Category Archives: Historical

The Hana Chronicles: Month 8, Day 12

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

September 2, 2026- “Yeah, I got it.” Such was Hana’s response when I noted she had one of her favourite books. Mercer Mayer’s “Grandma, Grandpa and Me”, featuring his character, Little Critter. Sometimes, I think she is amused by how often we fawn over her activities. She may well already have a view of herself as an ordinary person, who hasn’t done anything special. To me, though, she will always be special-and worthy of praise.

I went for my thrice a year dental check-up, this morning, after running Aram back to the house, after he dropped his car off for service. I thought I would be late for the appointment, but in fact had the hour wrong, and so, was fifty minutes early. The teeth are in good shape, as are Hana’s-with the first stages of her top lateral incisors (canines) starting to poke through.

Hana is easy to please at our adult mealtimes. All she needs are bits of fruit on her high chair tray, as she has already had lunch and dinner, by the time we three sit down. She just wants to feel like she is a part of what’s happening.

HANA’S NOTE- I was happy today, because my Daddy worked from home and I got to have lunch with him. Papa brought some food from wherever he went this morning. It was all grownup food, though.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-2016 My Altima died, in Newtown, CT, after taking me clear to my mother’s house in Massachusetts and getting an oil change at the shop I have used, when in Saugus. No one there noticed anything strange. Yet, when I pulled into a gas station in Newtown, intending to simply fill up and head south towards Pennsylvania, the car started smoking. A gallon of coolant did nothing, three strong men volunteered to help me push the Altima into a parking space and the car was towed to a junkyard. A taxi dropped me, and my bags, off at a motel in Bethel-10 miles away. Thanks to my middle brother, I scored a nice Hyundai Elantra, and after three days in Bethel, I bid farewell to the Altima, and was on my way south again.

This was not a year to go to Brazil, Argentina and Chile, as I once had planned. It was a good summer for visiting Fort Sumner, joining “Christmas in July” (at a cousin’s house in Missouri), taking in Independence Day in central Indiana, visiting Bushkill Falls (where my in-laws had honeymooned, back in 1948) and making the rounds in Amarillo, Enid, Wilmette, Mishawaka, Oley and at my family’s various residences. The Elantra took me safely down to Harrisonburg, VA, Atlanta, Spring Hill, FL and across the south, eventually stopping in Boulder and Longmont, CO, then back down to Arizona.

I helped my homeless friend find a safe place to live-and to feel wanted, possibly for the first time in his long life. I saw justice done to a grifter who had tried to bilk about a hundred of us, some out of their life savings. He paid as much back as he could, went to prison and the rest of us moved on.

In the Fall, I took on work in another classroom full of special needs children, led at first by a snarky former pre-school teacher, then by a more qualified Special Needs teacher, who appreciated my efforts. 2017 looked to be a bit more promising, with a reliable car, a stable job and good standing in the community, largely due to my volunteer efforts.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 8, Day 11

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

September 1, 2026- Hana made an assisted walk from the recliner in the living room to the sofa in the family room-a distance of about 75 feet. We took three short breaks, of less than a minute, along the way. She decided when the breaks would happen and when the walk would resume. As she gets taller, it is easier on my back.

My granddaughter is also answering “Yeh”, when asked if she feels good about something. “No” will come soon enough, I suppose. She continues to be very chatty, especially with her mother. The other side is that she is starting to understand when Yunhee has to tend to other things, and Hana is getting better at playing by herself.

We noticed, this evening, that she is outgrowing her little bath tub. It will soon be time to use a larger vessel, that will have to be fit inside the master bath tub, rather than inside the kitchen sink. This growth spurt is amazing-and it won’t be the last.

