1/18/2021 – A Year Later: Uncle Bobby and Aunt Mona, with Consideration to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Introduction

Last year, 1/18/2020 was a Saturday, and 1/20/2020 was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Another year has come and gone.

Last year, on 1/26/2020, I published “Memories: Aunt Mona and Uncle Bobby, 1/18/2020; Dad, 1/25/2020; But Life Goes on with a Touch of Humor!” I published 55 articles last year. My 1/26/2020 article was the final of three that I wrote that January. Looking back, I would not change one word – except I would add a comment about Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Sidenote: the article of 1/26/2020 states, “1/24/2020, Mrs. Appalachian Irishman and I both came home feeling a bit sickly. That’s not good. It’s not the flu, so we win!” I wonder if that was when we had the new cold virus. If so, if we ever get tested, which we will not, I suspect that we will both join the “positive test numbers.” We will not be statistics, for the socialist propaganda machine! Wisdom: if you are not sick enough for your doctor to test you, then do not get tested, just because the bullies want you to be tested! (I, however, have digressed from my main point.)

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 – 1968)

On August 28, 1963, before a huge crowd, at the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered a great speech. I was three years old. I have heard it many times. The following is from the middle section and his conclusion.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

His speech still inspires me. (I have spoken before large gatherings, in this country, India, and Russia. A gifted orator, with a great topic, can be inspiring.) Dr. King, Jr.'s words still ring true. Truth is timeless.

Sadly, I regret that many of the prominent “leaders,” who claim to follow Dr. King, Jr.'s legacy, are not doing so. Moral character matters. Skin color is not relevant. All lives, each created in God's image, matter, equally. Lives must be lived in honor of the Creator. Lives that are not are wasted. Too many folks, of various nationalities and skin colors, are wasting their lives today.

Shall each creation of God not live up to the standard of our Creator? That is the only way that people can stand together in unity. I have spoken.

Uncle Bobby

My mother's younger brother was Uncle Bobby. His full name is Robert Allen Wood. He was born on 5/14/1939. (Mom was born on 11/24/1932.) Uncle Bobby “went to see Jesus” on 1/18/1941. That was 80 years ago, today. He could be my living uncle now. He is still my uncle. I will meet him, for the first time, once I join him.

I love you, Uncle Bobby!

Aunt Mona

The older sister of my father-in-law, Mona (Gordon) Beckner, attained age 99 on 1/18/2021. She was born in 1922. I haven't seen her since 7/18/2020, on Mrs. Appalachian Irishman's birthday. I have spoken with her a few times since, by phone or on those “Interweb tele-chats.” Those, who continue to suffer from “Corona Myopia Psychosis,” keep us apart.

Mrs. Appalachian Irishman took a birthday card to the front door. Her cousin (Aunt Mona's son) greeted her at the door and took the card. That's the best that my wife could do, given “these challenging times.” My wife is still restricted from her family, unless it is by seeing them outside a few minutes. The “mask mafia” is in control. I think that the leaders of the “mask mafia” have swallowed the socialist Kool-Aid also. (From what I gather, the leaders are proud of the recent “vote early and often” election results.)

I wonder if Aunt Mona will publish her book next year, when she is age 100. I wonder if she will publish her book, before I publish my “Light at the End of the Tunnel” book. We will see.

Happy birthday, Aunt Mona. I hope that you read this. Wait, however! My wife received a text from the “mask mafia!” A “Interweb tele-chat” appears to be in the works! Aunt Mona, I expect to “tele-chat” with you in a while! We keep up the spirit!

Conclusion

Mrs. Appalachian Irishman and I are both off work today. Why was it cloudy and not good hiking weather, until about 4 PM, when the sun started shining and the clouds started rolling away? I wonder if that was not God's sarcastic sense of humor, to this hiker!

Of course, it could have been God's way of encouraging me to publish two articles today. I don't know. I speculate. At about 4:45 PM, I am going 10-10 on the side, until next time.