Thanks Terry - once again your values-based content gives me a sobering smile and a warm feeling in this confusing world that seems to be more ego led than values led.
Beautiful story, perfect poem. Thank you, Terry. I have enjoyed reading and watching you since you have joined Substack. I hope you stick around and keep telling stories. But I think story telling is in your blood.
What a beautiful tribute to your father! Commitment and persistency will also get us through these terrible times. We will not cave in, we will not give up.
This is a beautiful poem. The images are powerful and evocative. It makes think that what is past is always present, a herald of what’s to come. History is collective memory. Thank you for sharing. The passion resonates.
Terry, what a great Sunday morning post. My family was also a total of 12, including my parents(not including the animals). Yes, we are Catholic. My father made a similar comment to your dad when a man asked “Catholic, eh?” with a smirk. (NB: My mom was a stunner; she looked like Audrey Hepburn even after ten kids). Dad turned, look him up and down and said "I bet your wife doesn't have those legs” And then he chuckled, gave his famous “look”, and walk off.
Big families the greatest fun. People really don't realize the community and intersections of having ten brothers and sisters figuring out how to live together. Learning how to fight and protect and negotiate. Great tools for life.
Just subscribed. Good luck on your new journey. We need you!
A beautiful post! Thank you so much for telling about your dad.
“He was quietly devout. You would not know how deep his faith went, he didn’t wear it on his sleeve. But I have never seen anyone pray more intensely than Daddy did after he received Holy Communion.
This piece resonated with me. I too grew up in a big Irish family. My Dad still is my hero— a true gentleman and deep thinker and scholar. He’s been gone for 30+ years,but he’s alive in my memories. The poem is beautiful. We must all answer the call to resist the tyranny we witness every day.
Thank you for sharing❣️ Your dad was a noble man. I too, marched in Washington against the Vietnam War. Keep up the good work & just an fyi…I love reading & listening to you on Substack.
Terry, what a difference your voice has made in our Country since your permitting us to hear it in this Substack. When one door closes another opens. We are SO lucky! And the poem is a delightful break in days of bleak times. Thank you!
Your writing is amazing. Your passion for what is moral and right shines through. And your love for your father… well said. Thank you for leaving mainstream media. I left them long ago.
What a wonderful tribute and remembrance of your father. My father, even though he grew up differently in the small towns of Louisiana, sounds very similar to yours. A Korean War veteran, he also was vehemently opposed to the Vietnam War. He was a quiet man with a mighty fine sense of humor and every year on their anniversary, he wrote his wife, my mother, a love poem. Many thanks for sharing this lovely reminder of all the goodness there is still yet in this world.
I’m so glad I read this today. It gives me some hope that someday we will come out of this Black Cloud which overshadows our country right now. There are good people and you are surely one of them.
Thanks Terry - once again your values-based content gives me a sobering smile and a warm feeling in this confusing world that seems to be more ego led than values led.
So agree
Beautiful story, perfect poem. Thank you, Terry. I have enjoyed reading and watching you since you have joined Substack. I hope you stick around and keep telling stories. But I think story telling is in your blood.
Terry, this was a wonderful poem. thanks for sharing this. Happy Sunday!
What a beautiful tribute to your father! Commitment and persistency will also get us through these terrible times. We will not cave in, we will not give up.
Beautiful. Your family experience is to be envied. I’m sorry you lost your Dad too young. May his memory be a blessing.
This is a beautiful poem. The images are powerful and evocative. It makes think that what is past is always present, a herald of what’s to come. History is collective memory. Thank you for sharing. The passion resonates.
Terry, what a great Sunday morning post. My family was also a total of 12, including my parents(not including the animals). Yes, we are Catholic. My father made a similar comment to your dad when a man asked “Catholic, eh?” with a smirk. (NB: My mom was a stunner; she looked like Audrey Hepburn even after ten kids). Dad turned, look him up and down and said "I bet your wife doesn't have those legs” And then he chuckled, gave his famous “look”, and walk off.
Big families the greatest fun. People really don't realize the community and intersections of having ten brothers and sisters figuring out how to live together. Learning how to fight and protect and negotiate. Great tools for life.
Just subscribed. Good luck on your new journey. We need you!
A beautiful post! Thank you so much for telling about your dad.
“He was quietly devout. You would not know how deep his faith went, he didn’t wear it on his sleeve. But I have never seen anyone pray more intensely than Daddy did after he received Holy Communion.
And he loved our mom, of course.”
- of course!
This piece resonated with me. I too grew up in a big Irish family. My Dad still is my hero— a true gentleman and deep thinker and scholar. He’s been gone for 30+ years,but he’s alive in my memories. The poem is beautiful. We must all answer the call to resist the tyranny we witness every day.
Thank you for sharing❣️ Your dad was a noble man. I too, marched in Washington against the Vietnam War. Keep up the good work & just an fyi…I love reading & listening to you on Substack.
Terry, what a difference your voice has made in our Country since your permitting us to hear it in this Substack. When one door closes another opens. We are SO lucky! And the poem is a delightful break in days of bleak times. Thank you!
A Memorial Day Wish
There once was a time before you were born
We lived with a thing and we called it “war”
A thing of lives lost - bodies mangled and torn
And often we wondered, “God, what is it for?”
“For God and Country,”
Someone would shout
To preserve our bounty
And to keep others out!
“To preserve our freedoms,”
Then yelled some others
Meant children torn from their bosoms
Tears shed by fathers and mothers
Within the prolonged sadness
Came new thoughts and whispers
“Aren’t we sick of this madness?”
Thus, began the resistors
Not with bloodshed and guns
But with inclusion and love
The future of daughters and sons
Begins with peace, its symbol a dove
It took a long time,
this festering doubt
That hearts and minds
Believed none could be left out
From a world void of darkness
A world without war
No more sadness and madness
We could take it no more
We found a new way
One of love and wisdom
That Memorial Day
Included not one of our children
Magnificent!
Your writing is amazing. Your passion for what is moral and right shines through. And your love for your father… well said. Thank you for leaving mainstream media. I left them long ago.
What a wonderful tribute and remembrance of your father. My father, even though he grew up differently in the small towns of Louisiana, sounds very similar to yours. A Korean War veteran, he also was vehemently opposed to the Vietnam War. He was a quiet man with a mighty fine sense of humor and every year on their anniversary, he wrote his wife, my mother, a love poem. Many thanks for sharing this lovely reminder of all the goodness there is still yet in this world.
I’m so glad I read this today. It gives me some hope that someday we will come out of this Black Cloud which overshadows our country right now. There are good people and you are surely one of them.
What a wonderful tribute to your father. And what a wonderful legacy he left. Thank you for sharing.