HANA’S NOTE- I am starting to really understand Papa’s and Daddy’s language. They call it English. I can make sense of Mama’s language, just a little. She calls it Hangu’l-mar. Papa calls it Korean. Mostly, I just know how Mama feels, by how she talks.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-2015 I have remained committed to visiting the places that Penny and I had listed, but had never gotten around to seeing. Some of that was done this year. I also drove across the South, to Florida, with the aim of helping to celebrate my mother-in-law’s birthday. After visiting a Xanga friend, in Lynn Haven, near Panama City, I headed towards The Villages, where the family lived. Outside Ocala, I got a call that said, essentially, the visit was off. Dementia does hard things to its victim and to the family. I headed back to Tallahassee and spent a day or so, taking in the capital, then went up to Sylacauga, AL and spent a few hours with another Xanga friend. (Xanga, for the uninitiated, was a blogsite, to which I belonged between 2008-11. I have visited several friends-particularly in Orange County, CA; Oklahoma,, Amarillo, Portland, Washington State, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Oley, PA.)

My drive back gave me time to check out the five missions of the Alamo, and to take in the Trans-Pecos region, between Uvalde and El Paso. Marfa was a town that I found most interesting.

Back in Prescott, I had drawn the attention of a homeless man, who had not experienced such a kind life. I took him places that he needed to go and let him shower in the apartment, every so many days. He himself ran afoul of some rather rough people in town, and when they spotted him in my KIA Optima, there was retribution. On the Saturday before Easter, as I was driving back from a hike in the Payson area, my brakes snapped and I ended up in a ditch. The Optima was toast, and while I was assessed a Defensive Driving class, the attendant at the police impound yard noted that the brake lines had been cut. I left the matter to the police to investigate. I was physically okay, got adjusted by my chiropractor and went about getting another vehicle.

The Nissan Altima had significant issues with its transmission, after about three weeks. I got what seemed to be a fix, then bid my homeless friend adieu and headed north for few weeks. I got as far as Hawthorne, NV, had a hard time with the vehicle, and had visions of being in the town of one auto repair shop through Memorial Day weekend, until God knew when. I got one of those spirit messages that come every so often: “We’re going to get you to Reno.” The car started, and by the grace of God, through my late, beloved wife, her father, and most likely my own dear dad, I got to a Casino parking lot, in Sparks, and had the Altima towed the rest of the way to Reno. A good transmission shop had the car back in tip top shape, after a week. I had a nice visit with my friends in Reno and Carson City, in the meantime.

Then came Alaska. I drove through northern California, Oregon and Washington, leaving the Altima in a secure lot in Bellingham. The ferry took me to Wrangell, Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan. I found magic in each of those places, and would gladly return, though so far it hasn’t been to be in the cards. On the way back, I went up to Vancouver for a day or so, then drove over to Anacortes, WA and hopped on another ferry, this one going to Sidney, BC, and from there to Victoria. It was National Aboriginal Day there, so I joined the festivities and took a tour led by a member of the Songhees First Nation. A huge amount of Aboriginal history was imparted that afternoon.

I observed Father’s Day in Monroe, WA, enjoying a fine Italian meal, and stayed in a nice little cabin by the river. The days ahead took me through eastern Washington, western Idaho, and back through Oregon’s “Outback”, another stop in Reno and back, safely, to Prescott.

The rest of the year was fairly peaceful. I covered a third grade class, in a charter school, for a few months and successfully taught the kids to sing “Winter Wonderland”, in choral style. Some of those children remained close to me, even until their graduation from high school, nine years later.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 8, Day 10

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Family, Historical, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

August 31, 2026- Hana knows that her Papa is hurting a bit right now. My best friend in Prescott is dealing with a life-threatening disease. The person who did the work of ten people is now sidelined. It is a gut punch for me. I can only imagine what it must be like for her children and grandchildren.

My granddaughter has been trying to make me feel better, even as she has no knowledge of suffering, let alone the likelihood of death. I want to keep it that way, for as long as possible. So, we went on our stroller walk, this morning and I did a solo jaunt this evening, after dinner. Hana talked to me during our morning walk, looking happily at the trees and rocks around Russell Creek, and the solid bridge that pases over it.

