Sunday, October 04, 2015
Pandora's Box Is Wide Open
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
"O Death, Where Is Thy Sting"
Sitting on the floor of the living room at my grandparents home on the west side of Cleveland. I remember looking up at my grandpa ( Antonio ). He smiled and asked me if I was hungry. He slowly went to the kitchen and came back with a banana. He then took his seat back on the turquois recliner.
My next memory is of my mother suddenly picking me up and taking me out of the room. I don't remember anything else about that day, except for what I have been told.
It seems that mom plucked me off my blanket as she realized that grandpa was having a heart attack. As they waited for the ambulance she kept me in a side bedroom so as not to witness what she knew was happening.
My only knowledge of the kind of man my grandpa was comes from my mothers memory and her vivid and loving description of this incredible man who came to the U.S. from Italy as a young boy of 14. Lived with a family in the south and at some point hopped a freight train and made it to Cleveland. He served in the U.S. Army in WWI where he was wounded in the shoulder and had to walk a great distance to get medical attention. He came back home after the war and sent back to Italy for a young lady to be his bride. The family tradition of the oldest daughter being married first, prompted the parents of that young lady to send the older sister instead of his intended, so he married her! They had four children and he owned his own shoe maker shop at the corner of W.57 and Lorain. When WWII broke out, he worked in a war plant. I know that when my parents were married and purchased their home "way out" in North Royalton, he was one of the few that saw their vision and thought they had done the right thing. I know that there was a young shoot of a cherry tree in the middle of their barren back yard, that my dad almost pulled out thinking it was a weed, but grandpa knew better, and so as I grew up without my grandpa, I always was reminded of him by the presence of that tree. Each year when the cherries came in, I would pause to remember the man who I really never got to know. I could continue with more stories I learned second hand, but the one I know the best is this....
In 2008 after a terrible few years of no employment and really feeling down, I was being considered for my present position as the director of The Nehemiah Mission of Cleveland. I decided to take a ride down to the neighborhood of the mission just to take a look around. I knew that it was in the general vicinity of my grandparents home. (Grandma passed when I was 18) I hadn't been to that neighborhood in many years.
I drove around through the west side streets recognizing names of streets and occasionally recognizing a building or two, but in general didn't know exactly where I was at any given moment.
Suddenly, the driver of the car behind me began honking and waving at me with one finger ( perhaps he was an amputee?)... Then I glanced down at my speedometer and realized I was holding up traffic as I gawked at the scenery around me ( so much for the amputee theory). I quickly turned left into a small parking lot in order to get out of the way because something was telling me I needed to look closer at the area. As I maneuvered my car around in that parking lot, I came to the sudden realization that I was now parked on the site of what had been my grandparents home at W.73 and Madison Ave.
A wave of emotion came over me as I began to recognize the remnants of the neighborhood my mom had lived in. I saw my grandpa in that chair and I heard him tell me; "come to the city"...
(To really understand the full significance of those words, you might want to read the story of Nehemiah from the Old Testament.)
Today is 56 years that he has been gone and I know that my mom is still pained deeply by his death. I wish that I could have had the chance to really know my grandpa, but when I really think about it he has in fact always been with me. He was there in the way my mother raised me, the values he instilled in her-she instilled in me. His compassion, his faith, his devotion to family, love of country all somehow became a part of me... "But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written; "O death where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" I Corinthians 15:54-55
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
It's all how you think about it.....
Allow fuel prices to escalate to unnafordable levels, manipulate the health care system to a point where no one can afford to pay for health care without first paying exhorbidant insurance premiums, pay congress unending salaries while they allow banks to destroy the housing industry, raise taxes to a point where people must decide between clothing/housing/food and paying their Federal, State, Regional, County and Local taxes... what is the answer? Gun Control.. and do it quick before people say "We have had enough." Maybe these politicians aren't as dumb as we think they are.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Who Is He Really Representing?
Irving Pinsky says the state failed to provide a safe setting.
He's pursuing 100 million dollars in damages on behalf of an unidentified 6 year old girl who survived the massacre.
So.... who is Pinsky really representing?
Does anyone really believe that the State of Connecticut is responsible for the actions of Adam Lanza? I am certain that even Pinsky does not believe this. His claim is nothing more than a further victimization of those families that lost their loved ones and those poor souls who were lost on that day.
Even if Pinsky prevails and the surviving victim and the families of the 26 fatalities split the potential award, Pinsky himself would stand to receive the standard 1/3 attorney compensation.
Is Pinsky attempting to provide a balm for the families? Is he taking a stance that would help to curb the possibility of future violence? Or is he merely taking a stab at the possibility of receiving $33,000,000 personally?
Some form of gun control may or may not be a partial answer to this epidemic of mass murder. Civil suit reform on the other hand would at least protect society from the passive/agressive psychotics like Pinsky who prey on the misfortune of the victims by pretending to represent them.
I offer this.. curbing nefarious lawsuits, irresponsible media, and greedy partisan politicians may not curb gun violence, but it sure would make this a better country.
Meanwhile, Pinsky is as sick as Adam Lanza and should be disbarred.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
School Days in the NR
Todays topic... Royalton Road School. It was one of the original structures in North Royalton, and even by 1960 standards it was old with a capital O.
