A Tribute to the Fallen Heroes of April 4, 2009

 (My tribute to these fallen heroes, written on April 4, 2009)

If you believe that good exists, then you have to believe evil exists. On April 4, 2009, evil reared its ugly head in the form of a 22-year-old man, Richard Poplawski, when he killed three police officers and wounded two others. These were the first city of Pittsburgh police officers killed in 18 years. The day began early when the police officers said goodbye to their families. No one ever expected that they would not be coming home. A domestic call came in from the mother of Poplawski resulting from an argument between the two. She wanted the officers to remove her son from the home.

The shootout occurred in the Stanton Heights Neighborhood of Pittsburgh at 7:11 a.m., where Poplawski was wearing a bulletproof vest in the home, lying in wait for the officers. He shot Officer Paul Sciullo, 37, in the head, and then Officer Stephen Mayhle, 29, in the head. Officer Eric Kelly, 41, was on his way home from his night shift when he heard the call for help on his radio. He arrived at the scene to help both officers, and Officer Kelly was shot and killed. Two other police officers were injured at the scene. Poplawski was armed with a semi-automatic AK-47 style rifle and two other guns. While Poplawski silenced and destroyed the lives of those three policemen, he is alive, he is in jail, and as of yet, he hasn't been tried.

Yet, the three police officers are dead. Two leave wives and a total of five children. The other officer leaves a fiancee. All three policemen leave parents, siblings, and friends. Life will never be he same for the families. Kelly and Mayhle will never see their children grow up. They will miss out on all the important days of their lives. They will never see their grandchildren or grow old with their spouses. Sciullo will never get married; he will never have children or grandchildren. Poplawski stole those dreams away from the three officers when he killed them. In an outpouring from the city and suburbs of Pittsburgh an other areas and states a fund was set up for the three families and the total keeps growing. The city and suburbs stood as one.

Maybe the people of Pittsburgh will become gentler from this tragedy? I don't know?
Everyday men and women put on their uniforms and answer calls for help. The most dangerous calls are the domestic violence calls. One never knows what waits on the other side of the door. Usually the officer tries to help and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. When the domestic incident is over, sometimes the officer finds himself or herself in danger or on the defensive, injured or maybe dead.

We expect more from the police, from the ones who wear the blue uniforms and the badges and the guns. But there are good and bad police men and women, just like there are good and bad doctors, good and bad lawyers, good and bad teachers, good and bad people in general.

I have a soft spot for the police. My son is one and I am proud of him. I worry about him and pray for him, as does his wife. I try not to think about the dangers that he faces. But I know on April 4, 2009, he was at Stanton Heights, Police Zone 5. He also volunteered to take duty for the officers from Zone 5, so that they could attend Officer Mayhle's burial.

For whatever it is worth, I have kept Officers Kelly, Mayhle, Sciullo and their families in my prayers along with my son and all those who don the blue uniforms.

Writing What is Important

I am in the process of finishing a book, which I have been working on for over a year. The book is part memoir and part history. It includes stories of my family and the history and other information about my hometown, Utica, New York. I still have a lot of work to do with my book, like editing it and checking over the facts. I know that I will self-publish my book and have printed copies of books to take to Utica and sell them there. I have a number of places that I know will take my books and hopefully, they will sell.

On the other hand, I have a high school friend that I email, daily. Gail is a published writer of mystery novels and now will have a non-fiction being released on October 3, 2017…White Like Her: My Family’s Story of Race and Racial Passing, by Gail Lukasik!

Her book can be pre-ordered on (Amazon.com). I am so proud of Gail. Kudos to my friend for writing her book and getting it published. I am doubly proud of her perseverance in writing her story!

Gymkhana

This past Saturday, I went to Gymkhana with my daughter and her two sons. My grandson, Will, was taking a gymnastic class in a group of 3 and 4 years old.

I looked around and saw all the young parents that were there and I thought that it was really cool to see as many dads as mothers. There were at least 14 little girls in colorful leotards and then there was Will, dressed in his t-shirt and sweatpants. Will was the only boy in the class.

At first, Will, didn’t want to go into the gym area but one of the young volunteers said something, picked up a laughing Will, and carried him inside. No adults were allowed to accompany the children into the gym. They could watch their young gymnasts through the glass doors, or through the large glass window, or on the television monitor, which was divided into four parts: the mat, rings, balance beams, and the trampoline. I watched Will on the television monitor.

Will might have had to be carried into the gym but I watched him progress from a timid little guy to bouncing on the equipment and enjoying everything that he tried.

Contact Miscues

I started to wear glasses in high school so that I could see the chalkboard from a distance, and of course, see faces more clearly. I hated glasses, despite that they helped me to see better.

Years later, after I had a few kids, I got tired of the babies grabbing my glasses off of my face and twisting them out of shape. After a few times, I decided that I had enough and wanted to try contacts. I wanted to wear then so badly that when I first started, I wore them all day long, instead of the few hours prescribed.

To me, contacts were way better and cooler than glasses. Looking back at some old photos and seeing all those goofy styles, small and then oversized frames, my decision was the right one for me. Besides that, my kids could no longer pull my glasses off, throw them on the floor or just pull them apart.

I figured, what could happen to my contacts with nine kids? Well, I was wrong…lots of things can go wrong with contacts.

·         Along the years that I have worn contacts, my 2-year-old son actually opened the contact cases and drank the liquid, as well as the contacts. When my spouse suggested I strain the diaper for the lenses, I called up and ordered a new pair.

·         Then there were a few times that a lens would fall on the floor and dry out, or get stepped on.

·         I have actually slept with them on, only to wake up not realizing it and trying to put another pair in my eyes.

·         One time, I ended up in my Eye Doctor’s office and found out that I had put the lenses in the wrong eyes.

·         Right now, I’m waiting for a new pair of contact lenses. I ordered a year supply from 1-800-Contacts because of the cost. The first six months supply was fine. The second box was wrong and I had to go to the eye doctor to find this out. At first I thought I was going blind and the doctor thought my eye sight had deteriorated until he figured out that I had the wrong prescription because of some sort of mix up.

Now I am waiting for the right prescription. I ordered them through my eye doctor. Quite frankly, I don’t care how much it costs. I know the contact lenses will be correct and I will be able to see again. No offense to eye glass wearers, but I can’t wait to put my glasses away and wear my new contacts!

Chef

I never worked with Mario,

or Emeril or  Ramsey or White.

But I’ve worked with a Chef.

She is like those chefs with

qualities of fouled temperament,

bullying, maniacal tactics.

Chefs know what they want.

Their kitchen is their realm,

their domain. They own it. To be

in a kitchen with a chef is to

serve them. Do your work quickly,

quietly, precisely, correctly.

Stay out of their way.

Keep your mouth shut. Do your

job right the first time. For your

sake – keep your apron clean!

Lessons Learned in the Catering Kitchen

Don’t open the dishwasher until all cycles are completed.

Read all directions first.

Wipe off the prep table.

Always sharpen the knives.

Get everything that needs to be used out on the prep table.

Put a cloth under the cutting board.

Move quickly.

Listen and don’t argue.

Clean up and put things away.

Try to keep your apron clean.