That brings me to the other shockers- The flash floods that ravaged opposite parts of the world. Nepal and Tibet have been devastated by glacial breakage that led to multiple villages, on both sides of the border, being wiped off the face of the Earth. Thousands have been killed. There is likely more to come. At the bottom of the Grand Canyon, every bridge that crossed Bright Angel Creek was swept away by a torrent. 2 are dead and 15 people remain missing, Two tragedies, one almost unfathomable and one painfully symbolic.

HANA’S NOTE- I don’t know what dying means,but Papa looked sad when he talked with Daddy about his friend. I don’t want Papa to be sad.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-2014 I wasn’t completely ready to travel overseas, but I went anyway. I promised my ailing father-in-law that I would travel to Normandy, for the 70th anniversary of D-Day and I did. He passed away, three weeks before that, and I did a boomerang journey to attend his funeral in New Jersey, return to Prescott for two weeks then go back to Newark, to catch a plane to Frankfurt-by way of Montreal and Ottawa. Four days in Paris preceded the D-Day events. I took in the Louvre, Versailles and Trocadero. I fended off some Roma “goldsmiths” and twice as many trinket vendors, most of them recent arrivals from French-speaking parts of Africa. A visit to Rouen brought me to the ruins of a church, where my ancestors had been baptized-right next to the spot where Joan of Arc had been burned at the stake. I spent some time in the dungeon where she had been held. Then came D-Day observances, of which I took in the daytime events and passed on a late night recreation of the landing.

Rennes, Mont St.Michel, Amiens, Lille, Bruges, Ghent, Brussels, Bastogne, Luxembourg and Frankfurt followed. Lastly, came Berga, where my father-in-law had been held as a prisoner-of-war, for the last six months of World War Ii. He was a Jew, and yet made it out alive, with American troops coming into the camp, right after the German troops had left. The area around the camp had a harrowing ambiance, still. Berga town, and nearby Jera, had the air of cities in recovery, having been part of the former East Germany, until 1989.

In October, I flew to Honolulu and met Aram and his ship, then took my place on what was billed a “Tiger Cruise”. Family members of crew joined the return to San Diego. I spent most of the time with Aram at his station and enjoyed the peacefulness of the open ocean. Whales and dolphins appeared alongside the ship, a few times.

I still had a way to go, in reaching stability, but I held my own on these long journeys. I also sold the house in Prescott, on behalf of my mother-in-law, sent her the proceeds, and moved into a one-bedroom apartment. The year ahead would be even more restorative.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 8, Day 3

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, Community, Education, Family, Historical, impediments, Inner Struggles, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

August 24, 2026- Hana is now trying to stand, just momentarily, without holding onto the bar, whilst in the play pen. She managed for a split second, then reached and grabbed the bar, to steady herself. Most of her practice involves holding onto the bar, though more and more, she is using her right hand only to steady herself, whilst upright.

She has her mother largely to herself this week, and maybe next, as Yunhee transitions into a another position. So, I used the time to empty my storage unit and clean out a few boxes, once I had everything upstairs. Gradually, the mess that I once let sprawl out in my apartment will be sent to a new life somewhere else or will be recycled.

Hana talked almost constantly, much of the day. She called out to her mother: “Oma!” or to me: “Papa!”, Her father was called, also, almost as soon as he walked in the door, this evening: “Daddy!” She seems to be telling us how important her practicing is. We all agree.

HANA’S NOTE- I have a lot on my mind, so I have to share it.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-2007 Even with Penny being wheelchair bound, we still made it across country to several of the family weddings. We went to our eldest niece’s wedding, in New Hampshire, last Fall. This summer, with a Graduate School “Virtual Field Trip” project woven into the itinerary, we attended our eldest nephew’s wedding, in the Atlanta area. The ceremonies were both lofely, though I admit that I was a bit worn down from caring for Penny.

