Category Archives: Personal goals

The Hana Chronicles: Month 8, Day 5

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Education, Family, impediments, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

August 26,2026- Hana was able to stand upright, without support, for four seconds. She is also able to scoot, along the bars of the playpen, for about five steps at a time, and is able to transition from one section of the bars to its perpendicular neighbour.. She is on a rather systematic mission to master all the prerequisites of walking.

My grandchild has associated my being with her, with her parents’ absence. So, she was trying to figure out why I still rock her to sleep for her afternoon nap, when she knows her mother is in the house. I explained that “Mommy needs a nap, herself.” She then relaxed and went to sleep on my shoulder, seeming to understand that it would be hard for either of them to sleep, as Hana likes to play with Yunhee, when they are in the playpen or on the bed,

Hana has her grandmother’s single-mindedness, and will surely master anything to which she sets her mind. The rub is that she will need to learn when to defer her mission, so that things her parents need her to do can take precedence. This will later transfer to her school life. The willfulness can work, once that balance is reached.

HANA’S NOTE- I like to have just a small snack, like bits of fruit or cucumber, when my grownups eat their big meals. I have my meals earlier, but I still want to sit with them and be part of things.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-2009 I was starting to get overwhelmed by trying to hold down a job, at the same time as the long hours needed to care for Penny, as she became increasingly unstable. She could no longer drive. That came to an end in 2007, when she admitted to being scared to even try driving in an empty parking lot. She could manage her motorized scooter, but wanted me to be with her, when she was anywhere other than the ASU West campus.

I left WIS, in March, and went to work for a mental health agency, whose motto was “New Ways of Thinking”. Those turned out to be “The boss is always right” and “We are here to serve the insurance industry.” In fairness, I was running on fumes a good part of the time I was serving clients, and even more so when sitting in training sessions or in meetings. I was let go, at the end of the 3-month probation period, but was not replaced. A co-worker I met by chance, afterward, told me they were trying to cut costs-and that was the real reason I was terminated.

I attended Penny’s graduation from ASU West, a few weeks later. There, we met Nancy Pelosi, the singer Alice Cooper and President Barack Obama, who gave the graduation address. Penny had opted out of attending all her other graduation ceremonies, over the years. The meaning of this one made up for all those.

We made one last road trip across the country, to attend my second eldest nephew’s wedding, in New Jersey. As it was, by chance, not far from the Fellmans’ house, we stayed there, though Penny’s parents were in Arizona. Her younger sister was there, though. The wedding was lovely, but the trip had a finality to it, that I could not completely grasp. One silver lining was that all the work we had done, the past six years, to get access to restrooms for disabled people and their opposite sex caregivers, was starting to pay off. In four states along the way, we found facilities that had “family” restrooms-one seaters that could be locked from the inside. Other times, we still had to prevail on kind souls to stand guard outside, while we tended to nature’s call.

Lady, our family dog for the past fourteen years, passed away in September. She was 17 and had severe arthritis, unable to move without screaming in pain. It almost felt like she was going on, to prepare a place for Penny-but we were far from ready to give up the fight. I went back to substitute teaching and she busied herself with looking for positions in Technology Education.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 7, Day 27

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

August 17, 2026-Our girl is getting ever more intense about being able to stand, and about learning to walk. She can stand with support, for nearly five minutes and was taking steps, while her father was holding her up, this evening.

Hana is also practicing hand-eye coordination. Given some skinless grapes that had been cut into small pieces, she meticulously picked up even the smallest piece and put it in her mouth. She stayed focused on a particularly slippery morsel, getting it to her mouth after five tries.

HANA’S NOTE- I am going to be a helper, not a taker. So, I want to keep working hard.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-2000 Our world did anything but end. We rang in the New, at the home of a Baha’i friend, watching a variety of social viewpoints on TV, and having called Penny’s parents to wish them Happy Anniversary, as they did not feel up to traveling “in a time of uncertainty”, felt like this New Year’s Eve was unlike any other. There was, however, no finality about any of it.

