Reminiscing
Normally, my niece, Toni Chase and Her husband Dave hit the road running each year, but this past year, they got off to a slower start, not really getting in gear until March. Dave, who is always doing super nice things for Toni, had a portion of their garage closed off and made into a “she shed” for Toni. It was not a quick and easy project, and it took quite a while to get it all organized. Still, to have a “she shed” will easily make Toni the envy of all her friends and family, even though more people are building man caves and she sheds these days. I think it is a very cool thing for Dave to have done for her, but then Dave is always doing cool things for Toni.
Even though the year started off at home, it did not end there…it rarely does for Toni and Dave. They took a trip in May to Florida and made it all about the fish. Toni caught her first fish on the Gulf, and it was actually a little hammer head shark!!! Ok, cool, but yikes!!! Still, it would be fun to fish in the Gulf. While I’m not an avid fisherman, but just being on a fishing boat in the Gulf would be cool. During the trip, they spent some time in Tampa at the aquarium and around Saint Petersburg…just touring around and enjoying the scenery and the pleasant weather. They had a lovely, relaxing time.
Later in the year, they did some hiking in the snowy range and spent a couple weekends in Centennial at the cabin which was one of the best times of the year. Toni was having one of the best times with Dave, the kids (James and Manuela), Jane, and Dave’s cousins, Chuck and his wife, Chris. At the end of September, Toni and Dave took a quick trip to Yellowstone to catch the fall colors. They were not disappointed, because they were 
just in time to see some truly stunning scenery. They also made several trips to Colorado for various activities, but mostly to attend the long-awaited return concert of one of their favorite bands, Linkin Park. Toni tells me that other than these events, it was a pretty quiet year. A pretty quiet year!! That’s more activity than most people have in two years. Today is Toni’s birthday. Happy birthday Toni!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
The Civil War’s Battle of Shiloh left 23,000 casualties. It was a horrible battle, but something was about to happen with the wounded men…something no one expected and something they had no way to explain…at the time anyway. While in the hospital, some wounded soldiers began emitting a faint greenish-blue glow. Can you just imagine the thoughts going through the heads of those doctors? Then, something even more strange started happening. While the cause of the glow was unknown at the time, doctors observed that those with the mysterious glow tended to heal more quickly. That earned the greenish-blue glow the name of “Angel’s Glow” and the name stuck. I’m sure the doctors soon started praying for every wounded soldier to receive the strange glow.
“Angel’s Glow” would remain a mystery for nearly 140 years. Finally, the mystery behind this weird fact from history was solved. In 2001, a high school student named Bill Martin and his microbiologist mother, Phyllis, investigated the phenomenon and found it was likely caused by a bacterium called Photorhabdus Luminescens. This glowing bacterium may have even helped the soldiers recover by consuming other harmful bacteria or pathogens they encountered on the battlefield. Photorhabdus luminescens, formerly known as Xenorhabdus luminescens, is a Gammaproteobacterium in the Morganellaceae family and a deadly pathogen to insects.
There are no contemporary accounts of this phenomenon, meaning that it may be “a myth or that conditions including low temperatures, low lighting, abundance of blood, time on battlefield, presence of specific vegetation, presence of rain and humidity, and the time to organize medical evacuation would prevent the phenomenon from recurring in current conditions. Photorhabdus Luminescens’ genome has been sequenced. It contains a MACPF protein, however, this molecule appears non-lytic. It also contains the gcvB RNA gene which 
encodes a small non-coding RNA involved in the regulation of a number of amino acid transport systems as well as amino acid biosynthetic genes. A deletion of the hfq gene causes loss of secondary metabolite production.” That doesn’t seem so odd when you consider that many records, especially those that seemed inconsequential or maybe too farfetched to be believable, might have been overlooked or hidden. Still, I would think that the doctors might have talked to other doctors to see if they had ever heard of such a thing. Or maybe they didn’t, because they didn’t want to look like they had some kind of “battle fatigue” or PTSD as we know it today. Whatever the case may be, the phenomenon was not well publicized, yet somehow the story did survive the Civil War. I guess there were a few people who talked.
During the Cold War, the city of Beijing was home to underground bunkers designed to protect the occupant from nuclear bombs and the fallout from them. After the Cold War, I’m sure most people assumed all those old bunkers were abandoned, but in Beijing, that wasn’t the case. Beneath Beijing over a million people currently live in a vast network of underground bunkers…the same bunkers originally built during the Cold War. Today, the area is known as the Underground City or “Dixia Cheng.”
