Confessions
These are some things that I did in my life that I deeply regret. The first good lesson came when I was in first grade. My mother used to drive me to school and then pick me up for lunch. One day I was slow to get ready and late to school. I told my beloved teacher -- first through third grades -- that my mother had been the one slow getting started. To my horror that day my mother took my teacher as well as me to where we were going to have lunch and the truth came out. I learned that lying to save oneself does not pay. And I have tried tell the truth since with the only exception of protecting someone else who had confided something to me that he/she did not want shared.
My next mistake was joining a Yale senior society. I did so to please my father, a Yale grad. Skull and Bones -- Buckley's home base as well as Bush's -- broke the rules and promised me a place several days in advance of the official invitation date. I chose to join the more liberal competitor -- Scroll and Key. I was not comfortable there and finally horrified that a dean who had been a member violated basic rules by providing us with the private materials of potential student candidates. I quit. Free at last!
On another occasion a woman who had been a friend of many of us asked if I could send her $25.00 -- she was ill with Multiple Sclerosis. We were hard pressed with family debts at the time and I did not respond. I was horrified to learn that she had committed suicide shortly thereafter.
More recently I regret casting the deciding vote on tenure against one of our excellent teachers at Brooklyn College. She would have been far superior to the candidate with which we ended up.
Any who follow my blogs or comments know that I care deeply about the honesty and decency of my country. I nearly became a member of the military when Eisenhower stopped the Korean war just in time for me to resign from the NROTC.
Having been a child of WW2 I am all to aware that some wars are justified, but not many. So I am for peace-making except when we have no other alternative. I know that the Iraq war was deadly wrong and have mixed feelings about the Afghanistan mess where women are at risk from the Taliban.
When I get things wrong, I try to correct my errors. But I also try to be well informed so that I don't make too many.
And so it goes. I am sure there are other wrong doings that will come to mind as soon as I post this.
To end this on a happier note I had the first dream about my beloved wife who died August 22, 2009. We did not talk, but I saw her in the distance -- we had fallen in love as young teens and married as soon as she completed college. We shared a rich and full life. She was an example for me never to be forgotten.
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent [blind copies]
My next mistake was joining a Yale senior society. I did so to please my father, a Yale grad. Skull and Bones -- Buckley's home base as well as Bush's -- broke the rules and promised me a place several days in advance of the official invitation date. I chose to join the more liberal competitor -- Scroll and Key. I was not comfortable there and finally horrified that a dean who had been a member violated basic rules by providing us with the private materials of potential student candidates. I quit. Free at last!
On another occasion a woman who had been a friend of many of us asked if I could send her $25.00 -- she was ill with Multiple Sclerosis. We were hard pressed with family debts at the time and I did not respond. I was horrified to learn that she had committed suicide shortly thereafter.
More recently I regret casting the deciding vote on tenure against one of our excellent teachers at Brooklyn College. She would have been far superior to the candidate with which we ended up.
Any who follow my blogs or comments know that I care deeply about the honesty and decency of my country. I nearly became a member of the military when Eisenhower stopped the Korean war just in time for me to resign from the NROTC.
Having been a child of WW2 I am all to aware that some wars are justified, but not many. So I am for peace-making except when we have no other alternative. I know that the Iraq war was deadly wrong and have mixed feelings about the Afghanistan mess where women are at risk from the Taliban.
When I get things wrong, I try to correct my errors. But I also try to be well informed so that I don't make too many.
And so it goes. I am sure there are other wrong doings that will come to mind as soon as I post this.
To end this on a happier note I had the first dream about my beloved wife who died August 22, 2009. We did not talk, but I saw her in the distance -- we had fallen in love as young teens and married as soon as she completed college. We shared a rich and full life. She was an example for me never to be forgotten.
--
"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
--
Ed Kent [blind copies]
posted by Ed Kent at 7:57 AM
1 Comments:
I think we are all sorry for some of the things we have done or left undone. Recently, I saw an old woman walking home with two bags of groceries. It was a cold day and I should have stopped and given her a ride, but I lazily didn't. I regret that.
It is nice you had a dream about your wife. How lovely. The fact you had a happy marriage in this world is a wonderful thing. God bless you this holiday season Mr. Kent.
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