We finished up our year at Salome, and moved on, once my Assistant Principal got the nod to run the school for the 2000-01 Academic Year. We spent the summer at the Fellmans’ house, in a rustic development called Kingswood Estates. It had a Homeowners Association, so we had to follow certain rules. Our long-haired dachshund, Lady, was very much with us. There were roving bands of javelinas in the community, as well as mountain lions, so we were careful not to let her out alone. On one early morning, before sunrise, I was walking Lady and we came upon a small family of javelinas. I picked her up and held her, while she instinctively kept quiet. The herd went about their business and left us alone.

Penny took a couple of classes at Mesa Community College, and so had an apartment in Mesa, which Aram and I stayed in, while I also tried to get a job in the Phoenix area. A week or so into the Academic Year, I was offered a Principalship at Mingus Mountain Academy, a facility for adjudicated girls. I took the job, knowing that we had the house in Kingswood for the year. I got off to a fairly good start, despite the lingering presence of my immediate predecessor, who was basically waiting for me to mess up, so that he could come back and “fix things” and the noisome Assistant Principal, who interfered with my work, more than helped. Still, I earned the trust of the girls and had a generally good relationship with the teachers and with the facility’s Executive Director.

It was, though, a 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. job, with no holidays (as the residents did not get to go home for breaks). There was a weekend crew, as school was Monday-Friday, so that was a relief. I worked Thanksgiving and Christmas, even working extra hours on my 50th birthday, as a resident had run off and we all needed to track her down. It took a few hours, but we found her. The girls were mainly from the city, and did not take into consideration that there were bears and mountain lions in the area,

It was a true labour of love, but I was a tad too trusting of some residents. The year to come would bear that out, with hard consequences.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 7, Day 26

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal goals, Personal Values, service, Social, Striving

August 16, 2026- Both Aram and I have told Hana the story of the boy who cried wolf. She has adopted the practice of crying every time her parents tell her “No” or make her wait for something. When I told her the story, this evening, she listened with rapt attention-and decided that crying about every little thing is not such a useful idea. Mental processing precedes the ability to speak.

We made a family outing to Carrollton, this afternoon, enjoying Korean noodles and a couple of dessert items: Three of us shared a piece of ice cream cake, then shared a Korean “Snowflake” bowl, which has fruit, ice cream and shaved ice. We mixed the three together, to make a fun treat. Hana watched all this, with a good nature, though her face said “Where’s mine?”

In the early evening, I went to a fund-raising bazaar, at the Plano Baha’i Center, and picked up about a dozen books for Hana, Some of them are mini-books that she can easily look at, for several minutes at a time. She was delighted, when I showed her the books.

HANA’S NOTE- When my Daddy tells me to stop doing something, using his Daddy voice, I have to listen. When Papa tells me about somebody being naughty, I listen to him also.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-1999 The bottom fell out in Chilchinbeto, in April. I turned down a request by a Governing Board member for reimbursement, on an item that would have been double dipping. Between that, and the ongoing suspicion regarding the deceased Paraprofessional, I was terminated, effective June 30. I told the Board that perhaps a Dineh would be more to their liking. They did hire a qualified Navajo educator. (As it happened, they fired him, too, after a year.) I was able to upgrade the professional development of the teaching staff, send the eighth grade class to Hawai’i and to an Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game and hire a competent financial services team. We would have continued on an upward arc, but for the insecurity of five people.

I continued to take Penny to see a neurologist, in Flagstaff, during the Spring and Summer. Eventually, we also began seeing an acupuncturist,and another neurologist, in Phoenix. Between all those services, her brain health stabilized. Aram went on a Tae Kwon Do tournament in South Korea,, and was able to visit his birthplace, Jeju, again. While he was away, we left Jeddito, and the Navajo Nation.

I secured a one-year appointment as Principal of Salome High School, in the desert west of Phoenix. I worked under a former professor of mine, who served as Superintendent. We got along, for the most part. My assistant principal was also in training to become the principal, the following year. At times, I felt like I was sandwich filling. At least, the Superintendent was mostly supportive of my efforts, save when I trod on his turf.