In 1969, under Chairman Mao Zedong’s orders and amid rising tensions with the Soviet Union, construction began on the Underground City. The goal was to create bomb shelters that could protect Beijing’s residents from potential nuclear attacks. Over the next decade, roughly 300,000 workers built an extensive network of tunnels and bunkers, designed to house the city’s entire population if necessary. At the time, Beijing was home to about six million people. I doubt if the builders had any idea of what the future would hold for the underground city. The strange fact is that today, the Underground City still houses about a million people, mostly low-income workers, students, and migrants who can’t afford the steep rents above ground. Dubbed the “rat tribe,” they inhabit cramped, crowded quarters in tunnels that stretch across a little over 30 square miles.
As you can imaging, life in these bunkers isn’t easy. The units there have the essentials, like electricity, plumbing, and sewage systems. Still, the poor ventilation in the place leaves the air stale and moldy. It’s crowded so, people often share cramped rooms, kitchens, and bathrooms, which can make things tight and unhygienic. Nevertheless, the rent was much cheaper than above ground, so living here remains a practical choice for many, and almost mandatory for others. It’s an odd arrangement, almost like people living in an old coal mine in years gone by, except for the coal dust, of course.
Technically, living in these old bunkers has been illegal since a 2010 ruling by Beijing authorities, citing safety concerns. Still, many people remain in the bunkers, facing an uncertain future as the government has largely 
turned a blind eye by allowing them to stay despite the risks. This underground city is a hidden yet significant part of Beijing’s urban fabric, reflecting the city’s challenges with housing shortages and economic inequality. In short, these bunkers provide shelter for those unable to find affordable housing above ground, underscoring the complexities of life in one of the world’s most crowded cities. While not ideal, the city’s poor have to have a place to live. It is the sad reality of an uncertain economy.
My grandniece, Siara Kirk is a very busy girl these days. She is a wife, mother, and a personal banker with Platte Valley Bank (a position she has held for over 10 years now), and she is a college student pursuing her bachelor’s degree in office management. Her mom, Chantel Balcerzak, says Siara is “juggling so many balls in the air and still just kicking butt!!” Siara has been on the principal’s honor roll every semester!! In addition to working full time, Siara works out every morning and still cooks home cooked meals 5 nights a week!! She allows herself a break, by ordering food from door dash on the weekends. While all of her accomplishments are important to her, Siara’s proudest accomplishments are those of wife to her husband, Chris Kirk and mother to her sweet son, Nathan Kirl. According to her mom, “my girl is a total boss!!” Siara is success in motion!!
Siara’s brother, Jake Harman says of his sister, “She is my best friend outside of my wife, Melanie and kids, Alice, Izabella, and Jaxx, all of whom dearly love Siara too.” Siara has a big heart when it comes to the people she loves. The mistakes people make can make people shun them, but Siara is a very forgiving person. She believes in those she loves, and she will stand by them to the end. Her brother tells me that his kids dearly love their Aunty Siara, and every time he goes to get something or drop something off, they want to go to just to see her and her family, because “awesome attracts awesome, and she is the kind of person that makes your day better by not even doing anything specific. There is something about her that puts you in a better place 
and makes you believe in yourself!! Obviously, God brought me (Jake) to the place I’m in now with my wife and kids, but I truly believe He did it through Siara in many ways. I can talk to her anyway about anything and she might not agree, but she is always cool about it and helps the best way she can” Jake tells me that Siara is going to be a “crazy good mom” always, even when the kid can talk…or talk back as we all know kids eventually do, hahaha!! Jake tells me, “Siara does so much for everyone!! I know that’s going to rub off on Sir Nathaniel and he is going to be a superhero, because of it. She is the best sister aunt and mom anyone could ask for!!” I couldn’t say it any better, if I tried. Siara’s family said it all!! Today is Siara’s birthday. Happy birthday Siara!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
My grandnephew, Ethan Hadlock continues to amaze me each year. He is 17 years old today, but he doesn’t act like a typical 17-year-old. Ethan has such a sweet nature and a kind, loving heart. Whenever I see Ethan, he greets me with a hug, and I am not alone. Ethan loves everyone in our family, and he makes sure that each and every one of us know just how much he loves us. Ethan is very kind and loving, but he also has a sense of humor much like his parents. He loves a good joke or prank, but never a hurtful one. He reminds me more and more of his dad, Ryan Hadlock every day. I would say that Ethan is his dad’s mini-me, but there is nothing “mini” about 
either of these very tall men. Nevertheless, Ethan is a chip off the old block for sure. His mom, Chelsea Hadlock wasn’t cheated though, because Ethan’s sister, Aurora Hadlock is definitely her mom’s mini-me!!