We had flown to/from New Hampshire, last year. This time, we flew to Atlanta and rented a car to drive along the East Coast, after the wedding. Our stops, mainly for taking footage to be included in Penny’s project, were: Savannah; Hilton Head Island (where we were nearly flooded out of our motel room); Charleston (SC); Wilmington (NC); Fredericksburg and Mount Vernon (VA); Washington, DC (where we took in part of the National Mall, before being sheltered in the White House Visitor Center, with 100 other travelers, due to the heavy rain); King of Prussia (PA) and the Old City of Philadelphia; a pit stop, each way, at the Fellmans’, in Bedminster,(NJ); and the North Shore (MA), where we were treated to a 25th Anniversary seafood dinner, at Woodman’s, in Esssex, courtesy of my brother and sister-in-law (Glenn and Barbie).

All the way, Penny’s rickety wheelchair hung in there, with emergency repairs done by our brother-in-law, Buck, in New Jersey. We stopped in Greensboro, NC, on the way back to Atlanta, then drove through the rain to a motel near the Georgia capital, the next day. We were nearly hit by a student driver, but I managed to see her swerving and moved to the next lane. She was in tears, mouthing “I’m sorry”, as I passed her a mile or so further. I was no prize, at that age, so I just smiled and kept on. We arrived at the airport in plenty of time and headed back to Phoenix, rickety wheelchair and all.

Fall and winter were more WIS, International and substituting at both Glendale Union and Dysart, while Penny plugged away at her third Masters and volunteered with a campus environmental group. She also dabbled in the Melaleuca Company, a nutritional supplement firm, based in Idaho, and got me involved with Ameriplan USA, a multilevel marketing company. I stuck with that for a couple of years, then distanced myself-the majority of the people involved were rather difficult to be around. We volunteered a bit with Phoenix Childrens Hospital and Childhelp USA, an abuse and neglect prevention organization. Penny was able to get a motorized scooter, in mid-September, which made things a lot easier. I had the Saturn outfitted with a retractable platform,which secured the scooter.

Slowly, though, we were moving towards a time of reckoning.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 7, Day 28

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Family, Historical, impediments, Inner Struggles, Personal Values, Social, Striving

August 18, 2026- Hana does not like it when her meal gets cold, especially the meat. She began fussing, but stopped when she saw that I was not reacting, and was just sitting and waiting for her to stop. I then reheated her chicken, and she finished it. She leaned over and put her head against my chest, when the meal was over and I had cleaned her up. It was her way of asking if I loved her, in spite of her little tantrum.

I love her the way I love her father, and the way I loved her grandmother- unconditionally. I don’t get sidetracked by her being disagreeable, nor do I reward her for it. She is seeing that there are rules that need to be followed, even when it is not what she might want in the moment. She is approaching toddlerhood, already. She has some agency and dignity, which is respected. Likewise, she is being taught to respect the agency and dignity of her parents-and of her grandfather.

HANA’S NOTE- I hate it when my food gets cold. But, I like to play at the table. Papa makes me behave.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-2001

In my years of handling disturbances, crises and other difficulties, I have had no trouble rising to the occasion and seeing things through to a resolution. I was not prepared, though, for a well-organized, slow-rolling absconding by two students, two days before Valentine’s Day. Multiple people were involved in this, and I, focused heavily on the day-to-day grind of running a residential school, was the last to know. Students told me, later, in shame, that there were one or two staff members, at least one parent and several of the residents who helped the girls, The kids didn’t think I’d be held responsible, when they did their part in the caper. I held myself responsible, though, and resigned that same night. The girls were located, the next day, and faced the law.

I fell back on Substitute Teaching, and Penny, having finished her semester in Mesa. did the same. We made the best of it, and truth be known, I was physically and mentally exhausted by my work at the Academy. I was actually glad to be done with it, and I was definitely done with school administration.