Penny worked as the lone Special Education Teacher, as we had but eighty students in the high school. She bonded well with them. Aram had a rough first semester, in the Sixth Grade of the Elementary School. He gradually, with professional help, managed to recover his equilibrium.

My outreach included a visit to each of the feeder schools, once each semester, as well as evening town meetings with parents in each of the communities sending students to the high school. These visits were well received. I got along well with the teachers and with the majority of the students. Keeping peace between the Hispanic and Anglo students required active mediation and conflict resolution sessions. I also brought in a program called “Responsible Thinking’, which Penny had studied in one of her classes at NAU. It was seen by some in the community as mumbo jumbo, and didn’t really get much traction.

We approached Y2K with a sense that there would not be as drastic a change as some were expecting.

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, 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 6, Day 29

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

July 20, 2026- I used an unconventional means of opening a container, this evening. Hana looked astounded, and let me know that she didn’t think it was a good idea. I told her that, although it worked this time, I wouldn’t do that again. She gave a wan smile. If you have ever been scolded, in infant-speak, you know what I mean.

She is speaking her mind, a lot more these days, and I find it fairly easy to decipher what she is saying. There are times when she will speak, from the back of her throat, in intelligible English words- “I want that”; “I don’t want it.”; “I love you”. As the teeth pop out, she will produce more words, certainly.

She also has her own set of expectations for our daily routine. She will not go for a nap, until she has had her walk in the stroller and taken her medication. She also prefers to take any afternoon nap with me, in the recliner. Her lunch meal has the “bite” order of vegetable, starch, meat, sip from the milk bottle, and repeat. This works just fine and she is a plate cleaner.

HANA’S NOTE- I told Papa, “That is not a good thing to do”, when I saw him opening a salad box, without using scissors. I have to watch him every minute that Daddy isn’t home!

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE- 1972 I was discharged from the Army on January 2, with the condition I attend college. I resumed my studies at North Shore Community College, in Beverly, MA. I lived at home the first semester. I worked at a warehouse called Central Sales, not far from the college, three evenings and Saturday mornings. As before, young women floated in and out of my life. I dated a sweet girl who was four years my junior, for a few months. She was more mature than I was, and it fell apart after about three months.

Summer brought a three-week jaunt across Canada, from Montreal to Edmonton and Calgary, then down through Montana, Idaho, Utah and across Colorado, the Midwest, West Virginia, Maryland and back up through Pennsylvania and back to Massachusetts. I met nice people along the way, and learned the limits of sleeping outside, in some of the national parks of Canada. Stops to visit people along the way ranged from turbulent (a pen pal in Colorado) to gratifying (my Viet Nam buddy , Bill, and his family, in Baltimore). I also first heard of the Baha’i Faith, outside Philadelphia. I was still comfortable as a Catholic, so didn’t investigate any further, but the name kept popping up, over the next several years.

Fall semester found me living with an eclectic group of people in Beverly. I stayed there with Al, Sandy and their housemates, into the following Spring. It was a pleasant arrangement and I learned the value of platonic friendships with women, other than my sister and cousins. Emotional maturity was coming along, slowly but surely.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 6, Day 26

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

July 17,2026- Hana and I were asleep in the recliner, so deeply that I didn’t notice Aram going in and out to get the mail. My granddaughter has the same calming effect on me that I have on her.

We had a busy “half day”, in that her parents came home from work early, to take her to a medical appointment. We thus managed our walk, “wrestling” (her crawling on me and my lifting her up in the air, in vestibular motion) and lunch time into a shorter frame. There was also story time, centered on “Sleeping Beauty”. Maleficent is portrayed in this brief version only as the “Old Fairy”. She ends up getting turned into a frog. Hana thought that was funny.

She is always overjoyed when one of us comes back to the house, after having been away for a brief errand. Having the family all together is a big deal to my granddaughter. She is delighted to just sit in the high chair at each meal, even at breakfast, which for her is a liquid feeding, still. She has complete meals at lunch and dinner.