Ethan has been making a lot of changes in his life. He bought a pickup and got a job at Target in June, both of which he is quite proud. He is a responsible worker and driver too. His bosses know they can count on Ethan to be there on time and to give it his all every time. He is taking auto shop at school and loves it. The class is teaching him a lot about working on his truck. While there are women who are great mechanics, I think it’s important for a man to know how to work on their own vehicle. Ethan is embracing that challenge, and we’re all proud of him.
As he looks forward to his post high school future, he is weighing his options. This year he has been to the University of Wyoming (UW) campus tour. He’s currently debating between traditional UW classes and trade school, so he’s hoping to check out Wyo Tech in the next few months as well. The year hasn’t been all future planning though. Ethan has taken in a couple of Cowboys games, and a Broncos game with his dad. He still hangs out with the same 3 friends he has had since elementary school, but now a whole lot more boys have joined in this group of buddies. For his birthday party, Ethan decided to go to Jump Craze Indoor Trampoline Park with his friends!! I’ve never been to Jump Craze, but I hear it’s an absolute blast. Today is Ethan’s 17th birthday. Happy birthday Ethan!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
During the Holocaust, the Nazis were systematically killing Jews just because they were Jewish. Sometimes the non-Jewish population tried to help their neighbors…to their detriment if they were caught. Some people his Jews, some smuggled them out of the country, as a few, like Dr Eugene Lazowski, born Eugeniusz Slawomir Lazowski, a Polish doctor saved thousands of lives during World War II. He was one of two physicians who staged a fake epidemic to exploit the German fear of poor hygiene. Lazowski became well-known after an article mistakenly claimed the lives saved were all Polish Jews, though he did help many Jews by secretly giving them medicine, an act that was banned and punishable by death.
Eugeniusz Lazowski was born in Czestochowa, Poland, to a Catholic family. He earned his medical degree from Jozef Pilsudski University in Warsaw just before World War II began. During the war, he served as a medic and Second Lieutenant in the Polish Army. Captured by the Soviets, he was sent to a prisoner-of-war camp but managed to escape. He later worked as a doctor on a Red Cross train and then as a military physician for the Polish resistance Home Army.
After the German occupation of Poland, Lazowski settled in the small southeastern village of Rozwadow (now part of Stalowa Wola) with his wife. It was there that their daughter Alexandra was born. In addition to running his medical practice, he also treated travelers passing through a nearby train station. It was this role that gave him the ability to really save lives. While treating travelers, he secretly hid his medicine supply and provided it to Jews in the local ghetto, which bordered his home. In doing so, Lazowski risked the death penalty imposed on Poles who aided Jews during the Holocaust.
He ran his medical practice with Dr Stanislaw Matulewicz, a friend from their days in medical school. Like Lazowski, Matulewicz had worked with the Red Cross. He discovered that healthy people could be injected with the bacterium OX 19, a strain of Proteus, which would make them test positive for typhus without actually contracting the illness. Together, the two doctors staged a fake typhus outbreak in 1941–1942 in and around Rozwadow, leading the Germans to quarantine the area. The doctor’s fake epidemic was believed to have saved around 8,000 people from being sent to German concentration camps, though his memoir and the English translation by his daughter dispute the idea that most of those saved were Jewish. The reality is, however, that non-Jewish people would not have needed saving, for the most part, anyway. The journalist who wrote the article that sparked the legend admitted to a documentarian that the main details weren’t verified, partly excusing this by saying he didn’t know Polish. So, I suppose the story could be disputed, but it has never really been denied either, so I believe it’s true.
In 1958, Lazowski moved to the US with his wife Maria and their daughter Alexandra on a Rockefeller Foundation scholarship. Alexandra had been born in 1942 in Rozwadow. The family settled in Chicago, Illinois, where Lazowski went on to become a professor of pediatrics at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1984. Over his career, he authored more than a hundred scientific dissertations. Though he may have eased his 
medical practice in the 1980s, he didn’t fully retire until 2004. During his semi-retirement, he wrote a memoir, Prywatna wojna: wspomnienia lekarza-zolnierza, Private War: Memoirs of a Medical Soldier, 1933-1944 was published in Polish in 1993 and later translated into English by Dr Lazowski’s daughter, Alexandra. He passed away in 2006 in Chicago, having lived in Eugene, Oregon, with his daughter. His legacy of great kindness, however, will live on.