In August, Penny got a full-time job at El Mirage Elementary School, west of Phoenix. We moved to an apartment complex in midtown Phoenix, near what was then Metrocenter. Sierra Pines was, at first, reasonably well-run, and we felt fairly safe. I signed on to Substitute in two nearby school districts, while applying for various School Counselor positions.

On the morning of September 11, I went to a grocery store to buy a few items for the week. When I turned on my car radio, afterward, Morning Monkey broke into his playlist to announce that an airplane had just crashed into the World Trade Center, in New York. It hit me that this was a terrorist act. When I got home, Penny noticed that my face was ashen. She went to work and Aram went to his middle school. I stayed at home and was glued to the TV screen, going out only for a sandwich at lunchtime, just to reconnect with the outside world for an hour. My wife and son both came home early.

I would work at substitute teaching, the rest of the year, I went to the business of a Sikh man who was slain, in the aftermath of the terror attacks, and paid my respects to his family. Penny and I ate at Arab-owned restaurants, to show that we did not hold the average person responsible for the acts of extremists. On the long weekend of Veteran’s Day, we were visiting Penny’s parents, in Prescott. On November 12, we woke early and had the TV on. News came of another plane crashing into an apartment complex near the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, also in New York.The complex was home to many New York City police officers and firefighters. The official version was that this was pilot error. I sense differently, in my bones, to this day.

In any event, not much has been the same, since September 11, 2001.

The Hana Chronicles, Month 7, Day 25

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Historical, impediments, Inspiration, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Striving

August 15, 2026- Hana marches to her own drummer. Her father, for reasons of his own, is rather prescriptive. He is learning, though, to let her do her own thing. I feel that she knows what she is doing, in the macro sense. Her mission is to master standing up and then set to learning to walk. Hana’s mother also has her notions of what is needed by her child, but she is less authoritative and is more concerned with Hana’s health and hygiene, than with how Hana spends her time.

Along those lines, Hana had her first breakfast this morning-a small bowl of oatmeal, followed by apple in yogurt. We explained to her that breakfast is most often a lighter meal than are lunch or dinner. She was fairly content with what was served. It was enough, that she was in her high chair for breakfast, rather than down in a bouncy seat, looking up at us.

Much of my afternoon was spent going through a box or two-lots of bungee cords; Aram’s second grade drawings and his “Story of Me”, from third grade; Penny’s graduation cap, from her third and final Master’s Graduation-the only one she ever attended, because I was there and wanted to make a big deal of it; her Tae Kwon Do certificate, which I want to show to Hana, when she is old enough to know waht the martial art is. Hana’s afternoon was divided between pushing herself to stand and crawl with her torso lifted, and napping.

HANA’S NOTE- I am going to do things my own way, as much as I can.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-1998 Although I still enjoyed being a counselor, I had invested a fair amount of time and energy into getting my Administrative Certificate. I had covered for the Principal and Assistant Principal at Jeddito, often enough, that even with contrived situations that one of my rivals had set up to try and embarrass me, my management of the school had basically gone well. Penny believed in me, and so, when I was told of an opening in a Community School, at Chilchinbeto, I put in my application. I was hired by the Athletic Director, who, oddly enough, became my Assistant Principal.

I left Jeddito in August, though Penny stayed there for another year. We were therefore a weekend couple, something that oour coworkers in Jeddito understood, but which raised the hackles of several people in Chilchinbeto. I was Principal, in a school of 200 students, with an Executive Director above me, in the same office. There was a core of influential people in the small community,who wanted to see a Dineh person in the Principalship. They tolerated me, with the quiet belief that I would be gone in a year. On Halloween, I had taken Aram, who lived with me and was in Fifth Grade, to Jeddito. When we came back, i was told that one of the Paraprofessionals, a leader of the skeptics, had died in a one car accident. There were those who believed I had something to do with her death, even though I was 150 miles away at the time. God knows, I would never have brought harm to anyone, regardless of political differences. Still, this was a superstitious community at that time, and there was an undercurrent of suspicion, for the rest of the academic year. The teachers and I were united, though, and we carried on our best, on behalf of the students.

