In Remembrance Of Doctor Jack Lupas

In my later years I've gained a greater fixation on death and dying, obituaries are a daily challenge to read, carnage on the news holds my attention longer, and, generally, I think of little else. Yesterday, when I read Doctor Jack's obituary, it really hit me hard. Doctor Jack Lupas was one of the good guys both within his profession and as an everyday gentleman and a devoted family man. My condolences go out to his wife, Judy, and to his offspring in their loving remembrance.

My fondest recollection of Doc was of him either reading or reciting his poems to the audience attending an organized Poetry Reading event we both attended for a number of years. Jack was a very accomplished poet. Doctor Jack Lupas will surely be remembered  around  Pottstown for his medical accomplishments but, I and others who knew him personally, will think of his loss to humanity as leaving a large hole for now and future generations to fill.

May He Rest In Peace !
Ronald C. Downie

Flightless Eagles

Last night at the stadium before the game the music was upbeat and joyous, loud and diverse, free and hopeful. Hope was the overriding theme of the attendees both in and out of the stadium before kickoff.

By halftime the plea of hope was evolving into "help"! Sadly, help is not possible this far into a season. Help, in my estimation, can only manifest itself if the owners are affected in their pocketbooks. As long as rabid fans activate the turnstiles the owners are quite willing to field mediocre teams led by inadequate coaches.

Hope is an emotional statement ; help is logical shout out for assistance. It seems with the existing coaches, players, and owners the Eagles are too, too far away from a playoff berth in the foreseeable  future. But, if fans still support a failed system, nothing will happen.

Ronald C. Downie

Connie, Constance Mae Downie, birthday words in verse

My Care Giver

Once totally independent, I'm now
Seeking life support, someone to lean on,
My crutch, my care taker, yes, my soul mate !

Going on fifty two years of marriage
From the World's Fair through two girls and a boy
Our family weathered normal ups/downs.

We are greater than the sum totals of
Our individual parts extending
Our family deep into the wide World.

Your birthday begins with an accenting
Sun. For the next six months its arc rises
In the sky toward Equinox in June.

A wimpy fall gone as winter limps in ;
Days sure to get longer as spring sneaks in.
Love declares its season is twelve months long.

Today, we simply sit across the room
Peeking, from time to time, at each other
Love has subtle ways of manifesting.

As it matures, love is not physical
But is a mental exercise of your
Accommodation with an other's life.

I rest my case, fondness from affection
Grows maturing into true love as time,
The great equalizer, shifts into gear.

Looking back, episodes swish on by me,
Facts dim over, truths rest in quite dim light,
But, it's not a dream of love, it's true love.

December 23, 2015, your day of birth :
My fervent hope is your health remains strong,
Your crosswords come easy, Force be with you.

Happy Birthday,
Love, Your Husband, Ron

In My Own Best Interest

"In my own best interest" is a phrase often overlooked in everyday application. How do you apply it in decisions you are contemplating today that will affect all of your tomorrows ? Let's say you're thinking about buying a new car. You think, I presume : cost, style, gas mileage, size, ... . But, an unconscious urge would be to think of safety, a thought maybe paramount in most of your mental recesses, that gnawing grip of "in my own best interest". The examples are endless, and by remembering that you are number "1", and it is only by living safely that will you remain number "1".

Rather than purchasing an automobile, take the upcoming election. An election really gets down to the nitty gritty of "in my own best interest". People we elect will carve out public policy for endless years to come and only through your vote can you anticipate you voice being heard. If female, voting for someone who has supported women exclusionary policies in the past may indicate these same reactionary policies will follow that politician, if elected. Similar tests are being bandied about in debate atmosphere over : race, ethnicity, gender, gayness, young, old, sick, poor,..., etc. 

Truly, "I my own best interest" is seated most importantly in elections. Choose those you vote for with full knowledge  that they will hold in their hands the rise or fall of future generations. Steady is the hand which steers the ship through torrid storms so chose wisely. 

