(1) "WE BELIEVE IN REASON RATHER THAN BLIND FAITH."

July 31, 2011    
       Watching TV early today, I relished a quotation from H.L. Mencken to the point of letting Sunday Morning carry on without me,   Like a book one can't put down, this was a screen I could not turn off.
       "The men that American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest the most violently are those who try to tell them the truth."
      I wanted to highlight every Mencken quotation and to add women to this equation. An egg-beater in the back of my mind stirred up my own beliefs regarding religion.
      Years ago I dubbed myself an agnostic, doubtful that a caring Goddess existed but not being so bold as to declare there was no such divinity.  "But who made God?" asked Timmy with ten-year-old temerity back in 1956. Well, no one, Timmy, God just is.
      So why can't it be true that our solar system big-bangingly just is, I ask now. And why can't it be true that the evolution of man/woman from he/apes and she/apes just is, with no divine intervention necessary?
      I particularly related to Mencken's conviction that there was neither something to look forward to nor something to fear at life's end.  He would just vanish, as I will, rejoicing with my last breath (if I still have a functioning brain with which to rejoice) that I was lucky enough to catch the golden ring in humanity's hugest lottery, miraculous conception.  Why should nothingness hereafter be feared any more than the nothingness that existed for each of us before we were conceived?
      I recently subscribed to a bi-monthly magazine called Free Inquiry; Paul Kurtz is editor-in-chief, proponent of secular humanism. A statement of principles has this affirmation:
      "We believe in optimism rather than pessimism, hope rather than despair, learning in in the place of dogma, truth instead of ignorance, joy rather than guilt or sin, tolerance in place of fear, love instead of hatred, compassion over selfishness, beauty instead of ugliness, and reason rather than blind faith or irrationality."
     Makes sense to me, Mr. Kurtz.

(2) ALICEANN ASKS MY ADVICE ON HOW TO COPE WITH THAT HUSBAND OF OURS.

OUR SISTER JANETH'S HAND IS ON DICK'S SHOULDER, BUT
THE REST OF HER IS SO UNFLATTERING I'VE CROPPED IT.
SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL WELL INTO HER 80S.

May 15, 1991

From letter to my brother, Dick

      I was happy to hear that you liked Take My Ex.  Publishing a book has added a lot of excitement to my life.  I've autographed copies in two bookstores and appeared on a local cable TV program called "Pierson to Person."     

     At first the idea of even giving a newspaper interview was alarming‑‑how could I express myself properly without my computer and Roget's Thesaurus?  But gradually I've begun to relax and enjoy the experience.  "Pierson to Person" was great fun because the host arranged for Ed and Aliceann to call in halfway through the program, with the Florida Malleys answering questions and making comments from their two telephones.  They were both articulate and funny.  

     Aliceann told the host and his viewers that she calls me from time to time to ask my advice on how to cope with that husband of ours.  It gets her goat when they are out boating and Ed tells her to bring the boat into the wind.
     "I say I don't know where the wind is or how to bring the boat into it."  Then Ed says, `Barbara used to do it,' and I say, `But I'm not Barbara!'"
    "Atta girl," I said into the mike.  "You tell 'im!"                  

ALICEANN PHOTO BY BBM AT TIM'S COOKOUT

     Wig has been generous about mentioning my book frequently on  his program.  Only this morning a friend told me she happened to tune into "Pierson to Person" just as Wig was announcing that my book had sold four thousand copies.
     Actually that figure represents the number of copies Little, Brown has distributed to bookstores all over the country.  They printed a total of seven thousand, and of course I'm hoping there will be a second printing.  And yes, dear brother, it would be very exciting if a movie producer became interested in my book. . . .      

(3) FOUR Bs: BOOKS, BLOG, BRIDGE & COUNTING MY BLESSINGS.

HOW DO I FEEL ABOUT ALL THIS?  SORT OF LIKE THE TIME I FIRST SOLOED. 