Penny’s year at Jeddito, under an unstable administration, was not much better. We were in contact by phone, and I spent weekends with her, so our marriage didn’t suffer.At the end of the year, however, while we were in Prescott, visiting her parents, she tripped and fell over their large family dog, hitting her head against a door.

The last year of the Twentieth Century would see us facing a serious health matter.


The Hana Chronicles: Month 7, Day 16

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Historical, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

August 6, 2026- Enormous cockroaches have shown up, around the neighbourhood, as the outside water dries up during August. We get “our share”-one here, another there, yet another in the dishwasher. If any of these pests comes anywhere near Hana, I will show it no mercy. These are “sewer” roaches, mind you, and our household’s standard of hygiene is second to none. Still, we adults can get exercised about any pests that threaten our girl’s health. Thankfully, the pest control technician is coming here tomorrow.

She “explored” a small area of the dining room. this afternoon, being able to climb up a small border between that room and the sunken family room, where her playpen and the recliner sit. I allow her limited crawling area, on carpet that has recently been cleaned. This way, she knows how to get around to different parts of the house, at eye level, should she ever need to do so, before learning to walk.

Yunhee was home during the morning, as she had a business call to be made from home. Hana kept a close eye on her, while she was in her office. I took her in the stroller, for part of that time, so as to give her mother more privacy.

HANA’S NOTE- I love being in the stroller. Today, I sang a little song that I made up, while we were out on our walk.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-1989- This was big year for people in eastern Europr regaining their freedom. We were at a Baha’i Institute, in Busan, when the freedom wave came to Romania. Being partially of German descent, I felt relief when the Berlin Wall came down. Each time another segment of the Iron Curtain fell was another day of joy.

We brought Aram to Massachusetts and Maine, as well as New Jersey,during our summer visit to the U.S. He was warmly welcomed by all family and friends.When we spent a week at Green Acre Baha’i School, in Maine, his one curly hair, coming up from the middle of his head, earned him the sobriquet, “Sweepea”, after the orphan from Popeye. We celebrated his first birthday, with a party in my mother’s backyard. There, he got to meet most of his cousins. We joined a photography session, on the day of Penny’s cousin’s wedding, in Bedminster, then visited other friends in the area, while the wedding itself was in progress.

Penny had left her position at Jeju National University, to take care of Aram. She received a year’s salary as maternity leave, so that helped. I bonded more fully with the first group of students that had entered the program last year and continued making strong connections with those who entered each subsequent year.

The Eighties were bittersweet, but on balance, they set me in the right direction-something I had been seeking since 1969. The Nineties would see this straight path accelerate.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 7, Day 9

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Historical, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Travel

July 30, 2026- As if to underscore her determination, Hana made a point of standing full on her feet, while holding onto her mother, this morning. She practiced standing, with my support, several times this afternoon. I let her stand up, while holding onto the border of the play pen. She is a few inches shy of being able to see over the top, but was able to hold onto it for about 8 seconds. She is leading this. I am providing encouragement and support. I’ve told her that only she knows her limits, and there is no rush. Most kids seem to wait until nine months, before standing with support. Hana will do things on her own timetable.

She napped a fair amount today, largely because she is constantly moving during the day and, depending on the extent to which her top incisors are still bothering her, sometimes tosses and turns a lot at night. She likes to play with company, so I am in the pen a lot. It is usually a cycle of wake up and wash/dress; morning feeding; parents saying goodbye, before going to work; her listening to my prayers (sometimes with her head bowed); us going out for a walk (she in the stroller); medication; story time; nap; lunch; story time; play time; nap, afternoon feeding; play time; welcome back, Mom & Dad; dinner; bath and sleep.

