A MIRACLE…..A BABY MIRACLE

This is a Christmas story that has nothing to do with Christmas. It represents a Jesus like miracle, however.

Twenty two years ago, twin girls were born prematurely in a Massachusetts hospital. Twelve weeks premature. Each weighed 2.2 pounds.

Their parents named them Kryrie and Brielle.

They were placed in separate incubators.

Kyrie did well. Gained weight, etc. Brielle went the other way. Lost weight. Cried constantly. It was obvious Brielle was not going to make it. Death inevitable.

Nurse Gayle had been taking care of the babies in ICU. She needed to do something more for Brielle. What?

At the time, European hospitals in similar situations were placing the twins  into one incubator together. Next to each other. In some instances, the dying twin survived.

Such was not permitted in Massachusetts hospitals at the time. Specifically against the rules.

Gayle disregarded the rules and placed the dying Brielle next to Kryrie in Kryrie’s incubator. Both were placed on their stomachs. Immediately and without assistance, Kryrie’s arm lifted over her sister’s back and remained there. In a holding pattern.

Brielle immediately stopped crying. She improved from that moment on. Survived, of course.

The twins are 22 years old today. Lovely. Live vibrant lives.

God is good! He works in strange ways.

Picked up my second new set of eye glasses at the optician’s late yesterday. Wore a pair last night. From 4-6 feet forward, I could see nothing. Blur!!!

I was in the Chart Room. Told John to turn the lights up. He said they are as high as they go. Took off the glasses, the room was bright. Could not read the labels across the bar. Took off the glasses, could read them all. The TV was on 30 feet away in the corner where Jimmy Buffett used to play. Glasses on, could not read the print on the screen. Glasses off, no problem.

I don’t believe it! It is back to the optician and doctor tuesday. It has been six weeks and I still do not have new glasses I can see with.

The Chart Room last night. Quiet. Only me and three others. Strange because Christmas tourists are filling Key West. Driving was difficult because of the crowds as I drove to the Chart Room.

Met an interesting couple. Brian and Justine Anderson from just outside Houston. Brian and Justine were married in Key West in 2014. Return yearly. Had been coming down several years previous to their marriage also.

They love Key West!

Brian a college professor. He is Chairman of the English Department at a Houston area college. Justine on the staff at Macey’s. Sells furniture and mattresses.

She gave me a quick mattress education. I am unhappy with my soft mattress on the new adjustable bed I recently acquired. I wake with a sore back every morning.

Sounds like all of a sudden nothing satisfies me. Not true, even though I am presently having eye glass and mattress problems. The problems are genuine.

Brian is Dr. Brian Anderson. He too writes a blog. I read it this morning for the first time.The Virtual Cocktail Napkin. dbanderson.blogspot.com.

Perfectly composed blogs. On the intellectual side. As would be expected from a Ph.D degreed English major.

Brian, please send me your e-mail at louispetrone@gmail.com. I would like to communicate with you.

A local biggie tonight. Larry Smith’s annual Christmas show! Titled Holiday Jazz Concert. The Studios of Key West at 8. See you there!

Syracuse/St. Bonaventure tonight. Will miss the game due to Larry’s show.

Syracuse could lose. St. Bonaventure rated by CBS as the best college basketball team in New York.

A study recently released states Florida has the fourth worst credit strength in the United States. Based on average credit score, credit card background, auto and mortgage delinquencies.

I am not surprised. Especially with the large number of mortgage defaults since 2008. Florida is either #1 or 2 re mortgage defaults/foreclosures nationwide.

Don’t be mislead by Trump’s comments re the major corporations that have announced in the last 24 hours that they are going to pay $1,000 bonuses to their employees because of the tax bill recently passed.

Most of the corporations have earning in excess of $40 billion a year. They can afford to pay out $200 million to impress Trump, to place themselves in a favorable position regarding acquiring government contracts in 2018.

