Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year to You from John and Karen Persico
Karen asked me to start our annual holiday letter. I was trying to think of a cool “theme” to carry through the letter. I remember when I worked for the Wisconsin Job Service, we categorized jobs under the following: People, Things and Ideas. If I add Places, I thought it might be a good scheme to use. I will defer to Karen on People and Places, since I have always liked Ideas and Things better than People. Of course, People does not include any of you.
Ideas: I truly like the idea that we should be about compassion for others less fortunate. Kindness to those in need of help and Courage in the face of old age and death. I have been attending seminars on caregiving and Dementia to help me to better understand the impact that these could have on my life and the life of others around me. I notice that as I age and my friends age, there is a tendency for us to play it safe and to pull in on risk taking. Maybe that is inevitable, but I think we (I) need to fight back to some degree against it. Well, that’s all on ideas. I have left out politics since I am sure that none of you want to hear any of my ideas about it. Don’t blame you one bit.
Things: Karen and I bought our first TV set in nearly forty years. It is a “Smart” TV that we are using via WIFI to watch Netflix and Amazon videos. Karen likes listening to music on it. We get no commercials or FAKE NEWS. 😊 If you want to see a vison of the future of “Things,” read the book: “Building the Internet of Things” by Macie J. Franz, a VP of Strategic Innovation at Cisco. The future will be unbelievable in terms of things. We will all be around to see some of it. Well, time to turn this over to Karen. She is going to her 3 times a week Zumba class now but will return shortly. — John
People and Places: It will be no surprise to anyone who knows me that I am not nearly as organized as John, so I’m lumping people and places. They usually go together anyway. The rhythm of our snow-birding life continued between Fredric and Arizona City with a wonderful addition this year of a trip to England in the fall for nearly a month. We were very fortunate to have John’s sister Jeanine (my sister too) travel with us. 
We spent most of the trip in the Cotswold area in a stone cottage dating from about 1740 (where I had my first ghost experience). From there we did day trips to quaint villages and castles with a 3-day jaunt to London. Jeanine and I rode the London Eye, we saw Kinky Boots in the theater district, and did all the usual touristy things. We felt like we were living in one of the many BBC shows we’ve watched over the years. A highlight for me was being able to sing in the choir of St. Mary’s the Virgin during the Tetbury Music festival.
The town of Tetbury above is where we stayed.
Karen sang here with the choir for the service the morning of the Tetbury Music Festival. St. Mary the Virgin Church.
The staircase where Karen saw her ghost.
A typical country road. They still give me nightmares.
Went to the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, Kinky Boots and up in the London Eye. Spent three days in London just doing the usual tourist stuff.
Great to come home each day to our little cottage and cook our own meals. We would pick up groceries each morning before going out and then cook and have a fire in the evening. This was our little kitchen area.
A nice little place in Tetbury to eat out.
Some friends we met in the country side while visiting different places. We met up twice.
I found this great trail for hiking and running each day.
Our children are doing well. Juli spent much of the year planning and sewing for Garrick and Kat’s wedding last spring. The newly-weds are living in St. Paul. Susan is working an extra job to help get her boys through college. Zach is a senior at Augsburg in Minneapolis and Sam a high school senior in Northfield. Juli’s Logan is a high school senior in St. Paul, so there will be lots of graduations this year. Kevin has become a commuter between the Bay Area in California where he works for LinkedIn and his new property in Northern Wisconsin. It will be nice to live in the same state at least for a few months of the year. Megan has had an eventful year, moving into a new apartment, surviving the death of her dog Moose, adopting a new Min-Pin, Bambi, and completing her first novel.
John and I are (thankfully) healthy and busy, though a bit slower than we used to be. It sure feels like it takes longer to do less now. John has been attending some classes and learning more about caregiving in preparation for us taking care of each other. He’s been substitute teaching in AZ with interesting stories, particularly of the grade school classes. He’s taught everything from kindergarten to high school dance classes. His creativity and organizational skills can get him through most situations. I’m still working in consulting and ICD-10 coding and playing my dulcimer(s). We did the usual dulcimer festivals and weekend trips.
We wish all of you a wonderful Christmas season and a blessed New Year. John and Karen
John: Could I please say one nasty thing about our politicians?
Karen: NO!
John: OK DAM IT!
There have been many theories proposed for the policies held by Trump and his Republican supporters. They include “Greed Theory.” The Republicans are held to be greedier than most people and only want to accumulate as much money as they can. Another is “Hate Theory.” This theory holds that since most Republicans are White European in ancestry, they loath and detest any people who are different then they are. This includes Asians, Blacks, Indians, Latinos and any immigrants not from Europe.