Imagine if today parents sent their kids to a school with some of these features;
Construction of sandstone block, soft enough to drill through with a pencil. ( as I did in attempt to get the attention of Kathi....
A center gymnasium/stage with footlights so hot, that if the wooden covers remained in place and someone accidentally turned on the footlights, the covers would catch on fire.
Every room of the building had steam heating pipes running through them covered by... you guessed it; asbestos... not only asbestos though, asbestos that was crumbling and peeling off every pipe.
Cafeteria tables made of old bowling alley lanes from a remodeled bowling alley. ( The Red Eye, for you Royaltonites)
The shower rooms looked like something out of a German concentration camp. The concrete floors had no covering or treatment, so they were in constant "crumble" mode. The ceilings were only 6 feet high, so the bare light bulbs hanging from the exposed heating pipes were always in danger of bursting if splashed or worse yet, touched by a wet body. ( luckily we were elementary kids and none of us were 6 feet tall!) But the best feature was the holes in the wall separating the boys from the girls shower room... teachers had to stand guard to prevent the much sought after opportunity to look through the holes!
Probably the best overall feature of the building was the southeast stairwell that had been declared "unfit" by the city building engineers, so no more than one person at a time could use the stairwell. Eventually, all the stairwells were declared unsound so all classes were held on the first floor only.
Ya know what though... some of the best memories were born in that place, and the dearest people in this world traversed those hallways... and.... we survived!
Monday, December 24, 2012
A Letter To Congress
It is Christmas Eve. You and the other "representatives of the
people" have returned home from Washington to enjoy this blessed
holiday with your families. As you do so, the fiscal future of this
entire country hangs in the balance. With it go the hopes and dreams
of real people, people who do NOT have a lifetime salary and health
care, real people that do NOT make salaries in excess of $100,000,
real people who struggle every day to pay their living expenses and
increasing taxes, real people who struggle to pay mortgages and real
estate taxes on homes that have depreciated in value by more than 20%,
real people who despite working hard all their lives and doing the
right thing, have no chance of ever retiring. These are the people
who you are failing to represent as you bicker and argue issues that
are based purely on lobbyist driven party lines.
Your failure to properly manage the finances of this country and then
delay appropriate measures to avoid a catastrophe are borderline
treasonous. At best these failures are cause for a complete recall of
all representatives.
Continual blame on the present Presidential leadership or on past
administrations is ludicrous as most of you have been in office long
enough to have played a part in this mess.
It is time to actually represent the people that sent you to
Washington, not the businesses who care only about their own bottom
line and/or your own bank accounts and investments.
The mood of this country is desperate. Crime and sociopathic attacks
are rising due to the economic attack waged on the poor and the middle
class.
Each of you pledged to make a difference as you campaigned, but have
failed to do anything more than your predecessors.
Real tax reform would eliminate the IRS and replace it with a national
consumption tax. This would be the fairest form of taxation as those
who can afford to spend would pay "tax" based on their ability to
spend, as those with less money would pay based on their ability to
spend. It would both reduce government spending and increase
revenues. You all know this, but refuse to implement it as it would
reduce the level of control the current system gives you over the
population.
Real political reform would eliminate your permanent salaries and
health care and pay you a capped salary in line with the national
average salary WHILE you are in office.
Health care reform would eliminate employer paid health plans and send
everyone to insurance shop as we do now with automobile insurance.
This would force insurance companies to reduce premiums and in turn
would drive DOWN the cost of healthcare.
These solutions would take work. They would anger the insurance
companies, and would make most congressional representatives leave
their currently cushy posts.
Prove me wrong. Return to Washington on December 26 and drop the party
lines and start working toward solutions that will actually preserve
this union and protect the interests of REAL people.
Sincerely,
James F Szakacs
19015 Bennett Road
North Royalton, Ohio 44133
Jfs5487@gmail.com
440-263-8125
Jim Szakacs -Sent from my iPad
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Christmas Grace
During a recent after service discussion, our Pastor asked the question; "How will this Advent/Christmas season be different for you this year? Her question was relative to her Advent message series. But as I thought about the question I considered how the current economic crisis will affect most people this year.
For years we have heard the complaint that Christmas has become "too commercial", that most have lost focus of the true meaning and reason for the celebration. We all know that this is true and it truly saddens many. Could it be that the current economic situation may actually be good for our society? Could it be that people will be forced to leave behind the commercial aspect of Christmas and re-discover the spiritual side? Could this be the plan of Him whose birth we celebrate?
I don't believe that God is "punishing" us for any wrong doing. I do believe however that we all need to be humbled from time to time. These are definitely "humbling times" for many.
This Christmas, let's remember the simplicity of the birth of Jesus. Let's rejoice in the fact that we don't have as much money to spend this year so that we may instead focus on the "celebration of life" that was born in a stable.
The attached video was created for use at my church on Christmas Eve. For those of you who are in the area, I hope you will come by either at 5pm or 7:30pm to enjoy the video and the entire service. For those who are far away, please enjoy my electronic Christmas card; "Christmas Grace".
Merry Christmas to all!