August 14, 2013. . . would have been my sister Janeth's eighty-ninth birthday.  My ninety-second birthday is on the seventeenth of August.  I will spend it by continuing to work on Caregiver Chronicles, a book about the interactions between Janeth and me after she contracted Alzheimer's Disease. Daughter Kathie is editing the 22 chapters.  Will keep you posted.

     I am quoted in the Boston Globe article as suggesting that I must have lived to this ripe old age because I still have a lot to do.  I'm not sure what this might be, unless it's these four Bs in my life:  Books, Blogging, Bridge, and counting my Blessings.

(4) YIKES! HOW DID I GET TO BE SUCH AN ANTIQUE?

September 9, 2018  Attention visitors:  You reached this post by clicking on Agog, one of the labels
listed to the right of my blog,    http://tearsandlaughterat90.blogspot.com   Note that there are many other labels that describe various experiences in my long life, such as Bridge Dramas.  I find it astonishing that last month I became 97 years old.  No one else in my family ever "hung in there" as long as this.  I'm still playing golf in my dreams. 
Barbara Beyer Malley  

August 17, 2014   

     According to the calendar, I am now 93 years old, an exceedingly elderly female.  I used to hear old girls in their 70s and 80s claim they felt as young and frisky as ever inside. I thought they were full of old shoes.   

     Here is an honest fact:  I still play golf regularly, still find myself and my golf clubs in strange places like barns and supermarkets with Tiger Woods's type shots needed to get out of trouble . . . in my dreams.

     I won’t be celebrating by seeing if I can still fly an airplane, as I did on my 90th birthday.  My walker would get in the way.

      I've been thinking what fun it would be if you kind visitors from other countries wished me a Happy Birthday in your native languages.  Click on "no comments" below, and a space will appear for your comment, headed by your name or "anonymous"  if you prefer. Then by all means take a look at Kathie's important blog, http://engagingpeace.com.  It would be lovely if you would leave a comment for her, as well.   

     Cheers and warm best wishes to all of you!

August 18, 2014

      One hundred forty-seven visitors yesterday but none left a comment.  I had a very nice birthday anyway, here at Linden Ponds where I'll never again have to load a dishwasher. The quality of the food?  Delicious.  I have asked helpful server Diane to convey my compliments to the chef.
May 22, 2015
      I awoke this morning, thinking about my welcome multiplicity of visitors and the disappointing sparsity of comments. Not a single one in a long, long time.  I wondered if the "no comments" area at the end of each post was confusing to unknown readers. If this is the case, I'm inviting them to introduce themselves via my e-mail address: bbmalley@comcast.net. I'll strive to respond personally to anyone who drops by.  
May 31, 2016  
     A year later and visitors still drop by but don't leave their calling cards by commenting.  That's okay, I'm still blogging and having a ball in my nineties, a venerable decade I never expected to reach.  The Monday game of duplicate bridge continues to excite my brain cells, as does the Tuesday lesson, and the Thursday and Saturday games.  Win, lose or draw, it's always fun.

(5) THE TRAIN

     I received this message from a friend whose granddaughter Olivia has been dangerously ill for weeks. She has at last begun to show signs of recovery.

   When we boarded the train and met our parents, we believed they would always travel by our side.  However, at some station our parents will step down from the train, leaving us on this journey alone.

    As time goes by, other people will board the train; and they will be significant, i.e, our siblings, friends, children, and even the love of your life. Many will step down and leave a permanent vacuum. Others will go so unnoticed that we don't realize they vacated their seats. 

    This train ride will be full of joy, sorrow, fantasy, expectations, hellos, goodbyes, and farewells. Success consists of having a good relationship with all passengers, requiring that we give the best of ourselves.

     The mystery to everyone is: We do not know at which station we ourselves will step down. So, we must live in the best way, love, forgive, and offer the best of who we are. 

     It is important to do this because when the time comes for us to step down and leave our seats empty, we should leave behind beautiful memories for those who will continue to travel on the train of life.

     I wish you a joyful journey on that train. Reap success, give lots of love, and be thankful for the journey.

     Lastly, I thank you for being one of the passengers on my train.