When a mistake is made, it’s usually no big deal. We correct it and move on, but when that mistake involved to trains in the same place and the same time, you can’t just correct it and move on. Lives are lost, and property is destroyed. There is no real fix for this. On January 4, 1990, two trains collided in Sangi, Pakistan, killing between 200 and 300 people and injuring an estimated 700 others. This was the worst rail accident to date in Pakistan.
The Zakaria Bahauddin train, named after a holy man in Pakistani tradition, could carry 1,400 passengers and regularly made the 500-mile trip between Multan and Karachi. On January 4th, however, with 16 cars in tow, it was making the overnight journey. Packed with 2,000 passengers, it was overcrowded by some 600 people…a situation which was not that uncommon in Pakistan back then.
As the train neared the village of Sangi in Sindh province, it was unexpectedly diverted onto a side track. Without the Zakaria’s knowledge, a 67-car freight train had been parked there overnight, and the Zakaria slammed into its rear at 35 miles per hour. The impact derailed the locomotive along with the first three passenger cars, leaving nearly everyone in those cars seriously injured or killed. Around 200 to 300 people lost their lives, and about 700 were treated at local hospitals. Some of the injured had to be airlifted to Karachi for urgent care. The train’s engineer survived and later revealed that an inattentive signalman had mistakenly directed the train onto a side track. The signalman was later jailed for manslaughter.
Pakistan’s rail network carries over 65 million passengers every year, yet accidents remain a tragic reality. The crash in Sangi was sadly not an isolated incident…less than a year and a half later, a similar disaster in Ghotki claimed more than 100 lives. It would seem to me that some training would be necessary for these signalmen, as well as anyone else involved with the movement of trains in the network. In addition, workers need to be more alert and far less careless. For the unfortunate victims of the Zakaria Bahauddin train, it’s all too little too late. Maybe with better training some of the future trainwrecks count be avoided.
I think we all know that there is far more to the JFK assassination than most people will ever know, although the event never really seems to die, does it? It seems like we find out more and more about it every year. Of course, those behind the assassination continued to fight to hide the truth until the day they themselves died…and it didn’t matter anymore…at least not to them. Nevertheless, there are people, historians and those who are just curious enough to wonder, who simply don’t buy the crazy story that was presented to the world. I’m not sure many people remember or know about the JFK assassination these days. The older crowd does, of course, but how many bought the lie we were told, and how many believe differently, whether we can ever prove it or not.
On November 22, 1963, John F Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. As the story goes, one man, Lee Harvey Oswald manage to do the impossible. Per the Warren Commission’s single-bullet theory, one bullet caused Kennedy’s nonfatal wound and Connally’s wounds. Conspiracy theorists, neglecting that Kennedy was not directly behind Connally, claim that the trajectory required a “magic bullet.” Secret Service agent Clint Hill was on the running board of the car right behind Kennedy’s limousine. He told the Warren Commission he heard a shot, jumped into the street, and ran to reach the limousine to protect Kennedy. As he got to the Lincoln, he said that he heard the fatal headshot which incredibly came about five seconds after the first shot. Right after that, Mrs Kennedy started climbing onto the trunk, but later she didn’t remember doing it. Hill thought she might have been trying to retrieve a piece of Kennedy’s skull. It’s hard to say. He leapt onto the limousine’s bumper and held on as it sped out of Dealey Plaza toward Parkland Memorial Hospital. Once Mrs Kennedy returned to her seat, Governor and Mrs Connally heard her repeating: “They have killed my husband. I have his brains in my hand.” It was said that Oswald fired three shots and the third shot was the fatal one. meaning that he fired a rifle three times in five second. I just don’t buy that story.