HANA’S NOTE- I went to have my blood checked-AGAIN. This time, the nurse only stuck me once with the needle. So, that was not as bad.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE- 1969 This was a year of firsts: My first time on an airplane; my first trip outside New England; my first extended time away from family; my first time really hallenging myself.

I left Star Market in January and went to work at General Electric’s Riverworks Plant, in Lynn, MA. My fahter, and several relatives and neighbours worked there, as well. Dad got me in. I worked in the rotometer calibration section. The senior technician told me my work was substandard, but he never bothered complaining to the higher=ups. Nor did he offer specific criticism that might have helped me improve.

It was a placeholder job, anyway, as I had asked the Army Reserve Unit to let me enlist in the Regular Army. My plan was to enlist for 3 years, then apply for an early release, so as to return to college. My enlistment date was set for June 16, and the recruiter determined I’d be best suited for the Army Postal Corps. I left G.E. on May 1, and focused somewhat on physical training.

Basic Training was at Fort Jackson, SC. I started off as a mewling klutz, but slowly and surely got with the program. I scraped by in marksmanship, missed Combat Fire-but never was made to re-take it, though I asked to do so, and excelled in the Physical Training Test. I did fairly well in the G-3 (General Knowledge) Exam, which was oral. On weekends, we had free time, and I went with a couple of guys who were from Columbia, to their favourite hangouts. I was the sole White guy with four African-Americans, but none of the Whites we encountered gave us any trouble over it.

Woodstock happened while I was doing things like learning how to properly handle grenades and re-sight my M-16. We were brought into a room and allowed to watch the launch of the first Apollo rocket to the Moon. Training was canceled that day. I made enough of an improvement that the cadre sent me on a 3-day pass to Myrtle Beach, on Labor Day weekeend.. I saw that there was little difference between it and the beach towns of New England, though the water was warmer. I stayed in a two-bed shack for $1 a night, and had the place to myself.

Fort Ben Harrison and the postal training were footnotes. I didn’t really bond with anyone in the unit, but went into Indianapolis by myself a few times on weekends. I never did get to the racetrack, though. Many of the guys went to VietNam, after AIT. I was sent to Fort Myer, Va. I was assigned to straighten out a mail operation, as my predecessor had ended up in Fort Leavenworth, for various postal crimes. That made a distinct impression on me. I got the job done quickly, to the satisfaction of the Inspector General. That November, a high school friend was killed in Viet Nam, and I began to re-assess what my responsibilities were. I fasted that Thanksgiving, and decided to give Fort Myer a year, after which I would re-assess my situation. Seeing Washington, D.C. on weekends was great fun, though, and I began to bond with civilians in the Georgetown neighbourhood, whose views on life were similar to my own.

Thus did the ’60s come to an end.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 6, Day 25

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

July 16, 2026- Hana is becoming increasingly concerned with cleanliness. She wipes her play pen with a clean cloth, She hates having a soiled diaper and fusses until she is perfectly clean again. (This may be a good time to lobby for a toddler potty, but we’ll take that cause up very soon.) She wipes her own face after a meal.

We went out around 9:30, this morning. The road crews were already hard at work, so we went along the north sidewalk, then across to Hoblitzelle Park and back through the quieter areas of Greenfield Avenue, where work had been finished. The park was fairly active, but the return route was nearly deserted. Hana occupied herself with singing and with feeling the texture of the bug net. She drew lots of smiles and compliments from people passing by us.

I have heard from friends elsewhere, who are concerned that the storm now ravaging central Texas might be headed our way. We had three intense showers today, but our cul-de-sac is well away from any flowing water, and the kids reported there was no flooding on the roads to Coppell and Euless, where they work. I ache for the people in San Antonio and points west and south, who are again getting the brunt of the flooding.

