know, pennies are being phased out of circulation. Let’s face it, most of us haven’t bent down to pick up a penny in years, so few tears are being shed. That said, I do have fond memories of “penny candy.” It seems like most of it stuck to my teeth. Many dentists built their fortunes on scraping off Bit O’Honey, Sugar Babies, Pixy Stix, and banana-flavored Kits. A penny could also land you a piece of Dubble Bubble or Bazooka bubble gum, with a color comic inside! Think about it. Bubble gum AND a Bazooka Joe comic, both for a penny. Someone made a pretty penny on that, for a long, long time.