Historical Day, Memory? And So On . . .

From a December, 2014 Slight Detour post, describing our visit to Pearl Harbor:  

We were fortunate to have a Pearl Harbor survivor aboard our boat that took us to the Arizona Memorial.  He pointed to an orange and white structure off in the bay and said that's where he was when the attack came.

"They were only after ships and planes," he said, indicating that his structure specialized in fuel. 

When the survivor and his wife walked off the boat after the tour, a spontaneous and generous applause ushered them down the walkway.  Very touching, indeed.

Later, I met another survivor and bought his book.  He comes to Pearl Harbor four days a week and autographs his book with a hand stamp.  This survivor has lived in Hawaii most of his life.

One of the sweetest, gentlest souls I've ever met, I'd say.  When a family with some little children came, he sat happily for photos with each child and gave them a hand-out with his photo and a summary.

"When you go back to school, take this and tell them you visited Pearl Harbor," he instructed each youngster.  They beamed with pride with their token of the visit and with his gentle guidance.

He is 97.5 years old and a proud family man who established an electrical business on the island, which has been in existence 60 years.  His son now runs the business. 


Oden Bay Book Club Visit . . . a fun evening

My dear friend of "44 years," Ann called me a while back and asked if I'd come to one of her book club gatherings Dec. 6.  

Ann belongs to two book clubs.  This one includes many residents of her neighborhood at Oden Bay. 

My assignment was simple:  just read a story from one of my three books. 

I don't do too many speaking gigs any more, and it's been a while since I've read many of the stories written more than 20 years ago. 

While thumbing through the books to decide on an appropriate selection for the group, I came across "Marianne's Guidelines for Remembering Old Whatshername."  

Remembering Old Whatshername, and, to be fair "Remembering Old Whathisname," have definitely been issues of late. 

In fact, just a while back two close friends and I sat at a luncheon date, each grasping for those elusive names throughout our visit. Fortunately, we remembered each other's names.  

With that experience still fresh in my mind (which is amazing since I forget some things in a split second), I decided to read the story from Postcards from Potato Land. 

I wrote it 20 years ago when I was just entering the realm of memory loss.  

Not a lot has really changed since then, I decided except for all the computer terminology about "main frames" and "chips" and all that stuff which was still relatively new and exciting to most non-nerds back in the mid-1990s. 

But that problem of grasping for the name while engaged in conversation----it's been going on for a long time, and, to think, it only gets worse with each day. 

Anywho, the book club members, who ranged in age from early 50s to 86, seemed to identify with pretty much every aspect of the story.  

Only disappointment----not one person in the room, not even Ann---who I think should know, if I remember correctly--could offer the proper response to the question, "Are you a turtle?"

Either they've forgotten, or nobody ever initiated them into the Turtle Club, which always promotes squeaky clean thinking. 

The best part of reading my story about remembering came when I asked the question "Do you need coal or oil?"  

Ann instantly chimed in with me on that one while the rest of the women sat in silent amazement.  Seems no one else in the room grew up in the "Inland Empire," as it was called then during the days of "Starlit Stairway" every Saturday night on KXLY Channel 4 at 6:30 p.m. 

What, may I ask, was the telephone number for the Boyle Fuel Co. Leave a comment with your correct answer. I'm betting more than one reader knows the answer. 

Twas a fun evening meeting the ladies of the club.  We all enjoyed laughs aplenty, and that is always a good thing. 


Medicaid for Idaho:  

My friends, Luke and Garrett, and their dedicated team of Reclaim Idaho supporters, are now embarking on a petition campaign in hopes of getting an initiative on Idaho's 2018 ballot, which, if passed, would mean the expansion of Medicaid to nearly 80,000 uninsured Idahoans currently in the Medicaid coverage gap. 

Here's the latest news release on their efforts, which have simplified the petition process. 


Reclaim Idaho
1867 Lignite Road
Sagle, Idaho, 83860

Medicaid Expansion Petition Drive Officially Begins
For Immediate Release - Sagle, ID December 6th, 2017

On Wednesday afternoon, Reclaim Idaho activists released the final version of their petition to Expand Medicaid eligibility in Idaho.

Before Idaho petitions are circulated, they must be vetted by the Idaho Secretary of State and the Attorney General. 

On Tuesday, the Secretary of State notified Reclaim
Idaho of the completion of the vetting process.

Reclaim Idaho has invited volunteers to begin circulating copies of the petition immediately. The petition is now available at MedicaidForIdaho.org for volunteers to download, print, and begin circulating.


I strongly support their efforts and encourage anyone who has time to circulate petitions in their behalf to visit the website listed above. 

Finally, a bit of news I read in a Facebook posting this morning.  This year's Time Magazine Person of the Year issue, which the world saw for the first time yesterday, was designed by a Sandpoint High graduate, Chelsea Kardokus. 


Chelsea served as the editor of the Cedar Post her senior year of high school.  She has also designed other inside pages for Time.  

Hats off to Chelsea!  She's from Sandpoint, and we are proud of her!


Guess that's all for today.  

Happy Thursday.