Happy Memorial Day

Wishing everyone a safe Memorial Day, as we salute the men and women who have died serving our country. The occasion got me searching for information about my first cousin William M. Lindes (Billy to those in the family), who perished in 1953 during the Korean War. Because of my father's large Irish Catholic family, Billy was nearly the same age as my dad and Dad's twin, Kenny, so at 17 lied about his age so he could enlist to serve alongside his uncles. My cousin apparently made his decision rather hastily and wound up not being vaccinated properly -- are you reading this, anti-vaxxers? -- and tragically contracted acute encephalomyelitis and died on the island prefecture of Okinawa at just 19 years of age. My mom says my father carried deep guilt over "letting" his nephew tag along ... to fight a faraway war. (What do average young men feel guilty about these days, not liking their friends’ and relatives’ Instagram posts?) Above is Billy’s tombstone in Havre de Grace, Maryland, where he's buried with his mother and father -- my Aunt Margaret (Dad's eldest sister) and Uncle Bill, who was a Swedish boxing protege of my Irish grandfather, Mickey Walsh. And below is a testament to the incredible things you might find online these days -- contemporaneous articles about his death and his return to the States that appeared in the Pottsville (Pa.) Republican, 

(Aug. 6, 1953)

(Sept. 5, 1953, which happened to be my dad's 21st birthday)

Kenny Get Your Gun: Uncle "Maybe Gay" Kenny, Betty Hutton and my dad in Okinawa

All Aboard!

I don’t think I’ve watched TV by flipping the channel since the advent of the DVR. But might need to rethink this strategy after stumbling on an episode of “The Love Boat” featuring Nellie Oleson, Miss Jane Hathaway, Father John Mulcahy, Ann Marie’s agent and Toni Tennille!

UPDATE:

Here’s what’s next ...

Ken and Beth are newlyweds but Ken’s adult daughters hate their new stepmother and don’t hide it one bit.

Ethel as Gopher’s over-the-top mother!

And Mary Richards’s TV mom falls pregnant ... at age 59!

Speedo Sunday

Sunday Not Funnies

Vote in November like your life depends on it.

Saturday 'Stache

Lots more HERE.

Rating the Gronk

Oh, is there a room in this image? I'm still thinking about Sunday.

An Early Closing

I'm not the biggest drama queen in the world, but just bear with me. After learning a friend with whom I spent regular time before the lockdown had tested positive without ever experiencing any symptoms and that my sister-in-law and her brood had easily gotten tested here in the city, I decided to go (at the friend's suggestion and without mentioning it to a napping Damian) to CityMD myself. Their website is completely up to date with information on the two types of tests available (one for the virus, one for the antibodies) and said they do not take appointments -- just walk in.

The site says they're OPEN NOW in all caps and states they're open until 10 p.m. So I hike over there -- keep in mind I have essentially not left the apartment in two months except to get food a handful of times, per the governor's orders -- and there are people inside the clinic but the door is locked. It's 7:45 p.m. Seconds after pulling on the virus-coated handle, I absentmindedly put a mint in my mouth with the same hand -- a perfect conduit for communal transmission.

Even if you blame me for not verifying the hours before going over there, how angry and perhaps more importantly how worried would you be now? I feel like I let Damian down, like Aidan Quinn's lover in "An Early Frost."

P.S. This is hardly a lawsuit issue, but if I end up getting sick it will be difficult for me to not blame them for their part. If any of you are on Twitter I would appreciate a retweet of my inquiry to CityMD.