Lots Of Things Happened On Oct. 13

1949: I turned 7 ½ years of age, as this planet notes its turns around the sun, far out near the edge of our galaxy. Three hundred billion or more galaxies with at least, perhaps more than, three hundred billion stars in each and, in one galaxy, circulating one star, one particular little boy notes his half-year birthday.

1949: We move into our new house. From “up here” to “out there.” And it sure was “out there” when we moved in. Not a whole lot of people, lots of grassland, plenty of swamp, two roads (both subject to flooding, depending on tides and storms) and one brick, apparently weather-beaten, Catholic church.

1983: My father passed on to glory. Note to younger smokers: Nothing happens to your lungs for years and then, when it catches up to you, it’s far too late. Many years of three and four packs a day kept him on oxygen for the last seven years of what you could call his life. Eventually, you quit smoking one way or the other.

1983: My father’s watch was either on his wrist or the table next to his bed in Milford (CT) Hospital. When he passed on, it stopped. I never believed those stories before, but I sure do now. We noticed it had started up again after his funeral. Find your own reason, draw your own conclusions; it stopped and it started up.

October 13 has been, to an extent, an interesting day for me. As days go, I can’t think of any other that has had four meaningful events.