I never could figure out why Jack Ruby decided to kill Oswald. I’ve not found any information that indicated that he was a particularly huge fan of JFK, but maybe he was. Still, even given his volatile temper, killing Oswald wasn’t really in his character. Many people thought he knew that he had Cancer, and the killing was a job to leave something for his family. It’s hard to say. Ruby was convicted for the murder and sentenced to death. Due to some “technicalities” the case was appealed, and then, while waiting for a new trial which was set for February 1967 in Wichita Falls, Texas, Ruby was hospitalized at Parkland on December 9, 1966, with pneumonia and was soon diagnosed with cancer in his liver, lungs, and brain. His health quickly worsened. An armed guard stood outside his room, though family and friends could visit. On December 16, Earl Ruby, with one of his brother’s lawyers, smuggled a tape recorder in a briefcase into Jack’s room to capture an interview about Oswald’s murder. Ruby insisted he entered the basement via the ramp, killed Oswald out of grief over the assassination, and had never met him before. According to an Associated Press source, Ruby made a final statement from his hospital bed on December 19, 1967, claiming he acted alone: “There is nothing to hide; 
there was no one else.” Ruby died of a pulmonary embolism on January 3, 1967, at Parkland Hospital. He was buried beside his parents in the Westlawn Cemetery in Norridge, Illinois. I could be wrong, but given so much conspiracy, I think it Ruby could have been poisoned, because of the speed with which everything happened. It reminds me of the person who commits suicide by shooting himself in the head…twice. A little far-fetched. You, of course, are welcome to believe what you like. This is my opinion.
My nephew, Allen Beach, has had quite an eventful life. When he was a boy, growing up, his family moved fairly often, giving him the chance to live in several states. After graduating from high school, Allen joined the United States Navy and became a corpsman. Once trained, he was stationed at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, where he cared for, among others, the President of the United States.
After his time at Walter Reed, Allen was stationed in Japan, which I believe was the favorite chapter of all his travels. It 
was there he met his wife, Gaby, who changed his life forever. Gaby was also in the Navy, and Allen was instantly drawn to her. Before long, they were inseparable. Eventually, Allen took Gaby to Bali, where he proposed and she said yes. He felt complete, but their adventures were far from over. Their lives would take them to Casper, Wyoming where he worked in hospital administration following his college years, and Gaby pursued her own career in nursing. It also gave them time to spend with his family in Casper.
Still, their travels were not over. Eventually, in what I perceive to be possibly their last move, their careers took 
them to Oregon, where Gaby works at a Veteran’s hospital and Allen works in the pharmaceutical industry. Allen works as a Care Management Associate for Aetna, teaming up with doctors to coordinate care plans that fit with Aetna health insurance, which CVS acquired a few years back. He works from home, which is a trend that grew during the COVID-19 pandemic and has since become a sought-after arrangement. Allen loves the setup, and it’s likely his dog, Ollie, enjoys it just as much. Today is Allen’s birthday. Happy birthday Allen!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
As the new year begins, we find ourselves thinking about our mom, Collene Spencer, as we do every New Year’s Day, because this would have been her 90th birthday. It’s hard to believe that she has been in Heaven for almost eleven years now. I know that she is celebrating with all the family who have gone before us. Of course, time means nothing in Heaven. Eternity knows no breakdown of the years. One second is the same as the next…pure blissful happiness. It doesn’t get better than that. They are all so very happy, and it makes it easy to be happy for them.
Nevertheless, it also accentuates the loneliness we feel here when we think of them. Sometimes, during the year, when we get busy with our lives, we are able to cope with their absence, at least until something reminds us of them or of a moment, and we miss them all over again. Then comes their birthday or death day and missing them becomes the main focus. Today, as we celebrate the new year, I am also thinking about how 
much I miss my mom. I cant believe that eleven years have come and gone since her went home. She had done all the things she had on her “bucket list” and she was ready. She had told us several times that she was ready, so while her leaving was shocking in one way, it wasn’t in another. They couldn’t even find a cause of death. She just left. That fact still amazes me, eleven years later.
When I think of Mom and Dad back together again, I smile. They were best friends. They never tired of being together. They loved to travel, taking their girls to many amazing places. Our travel was mostly in the United States, because they loved this country…and they wanted my sisters and me to know how wonderful it was. We saw many places in many states, and we knew how blessed we were. Not many kids in those days were as “traveled” as we were. From those trips came favorite places, and places we saw only once. From those trips came history lessons and simple fun times. While the trips were varied in many ways, there were many 
common parts…like the Oregon Trail markers. Those dreaded Oregon Trail markers…at least they were dreaded then. These days, because I love history so much, those markers are interesting, and I wish I could remember each one we visited and its location. They mean more to me now that I am older. I wish I had told my parents that. They would have loved it. Today would have been my mom’s 90th birthday. Happy birthday in Heaven, Mom. I know you and Dad, as well as Alena, are having a great celebration. Someday we will all celebrate together again. I look forward to it.
