When Do We Start Getting Old
You don’t stop laughing when you grow old, you grow old when you stop laughing. George Bernard Shaw While in Poland, I had a close friend, Andrzej. His father was a barber and used to cut my hair. When I was in the first grade, my friend was in fourth. We used to walk to […]
…And Why Their Parents Don’t
In my previous post, I described scenarios in which young people are leaving the countries of their birth. Now is the time to contrast the older generation. During my stay in the United States, I was carefully watching the life of my parents in Poland. We sent letters as often as we could. In the […]
Why Young People are Leaving the Country of Their Parents
Italy: The Nation That crushes Its Young. (NYT, Oct 30, 2013) Italy Breaks Your Heart. (NYT, Oct 26, 2013) These two recent articles published in the New York Times captured my attention. They both comment on the exodus of Italian young people, particularly males, and their travel to France, England and for more lucky ones […]
The joy of having identical twins
When I was working in California in private practice of cardiovascular surgery, I was elected the president of the local chapter of the American Heart Association. On one of the meetings, a late middle-aged woman came to me and said, “I know you!”. I said, “You do” thinking of her telling me how good a […]
How do we learn, and are the teachers important?
A few weeks ago, one of my daughters helped me to solve a problem I had with my blog. I wasn’t surprised, just nicely pleased. I texted it to her and asked; ‘Is it your genes or Cornell?”. She answered: “Both, Dad, both”. There is ongoing discussion, what is more important in personal development: heredity […]
How to Help Children to Cherish Our Heritage
Recently, I am reading a lot about people getting interested in their roots. Usual avenues to trace them are through Ellis Island records, Mormon Church archives and popular websites such as ancestry.com, genealogy.archives.org and so on. It is becoming quite a popular pastime, and I see many retired persons in the library doing just […]
How to Raise Your Children, so They’ll Love You Back
Give me a child until he is seven, and I will give you a man. Francis Xavier, co-founder of the Jesuit order There is a story told me by my Father. It was very popular in Poland, when we were run by communist Russia after WWll. To help women with a heavy work schedule in […]
What do We Have in Common with Wayne Gretzky
They completed “The Trade” 25 years ago. The Edmonton Oilers moved Wayne Gretzky to Los Angeles Kings at the height of his hockey career. Canadian national hero was playing in Canada no more. He found out of this decision a few hours after winning Stanley Cup in 1988 from his father, who was aware of negotiations […]
Education Starts at Home, School is Just Addition
Live like you will die tomorrow, learn like you will live forever. Mahatma Ghandi My Father was a well-respected corporate lawyer in Poland. My Mother finished her elementary education in a two-room school in a deep country. Then she moved to Warsaw and soon enrolled in high school there. Starting day was September 1st 1939 […]