Friend Tim Reynolds just called. He lives in Tampa now. He called to tell me he just bought a sailboat. I will be sailing in the near future!

Irma and Me sales continue to excite me. Much more than I expected. Especially at this early stage.

Join the crowd. Buy the book. You will enjoy. The story of how Irma chased me from my Key West home to Pompano to Atlanta and finally to Birmingham. I began to feel like a black cloud was over me.

Irma and Me is available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and KoboBooks.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

 

COREY MALCOM…..INDIANA JONES OF KEY WEST

This morning’s Key West Citizen had a front page story that made me proud. Half the page. Huge photo. Title of the article: Corey Malcom…..Indiana Jones of Key West!

My son-in-law!

Indiana Jones fits him.

Corey grew up in the corn fields of Indiana. Today, his home the depths of the Caribbean.

Corey has been chief archaeologist at the Mel Fisher Museum for more than a quarter century. Worked hand in hand with Mel Fisher initially. He is an expert regarding the slave ship Atocha. He is a slave trade expert.

More than merely an expert. He is the only one possessing significant knowledge in the area of Caribbean slave ships. He writes several times a year for National Geographic. Appears on the History Channel.

He is the best husband, father, and son in law. For real.

Animals know. Jake follows Corey everywhere at home. Sleeps next to him during the night.

Last night was Aqua first. Dueling Bartenders time with Tom Luna and Rick Dery. Even Christmas carols last night. All of us joining in.

Jean at the bar. I was surprised. She was supposed to fly home to Birmingham yesterday. Delta through Atlanta. She was rebooked to wednesday.

David! I had not seen David in months. It was good to see him. In one of his rare moods. Singing along with Tom and Rick on most songs.

Liz was there. A few weeks since we have seen each other. Always good to see her. She was with Josefina.

Still dieting. A solid 10 pounds off so far. I am plateaued. Doing Atkins. The diet says ok to drink gin or scotch after two weeks. No carbs. It was three weeks last night. I had a Tanqueray on the rocks. Sipped it half way down over a period of two hours.

Stopped at Publix on the way home. Out of food again. Diet food. Picked up a few items. Atkins is an expensive diet to be on.

Tonight, Syracuse/Buffalo at 7. Syracuse should win. I will be able to watch the game before my 9 o’clock blog talk radio show.

Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou a fast moving half hour where I cover a multitude of sins. Join me. Interesting, eye opening and challenging. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Impeachment in the air. It was in the air in 1998, also. Clinton was impeached this date in 1998. Basically for his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

I considered attempting to bring Clinton down with Lewinsky at the time a low blow. Even would today. She wasn’t complaining. The Republicans were.

Lewinsky was 22 at the time. Many think younger because she was an intern when the affair started. Later, she worked in the Pentagon.

I felt sorry for Clinton. He was a harasser. Most of his predecessors in the Presidency had been also.

I felt sorry for Lewinsky. Still do. Her life destroyed because of the affair. The relationship involved oral copulation. Never actual intercourse. People remember her as the young lady on her knees. Even so many years later.

Her mother not quite right. Her daughter was in the throes of the investigation/scandal in 1996. Her mother Marcia Kay Vilensky wrote a gossip type book. The Private Life of the Three Tenors. In the book, the mother hinted she had had an affair with Placido Domingo.

Capitalizing on her daughter’s misfortune. The worst!

Reverse pedophilia. That is what I call it. Where the adult is female.

It is not only men who are perpetrators. I wrote a couple of weeks ago about a similar situation.

The most recent involves Andrea Barber. A 29 year old Oregon school teacher. At the time of her arrest, she had reduced her work hours to part time.

Andrea was married.

The school involved a religious one. Pedophilia and religion seem to go hand in hand in recent years.

The affair started in 2016 when the student was 15. They met on a regular basis. Mostly at her home. She even provided her paramour with marijuana.

The school the Logos Christian Academy. In its bio of Andrea, she is described thusly: ” Andrea has always felt called to work with youth and is very excited that God opened the door for her to be part of the Logos team.”

