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Showing posts from December, 2017
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The Coolest Times I Had In 2017..... It's the end of the year and the start of another. You will see plenty of columns about the top news stories of the past year. Or something about celebrity deaths. But the news was horrible all year. I choose to write about the good times. There were plenty of things I enjoyed last year. I enjoyed the Cavs playoff run. I enjoyed the Indians historic winning streak. I enjoyed going to the Billy Joel concert with my wife. And of course I enjoyed any day I could spend with my family and friends. But some days stick out. Some times were special. So, not in any particular order, here are some special days I will remember from 2017. My nephew's wedding. Weddings are special because it brings the whole family together. Plus it's a big party. My nephew Patrick and his bride Erin had particularly beautiful wedding. The The bride and groom. rehearsal dinner was at Progressive Field. The wedding ceremony was at the downtown cathedral
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Start A New Christmas Tradition Today!..... Twas the day before Christmas and all through the house, there was happiness. Because families are coming together. The shopping is done. Most of the presents are wrapped. It's about time for the main event. It's time to roll out those family traditions. After all, family traditions are what the holidays are all about. They may make you laugh or moan, but it wouldn't be the holiday season in your family without them. They may have been started years ago by your crazy aunt or uncle, but they seem here to stay. The important thing is that they carry on. This Christmas may be unique in some ways. Some families may have lost a family member this year. Some families may have added a member to their celebration. The traditions tie it together. They give your family a sense of continuity. You can say, "This is the (insert your family name here) family. and this is how we celebrate Christmas!" And look appreciative of
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The Three Stages of Christmas..... I think Christmastime is the most special time of the year. When else do people decorate their houses, inside and out. We have plenty of parties and buy gifts for each other. Radio stations play songs of the season for weeks before. Our Christmas memories come flooding out when we get together. The other day I was thinking about those memories and I came to realize there are 3 distinct types of Christmases. Each are special, but each are different. The first type is when you are a kid. Christmas for kids are spectacular! Imagine a time when the whole world would turn into a fantasyland. The decorations! The presents all wrapped up! The toys! Kids can't wait for Christmas because it's such a huge chunk of their life. One year to a 10 year old is 10%  of their entire life. My special Christmas memories when I was a kid will always be about visiting my Grandma's house on Christmas Eve. My entire extended family would be there. All my
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We Are All Christmas Trees..... Yesterday we went out shopping for this year's official family Christmas tree. It's always an adventure. In my lifetime I have used a few different types of Christmas trees. Our artificial tree. Way, way back in the day my family got an aluminum tree. These were popular back in the early 60's. To assemble it, you had to slide a specific size straight branch into a hole on the pole, or trunk. It was a pain in the neck. But it was shiny and looked nice with ornaments on it. To jazz it up we would put these spotlights with rotating color wheels to give it more color. It was great until the color wheels came loose and would melt on the spotlights. I have also used the popular green "lifelike" artificial trees. We still use one in our family room. It looks great and is very easy to put up. It looks good in a picture, but still lacks a little something. Our official tree is a big "live" one that goes in the fr
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So How Did Cleveland Get So Cool?..... National Geographic Traveler magazine has named Cleveland as a 2018 Best of the World City. You can re-read that if you like, but it's not going to change. Twenty-one cities got this mention, but only three in the United States. We are noted for our culture and our revitalization. The National Geographic editor described Cleveland as "a place you thought you knew, but don't." How did this happen? I was born and raised in Cleveland. It wasn't always an award winning city. Years ago it had been described in different ways, but Best of the World doesn't come to mind. It was a gritty, hard working, city in the rust belt. But over time, a revolution has taken place. The Flats have revitalized the riverfront. People live Downtown in trendy apartments now. We are known as a "foodie" city because of our great variety of fine restaurants. We have hosted a national political convention. We've hosted baseb