We have been fans of yours for many many years. Lived in Maple Grove and were lucky enough to see you LIVE several times. I am thrilled to read that at 78 you are still enjoying Life, Love and the pursuit of good writing. Please keep these Columns coming. Life just would not be the same without you.... Warmly, The 4 Fords
I was once in a canoe stern on Turtle Lake in the BWCA during a sudden severe thunderstorm. Trying to reach a non-rocky shore area to land and safely wait out the wind and high waves, my bow mate was carrying on like Lt Dan on the be-hurricaned shrimp boat instead of helping paddle for our lives. I screamed “This is serious!” at him & the phrase became a humorous motif for the rest of the trip and recurs as such for years hence. It was serious, but we made the sandy shore. We did have life jackets. There are no atheists in a canoe on a big lake during a Derecho!
I love it when you write about your daughter! To me, the two of you are "father/daughter love" personified. I remember one evening out west, when APHC was on a road tour. It was an open-air arena, and you were wandering around the edges of the crowd, singing. The spotlight followed you, the tall man in white. I happened to turn and look at the stage as you passed close by. Your daughter was standing there, right out front by the footlights. Her eyes were following you, adoringly. It was as if you were the sun, and she was Venus - a tightly circling planet! By the time American children are teenagers, so many times the young folks "Have Issues." To see a child that is so overflowing with love for their parent is heartwarming!
Children are a blessing. They are a responsibility and a treasure. They imitate us and confuse us. Becoming a person is a very complex matter. We're the guide to show them the way even when the way isn't clear to us. That's a good reason for God to be involved and prayer comes in handy. Children are definitely a blessing.
I will be forever grateful to you, as you were a significant part of helping me get through morning sickness in the 70s by listening to your morning radio show.
In the early 80's I took my three teenage children and a couple of their friend shopping close before Christmas, told them to be back where I left them off in two hours or something awful was going to happen. They all agreed, but none of them appeared at the appointed time. After half an hour, I panicked, was sure they'd all been kidnapped. They showed up an hour late, when I was a mess of gratitude and fury. We got in the car, I turned on the radio which was tuned to their horrible music, and, in spite of their protests, I turned the station to NPR. That's where I first met you. You told a Christmas story about the Magandance family welcoming their infant adoptive daughter, which was so moving that it melted my anger toward my own children. Ever since then, my husband and I have been committed fans of yours. I have listened for a rerun of that story, but never heard it again. Thank you for that, and for so many other wonderful Saturday evenings dancing and listening, mesmerized, in the kitchen. Our most often comment was, "Man's a genius!"
Parental anger is so maddening. And, in my case, it always gets in the way of intelligence, maturity, and kindness. Somehow we live through it. I read "The Sound and the Fury" and feel much better about myself as a parent.
We have been fans of yours for many many years. Lived in Maple Grove and were lucky enough to see you LIVE several times. I am thrilled to read that at 78 you are still enjoying Life, Love and the pursuit of good writing. Please keep these Columns coming. Life just would not be the same without you.... Warmly, The 4 Fords
I was once in a canoe stern on Turtle Lake in the BWCA during a sudden severe thunderstorm. Trying to reach a non-rocky shore area to land and safely wait out the wind and high waves, my bow mate was carrying on like Lt Dan on the be-hurricaned shrimp boat instead of helping paddle for our lives. I screamed “This is serious!” at him & the phrase became a humorous motif for the rest of the trip and recurs as such for years hence. It was serious, but we made the sandy shore. We did have life jackets. There are no atheists in a canoe on a big lake during a Derecho!
I love it when you write about your daughter! To me, the two of you are "father/daughter love" personified. I remember one evening out west, when APHC was on a road tour. It was an open-air arena, and you were wandering around the edges of the crowd, singing. The spotlight followed you, the tall man in white. I happened to turn and look at the stage as you passed close by. Your daughter was standing there, right out front by the footlights. Her eyes were following you, adoringly. It was as if you were the sun, and she was Venus - a tightly circling planet! By the time American children are teenagers, so many times the young folks "Have Issues." To see a child that is so overflowing with love for their parent is heartwarming!
Children are a blessing. They are a responsibility and a treasure. They imitate us and confuse us. Becoming a person is a very complex matter. We're the guide to show them the way even when the way isn't clear to us. That's a good reason for God to be involved and prayer comes in handy. Children are definitely a blessing.
I will be forever grateful to you, as you were a significant part of helping me get through morning sickness in the 70s by listening to your morning radio show.
In the early 80's I took my three teenage children and a couple of their friend shopping close before Christmas, told them to be back where I left them off in two hours or something awful was going to happen. They all agreed, but none of them appeared at the appointed time. After half an hour, I panicked, was sure they'd all been kidnapped. They showed up an hour late, when I was a mess of gratitude and fury. We got in the car, I turned on the radio which was tuned to their horrible music, and, in spite of their protests, I turned the station to NPR. That's where I first met you. You told a Christmas story about the Magandance family welcoming their infant adoptive daughter, which was so moving that it melted my anger toward my own children. Ever since then, my husband and I have been committed fans of yours. I have listened for a rerun of that story, but never heard it again. Thank you for that, and for so many other wonderful Saturday evenings dancing and listening, mesmerized, in the kitchen. Our most often comment was, "Man's a genius!"
Parental anger is so maddening. And, in my case, it always gets in the way of intelligence, maturity, and kindness. Somehow we live through it. I read "The Sound and the Fury" and feel much better about myself as a parent.