My good friend Larry Smith performs his annual Christmas show friday night at 8 at The Studios of Key West. Holiday Jazz Concert. Always enjoyable. I will be there.

Enjoy your day!

 

THE BEST OF THE WORST CHRISTMAS MOVIES

Today a significant one in Christmas folklore. Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol this date in 1843. The story of the old miser Ebenezer Scrooge, Timothy Cratchit, and the ghosts of Christmas past, present and yet to come. Their visits transform Scrooge into a kinder, gentler man.

The first Christmas Carol movie came out in 1938. My mother took me to see it. I was all of 3-4 years old. Scared me big time! Ever since, I have had a distaste for the film and change the channel when it shows up on TV.

Some believe the movie to be the granddaddy of all holiday shows. One critic described it as the best of the worst Christmas movies. I agree with the critic.

My writing mood continued into yesterday. Rewrote passages to Growing Up Italian all day. Into the night. Never left the house.

I have now been home two full days. Definitely must get out today. I will be at Kate Miano’s Gardens late this afternoon. Terri White singing. I can use a dose of Terri and conversation with friends.

The Christmas Boat Parade last night. Had I been out, I would have watched a bit of it from the ocean deck at the Pier House. The weather was good. The Boat Parade would therefore have been pleasant to watch.

The Key West Citizen publishes on Saturday for Saturday and Sunday. I have to wait till tomorrow’s edition to see the parade’s pics and review the comments concerning the parade.

Don’t forget Larry Smith’s Holiday Jazz Concert friday at 8 at The Studios of Key West. Larry has been performing the show for years. Changes it each year. Always good. A must to see!

Today big in the history of flying. On this date in 1903, the Wright brothers flew a plane they had created. The first plane ever to fly. All of 12 seconds for a distance of 120 feet. History rarely reminds us that the plane flew a total of four times that day. The fourth time, 852 feet in 59 seconds.

In the 1960s when I was flying around the country on behalf of clients, I would occasionally think how far man had come with air travel since that day in 1903. Man stepping on the moon was the ultimate!

All achieved in the short time of 60 odd years.

Trump is taking things away from us a step at a time each and every day. The man a destroyer at heart.

The most recent tragedy involves the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The Center is tasked with saving and protecting the lives of the most vulnerable.

I am personally familiar with the Center. My environmental law work took me there many times. I was concerned with toxins. Hazardous substances that affected many. Nasty bugs that could kill many in an instance if released.

Trump’s interest is corporate America. He has stripped EPA regulations. His attitude is things are not as bad as some make them seem. If corporate America thinks something is safe, it must be. Keep the people in the dark. What they do not know will not hurt them.

The Trump Administration announced , no ordered, the Center to stop using certain words in 2018 budget documents. Seven specifically. Transgender, vulnerable, entitlement, science-based, and evidence-based.

Words have been suggested in their place. Modifying terms. Such that lower a danger involved and in certain instances by silence deny the existence of certain groups such as transgenders.

The recommendation is that descriptive words should be based on community standards and wishes.

Trump is weakening the truth. The order barring certain words reckless and dangerous. A major epidemic could overtake the country because the Center was not able to effectively warn against it and research the problem before it hit full force.

Trump will be signing the tax bill into law this week.  He will continue to tell us it is a big break for the middle class. Bullshit we all know. It is a tax break for the rich to the detriment of the middle class.

Trump has become an economic authority. Lyndon Johnson said, “Making a speech on economics is a lot like pissing down your leg. It seems hot to you, but it never does to anyone else.”

Congress is screwing up probably more than any other time in history. The Republicans follow Pied Piper Trump and the Democrats fail to provide effective opposition.

John Kennedy stated re Congress, “What can you expect from that zoo?”

Want some pleasant reading? Buy a copy of Irma and Me. Good reading! Easy. Enjoyable. Available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and KoboBooks.

Enjoy your Sunday!