HANA’S NOTE- I want to help out, so I feed myself when Mom is giving me dinner, so she can rest.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-1982 The second set of sea changes came this year. In February, Penny and I got engaged. We were married on the Anniversary of D-Day, June 6. We went on Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, two weeks later-visiting Jerusalem, Bethlehem, the Galilee and the Baha’i holy places in Haifa, Akka and Bahji. It was an overwhelming nine days. We stopped in London, on the way back, and visited the Tomb of Shoghi Effendi, Baha’u;llah’s great-grandson, who guided the Faith for 36 years, after the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Baha. Before summer’s end, we also took a six-day road trip up to a Blackfeet First Nations Reserve, in southern Alberta, joining a Continental Indigenous Council Fire.

Penny and I settled in Tuba City, and she took a job teaching Special Needs students at the Primary school, across the street from the Intermediate School where I worked as a Counselor. We worked out a number of bumps and adjustments that came with sharing a small trailer, after each having lived alone for so many years. A friend in Flagstaff had told me that this would be a stormy marriage, but it would also be a good and strong one. How right he turned out to be.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 7, Day7

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Historical, Inspiration, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

July 28, 2026- “What is boody boody doo?” , my granddaughter asked, this afternoon, when I warbled the nonsense phrase. This is the first time she has asked a coherent question, so I gave her a simple answer: “I’m just being silly.” Her slight smile let me off the hook. She did another first, shortly afterward: Planting her feet firmly on the floor, as she stood up, with my support. She wanted to look out the window-and of course touch the blinds. Then, she contented herself with opening and closing the gate to the playpen. It’s plastic and opens out, so there is no danger. She did this for about twenty minutes, then wanted to go back inside the pen and play.

I told her that she has eight special qualities: She is very smart; she is pretty; she has good health-including exercise drive and appetite;she is assertive; she has a great sense of humour; she is curious; she is adventuresome; she has a big heart. I see all these, regularly. Of course, she is an infant and does infantile things, but tantrums are rare, because her needs are anticipated and the three of us are good at picking up on her cues.

HANA’S NOTE- Papa can be very silly, but I love his silliness and how he dances me around the playpen.

YEAR IN REVIEW-1980 A bad day is often followed by a good one. A bad decade is likewise followed by a nice one-if the right lessons are learned. This year saw me leave Villa School, and enter a a Masters program at Northern Arizona University. The better part of this year saw me continue to bounce off proverbial walls. I still committed social faux pas, though in each case, I suffered immediate consequences and learned from them. I finished at the Villa with my head held high and went into summer classes at NAU, after a two-week break.

I found a town house, whose tenant needed a roommate. Although we were polar opposites, it worked, for about three months. Much of that time, I was on the road-going up to Oregon and back, with a fellow student. Another jaunt took me to Santa Fe, Taos and Los Alamos, with another student who was going one way. I caught a bus back, from Albuquerque. My housemate connected me with a Sky Y group that was going to Havasupai. I was hired on as a chaperone for a group of middle school kids. It was a good, strenuous hike and I got to see Havasupai Falls-a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

I worked at a part-time job on the NAU campus, devising assistance programs for handicapped students in three public school districts. It was a rather nebulous assignment and I don’t think I accomplished much, other than give inspirational talks to juniors and seniors at Grand Canyon High School, in Tusayan and at Williams High School.

In November, I felt stirrings that I had not felt since I last saw Katie, at UMass-Boston. The first part of th emonth, I went with a couple of other students to Durango, CO and visited a former student at Fort Lewis College. At the place where I stayed, a friendly young woman caught my interest, though she had her life and I had mine, It was, though, the first time in several years that I felt someone special was about to come into my life. On my birthday weekend, I went to San Diego and stayed in a hostel. I met a few other ladies there, and felt more relaxed around them than I ever had in Flagstaff. Something, it seemed, was about to happen.