Ronald C. Downie

Evan Alexander Downie, a birthday poem

"Coming Of Age"

Squaring circles is an old fools errand
But, coming out of a trunk, is a young
Man's folly, a birthday surprise for all.

A baby born male matures into man :
By right of passage, by induced thinking,
By dogged pursuit of a profession.

Coming easily is not a tepid
Statement. Advancement is not giant steps,
But sometimes, one forward and two backward.

At twenty-two you've done so very much
Already : mastered work, hit the college
Books, and are at ease in the adult realm.

Having self confidence hits a high mark
Toward your just reward of being a
Man's man, self reliant, self assuring.

Caring for others is a Nobel cause.
A nursing career takes both book knowledge,
As well as, empathy and compassion.

Keep your head on your shoulders, held up high :
Your sight forward, see the ultimate prize,
A future of fulfillment, a settled life.

Enjoy this day of your birth with close friends,
Remember, you're programmed for many more.
With our love, go forth, explore this vast World !

Happy Birthday !
Love You ! Nanny&PopPop !

Steve Toroney, President, Pottstown Borough Council

Dear Steve,

Congratulations !

Congratulations seems too easy to say, too easily said in expressing the enormous gratitude for the many years of service you've given to Pottstown. Those of us who served with you understand the demanding pressure put on you during your tenure of service with the borough. Good leaders, always the target of small minded know it alls, are best served by their own quiet demeanor, their big picture view, and their dogged determination to arrive at a just answer.

In thinking about you and these words, I thought back to my own grandfather, Andrew Grey Downie, who I revered as my mentor when I was young. GrandPa was a sage who talked to me while performing carpenter skills on small furniture items he designed. He made inlayed tops for tables which took a lot of time with fitting and cutting and then attaching the pieces to form some geometric pattern. To me, he was a teacher who also was a carpenter. Seems to me this sounds like you.

Maybe, the similarity to my GrandPa is why I've been drawn to you ever since I met you. In all reality, wasn't there a young man who traveled the Middle Eastern Lands some 2000 years ago who was also a teacher and most likely knew carpentry since his father was a carpenter and it is his story that has effected the World ever since. No, I'm not saying what you're thinking, except, that there must be some synergy between building and then teaching others how to build. Maybe it is the measuring twice before having only to cut once that makes a person more decisive, more self assured, like you.

In keeping with our country's founders, legislators were always expected to serve in their elective position for some period of time then return home to their land or job. I believed in these traditions and I believe you do too. As time moves on, so must others move into positions of responsibility. You've set a strong base for others to build upon and Pottstown applauds you. As GrandPa used to say, "a good job is its own reward"; and "a job worth doing, is a job worth doing well".

Again, Congratulations !

Respectfully, Ronald C. Downie

Ever since Dec. 7, 1941, when I was approaching seven years of age I, and those of my age, have lived in a military influenced society. Most of these years we lived under a cloud of human annihilation from a nuclear winter. This fear is like a cancer on the mind, as would a physical cancer debilitate organs of the body, fear does similar things to the brain. What does the World Clock indicate that the time is before a nuclear winter comes down on civilization ? Looking at the array of presidential candidates who seem to fan the flames of war for political purposes and, it is these candidates, who are pushing the World closer to an ending holocaust. Your vote has meaning !

Sherri Lynn (words in verse at birthday time)

"Salsa On Her Mind"

An awakened Dynamo describes your
Lifestyle of perpetual motion.

To music : feet stir, the body supple,
Two form one, meld through rhythm, pulsating.

At peace with nature's phases at your work,
You draw color and sustenance from soil.

Heaven : spreads forth sun rays, clouds their moisture,
To appease you, the master gardener.

Life, being as it is ; you're who you are :
Independent at the core, female strong.

Woven throughout your life are words of hope,
Poetic justice at work in verse form.

Decades pile up as years pass in review.
Accomplishments are historic events.

Live your life in the now ! Past important,
Tomorrow will happen. "Immortality" ?

Happy Birthday,
Connie &Dad