About a week later, I was substitute teaching in a Casa Grande High School. I drew an eleventh-grade social studies class. The teacher had left an assignment wherein the students had to find certain terms and concepts associated with the second industrial revolution and write definitions for each of them. Included among such terms as: robber barons, corporations, patents and trusts was the term “Social Darwinism.” One of the students asked me to explain it beyond the simple definition she found on line. I tried to recall my ideas relating to this concept from many years ago. I gave her my explanation and then later I looked up the definition at Wikipedia. I was struck at how well my memory had served me. It was at that point that the proverbial light bulb or blinding light of inspiration hit me. I suddenly realized that the Republican Party was not just trying to create elite systems but they were also trying to build on the theories of Herbert Spencer. The following excerpt explains this theory very well as it applies to many current concepts such as: trickle down theory, privatization, corporate welfare and tax reform.
So, there you have it. Trump and the Republican Party are not greedy, hateful or fearful of others, they simply do not believe that you have a right to anything unless you are also rich and successful and White like they are. Based on the concepts of Social Darwinism, they have the right to whatever you have if they can find a way to take it away from you. If you cannot keep it, that means you are inferior. If you are inferior, you have no right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. According to Social Darwinism, the elite will eventually Trump the poor because they are stronger, smarter and more fit. This will eventually result in a society wherein everyone is fit, and everyone is trying to screw everyone else.
ays every American citizen has Freedom of Expression. Thus, we are just expressing our free rights as American citizens to beat up on people we don’t like.”
“Look, said Tattoo Guy, we voted for Donald Trump and he respects our Freedom of Expression rights. We are sick and tired of the PC shit you pussies and commies have been spreading in this country for years. We are tired of watching what we say and do because we might be called rednecks or bigots or even racists. It’s a new day for America. We are going to make our country great again.”
“You are more or less on the right track” says Tattoo Guy. “Used to be you could tell some nigger jokes, put up pinups of nude girls, even grab a few pussies once in a while and no one bothered you. Then, all this PC stuff started and before you knew it, you had to watch what you said and did. A White person’s Freedom of Expression went down the drain. Well, no more PC now. So can we please get back to beating the shit out of this nigger?”
“Well, what if I told you that I had a Glock Model 40 10mm in my pocket and that if you hit this man one more time, I will take it and blow your fucking brains out. What would you think of that” I replied indignantly.
I was only twenty-five when I met Irene. It was my first job out of college. I had just finished my RN program at Regina Nursing School. It took me three years going to school days and working part-time evenings to complete my degree. After finishing school, I applied at several nursing homes since I wanted to work with the elderly. In three weeks, I was hired by the River Birch nursing home in New Prague Minnesota.
My first day on the job was the high point and perhaps also the low point of my life. It was the day I met Irene. My supervisor Michelle started my job orientation by introducing me to the staff I would be working with. She then gave me a brief summary of my work duties. She explained that I would be assigned a wing of the nursing home and within that wing, I would be in charge of a specific number of residents. We were not to call them patients. Each day, my job would be to take care of the residents that I was assigned and to ensure that they received food, care and compassion.
Over time, I began to wonder what she was looking at. After looking out the window myself, all I could see was a large grassy field surrounded by numerous oak, maple and birch trees. On any given day, there might some grackles or robins out in the field but very little else to view. It was a pleasant enough scene but nothing that I thought could keep anyone’s attention for more than a few minutes never mind several hours of staring out the window
a very pretty view that she could look out at. I thought she would enjoy the variety and the change of scenery. As I started to push Irene’s wheel chair away from her chosen window, she became very agitated and started pointing wildly and in a raised voice saying “window, window.” I moved her back to the old window and left her for the day.
Next morning, I came to work and started my rounds. I did not see Irene and I wondered where she was. I checked her room but the bed was made up and there was no sign of Irene. I went into see my supervisor and ask about her. “I am sorry” Michele said “She passed away last night and was taken to the funeral home. There will be no services for her as she had no surviving relatives.” I went home and cried for her passing. I had never understood her or made a connection with her that I thought was the least bit meaningful.
It is sixty-five years later and I finally understand Irene. I am sitting here looking out a window from the nursing home where I am now a resident. Each day I look out the same window and I see a different event from my life. I have been amazed at the events that I have witnessed. I have seen my mother giving birth to me. I have seen the birth of each of my sisters and brothers. I witnessed my first communion and my first day in school. I watched my wedding and the birth of each of my children. I was at my husband’s funeral again. During the past few months, I have seen all the major events of my life one after the other in perfect chronological order. I am almost at the end of my journey. There is only one final event. The last event will be when they come for me. They are getting close. My mom and dad are coming for me. They are coming to take me home. I must keep looking out the window or I will miss them.
Aging Capriciously 