That semester, I took an anthropology class, which entailed field trips to Hopi and Zuni. In early December, there is a house blessing ceremony at Zuni, called Shalako. Our class went there, and huddled in the cozy main house. There were several other visitors there, mostly anthropology buffs and a couple of professors from the University of New Mexico. One of these visitors was speaking Spanish with a New Jersey accent. A classmate remarked on the “paucity’ of her speech. I glanced at the visitor, and we locked eyes. She then came over and started talking to me, in English. Her New Jersey accent was not off-putting in the least. Neither was anything else about her. This was Penny, and my life was about to experience two sea changes.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 7, Day 6

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

July 27,2026- Hana has two new skill projects: Reaching for everything and standing up, with assistance. The first one has us doing our due diligence on child-proofing. The second one is something I am more than glad to assist, She can stand, with my support, for about 15 seconds at a time. Then, she has to sit down, but will want to stand again, a few minutes later. She did the same with crawling and sitting, so I can see what our agenda for the next several weeks will be.

My granddaughter has a keen sense of humour and of mischief. While I was scuttering about, making dinner, this evening, she would reach up from her bouncy chair and grab the hem of my shorts, with a huge grin on her face. She also likes to take the cover of one of the recliner’s arms and cover her face with it. She does take correction, though, when her antics might present a problem. It is not necessary to raise my voice; I just explain to her why it is not a good idea. There will betimes, when she is a toddler, when reason will take a holiday, but even then, a firm “No” will hold.

Hana is slowly taking to the mimicking crab, talking to it and giggling at its copying her. Of course, it mimics the giggling, too. I will make silly noises or speak a detailed message. It copies those, also, which amuses Hana as well.

HANA’S NOTE- I woke up very early today. Mommy and Papa both came to my crib. Mommy took care of me. She always does. Then, we all went back to sleep, but I woke up for good, an hour later (what Mommy said). I sure took long naps today. Papa makes sure that I get a nap when I get cranky.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE- 1979 My Dad asked me, at the end of my month-long visit in June, “Are you going to be traveling the rest of the summer?” My answer was “Not all summer. Just a bit.” I caught a few Greyhounds. The first was to Frankfort, Kentucky. I looked around that capital city a bit, then visited Hodgenville, Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace,and Mammoth Cave National Park. After that, came a stop in Nashville, and a hitchhike westward, as far as North Little Rock, where I slept behind a gas station. The next day, a couple of sisters headed towards Las Vegas picked me up, stinking laundry bag and all, and let me have the spare bed in their hotel room, in Albuquerque. The next morning’s shower never felt so good. I went south, after doing my laundry in the hotel’s coin-op. A couple of rides later, I was in Las Cruces, where I caught another Greyhound to Casa Grande, AZ and from there hitched to Toltec. The rest of the summer was spent doing my Buildings and Grounds chores at Villa School. Evaporative coolers take a fair amount of maintenance.

My work year, both the Spring of Year One and Fall of Year Two, saw me carry on a bit more structurally in my teaching. I was better able to teach multiple skill levels and actually conveyed Algebra and trigonometry, in a coherent manner. There were a number of Iranian students who attended this school, especially after the Revolution. I made my first visit to San Diego, in March, as I had no Spring Trip assignment from the school. I ran into the Villa group at San Diego Zoo, but otherwise kept my own schedule. A couple of visits to Mexico also took place this year-Hermosillo and Puerto Penasco. The latter, under Villa auspices, was called the “Penasco Fisaco”, as a student and I were set adrift in the Headmaster’s boat. We weren’t far offshore, and managed to get back to the dock, but it incensed the boss, and i was never invited to go back to his cabana again.

In December, I hitched a couple of rides. the longest of which was from Kansas City to Syracuse. During that long drive, I found myself taking over for a toddler’s frazzled mother, rocking and calming the little girl until she wanted her mother again. That was about the longest drive without taking a room, or a campsite, that I have ever taken.

The long decade of personal struggle drew to a close, and the next ten years would bring one sea change after another.