HANA’S NOTE- I like to take baths, so I am glad that I can sit up on my own now. It makes bath night much more fun.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-1968 This was my first big transition, since 1956. I graduated high school, not wanting to make a big deal of it, but also wondering about what was next. Graduation summer found me mostly working at Star Market, basically treading water. I would continue there until the end of my semester at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, to which I commuted each day, in the Fall of that year.

I made friends in Boston, and started off on a good foot, academically. A month in, though, I was more interested in parties and protests than in studying. That lack of focus cost me a girl I might have truly loved. She was serious about her education. I wasn’t really serious about much of anything.

So, December, 1968 found me thinking about what, exactly, I was going to do to discipline myself. It was too late for Katie, but I was going to have a redeemed life, somehow. I enlisted in the Army Reserves- a six-year commitment. I also agreed to work at the General Electric plant where my father worked.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 6, Day 14

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

July 5, 2026- The fireworks were so much fun for people, the past two nights, that there were a few sets going off tonight. We just went about our business. For Hana, that meant sleeping soundly through it all.

She is focused on her sitting up, which is getting longer, with less help. She knows now to use one hand to prop herself and can stay upright for 4-5 minutes, before wanting to move on to something else-and then sitting up again.

Our focus today was an early birthday celebration for Aram, who has chosen to work on Tuesday, his actual birthday. Hana understood that it was Daddy’s special day. When I left, in mid-morning, for a Baha’i devotional, she was puzzled as to why I was leaving the house alone. I promised that I would be back in time for the family outing.

At noon, we all went to a place called BBQ Chicken, and enjoyed two varieties of said item, Hana sat patiently in her stroller, while the three of us ate. We then went to Daiso, a Japanese dry goods store and picked up a few things-among them, a rain coat for me and a body bib for Hana. I also stopped in at 85 C and bought mini pineapple cakes for Aram’s birthday celebration. It was a nice afternoon, though probably less than exciting for our girl.

HANA’S NOTE- I was confused when Papa went out alone, after my parents said we were all going somewhere. I asked Papa why he was leaving, and he said it was to a devotional, whatever that is. Anyway, he came back right at Noon, and we went for Daddy’s birthday. This is the first time I have heard the word birthday. Yesterday was “America’s” birthday. I would like t meet that lady someday. She seems pretty popular.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-1957 During the second half of First Grade, Miss Lavin took us, on foot, to the Saugus Public Library. She rang her bell the whole way down Central Street. We were all guided by police officers, who stood at each intersection. It was a nice introduction to the Library and I got my first card that day.

In the summer,I was given my First Communion, a Roman Catholic sacrament. It was my first time wearing a suit and tie, also. For the next six years, I had to go to Sunday school, every week after Mass.

Second Grade started in September. Mrs. McCarrier was our teacher. She showed us subtraction and two-digit addition, plus how to tell nouns from verbs and articles. We began the SRA program, a reading enhancement tool. I did well in it, but didn’t get along with the instructor, who had no patience for students who read at a higher level. I never understood her reasoning. In October, our Principal. Mr. Lynch, told us about the launch of Sputnik, a Russian satellite, which was the first rocket launched into space, That was our first school-wide assembly.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 6, Day 4

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Posted by on in children, Education, Family, Inspiration, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Striving

June 25, 2026- Hana sat up twice today, on her own. She called to me, both times, so that I knew she had reached her goal. Of course, she will build on this and be able to sit without support, for several minutes at a time, well before reaching 7 months.

In setting tasks for herself and practicing diligently, until she completes the task, Hana is a mirror of her grandmother. Penny always had a project or mission to accomplish. In many ways, Yunhee,, always doing some work on behalf of her daughter, is likewise setting the example. Hana notices what is being done on her behalf and part of her already wants to emulate purposeful activity. In her large playpen, my granddaughter is always on the move.

In my own sphere, any thoughts of slowing down have been quickly disabused. In keeping watch over this dynamic little girl, I will be just as occupied as in the days of community service and travel. Then again, slowing down was never my intention when I came here. Whether there is one grandchild, two or three grandchildren, the joy of passing the baton will be long in playing out.