Friends of our happy household

A little romantic something my love, Nancy, sees each morning -- our friends

A little frivolity today, while I am preparing a grander theme, except that the love we show others should feel luxurious, like a guilty pleasure, but in giving true love to another, is one of the most beautiful things in a life.

At 76, I have long, long learned that happiness is in shared love. And I am happiest with indiscriminate love for everyone left over.

My Nancy has been my everything, my light and love, over 53 years, 51 years married. And one of the frivolous things I love to do is to set today’s scene with our household friends:

The storybooks come from a love of reading to our Daughters, when they were little. Now, we have six, beautiful grandchildren, five boys, one almost seventeen year old, quite independent, very exquisitely verbal granddaughter.

Today is just a brief hello, after spending time with a grandson who loves comedies about Lucifer, including “Hazbin Hotel,” “Helluva Boss,” “Lucifer” (Lucifer Morningstar’s mysteries). Well, my favorite Devil story is the modern Faust through Al Pacino, who makes every movie great, in what would have been a miserable, ordinary movie, namely, Devil’s Advocate, except that Al Pacino saved the movie. Al Pacino’s parts were great, funny, fascinating, captivating. (I felt the same about Axis Sally. Crumby movie, but I LOVED watching Al Pacino.) The rest of the movie and actors, not so much.

I am researching a topic of great interest to me, so it will be a few days before I report with probably a two-part, post-Great-War theme. I can’t get over how fascinating are my materials contemporary to the time (circa 1918-1925). I had drafts that I thought really summarized the events and the spirit of the times well. But I scrapped three, full drafts, because I was delighted to find even better writings and journals with pictures from that era.

But meanwhile, you now see a picture of some of the personalities Armando loves to hang out with. Namely, my friends with their storybooks. They have some of the best stories to tell — just see the titles.

Gotta go for now. I look so forward to describing women and men of great intellectual and moral stature who redeemed a time of terrible racial massacres. These are wonderful, interesting women and men that we would love to meet personally and listen to.

One of the publications is The Crisis (NAACP) and one of the personalities is Ida B. Wells, and the events are from about 1918-1925.

That is all the preview you get for now. My writing will condense a lot. I can condense things quite short while enjoying in my mind the panorama of a person’s writings and her actions and heart. So, my final draft may well be short but focused. Be patient!

Your happy friend,*

ARMANDO

*Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 13 April 2014, Public Domain. Sorry, Armando has a real weakness for cats. I mean really bad. In 1958, as a ten-year old, I was always upset when Mighty Mouse showed up. I always thought the cartoon kitties were adorable and I was outraged at the humiliations that rodent would inflict upon my favored cats. I like dogs, too. They are the main critters that seem to reciprocate my affections.

It’s free: Because free is what it is worth. My wife, my two daughters, my granddaughter, my granddaughter’s two cats don’t listen to me. When Pete and Sam, the two kitties see that I am talking, they walk away. Only Molly, the muscle-bound but puppy-natured pit-bull that I am a grandfather to will come, wagging her tail, turning to let me rub her belly. Well, at least someone . . . And the Air Force and Navy — that I spent my whole career?! Forget about it. Here is their stance: “The Department of Defense, the Department of Air Force, the Department of Navy, each have our own public affairs office and our only policy and approved stances come from our official releases. Armando may have served his career with us, but Armando speaks only for himself. Armando does not speak for Defense, Air Force or Marines.” Armando never had nothing to do with the Army. Sorry: Service rivalry. So, the subscription is free because that is the only fair value.