Today's Opinions

I can think of no more stirring symbol of man's humanity to man than a fire engine.

-- Kurt Vonnegut

I grew up in Tornado Alley. Tornadoes were more of an event I enjoyed than a threat I feared, so invincible did I think I was as a child and teenager. As we gathered in the Shively’s storm shelter with other neighbors, I rather enjoyed the social gathering and naively hoped the twister would somehow be bad enough to cancel school but not destructive enough to hurt anyone.

Questions of why, an inevitable response to suffering, weren’t in my purview, at least not then.

Mark Simms, a friend of Cindy and me, offered to let us use his scissor lift when our family and my now son-in-law’s family were decorating the St. Dominic gym for their wedding reception.

Mark had one stipulation; “Don’t mind loaning it, but don’t let Kenny near it or on it at any time.”

Then he mentioned something about wanting to get it back in one piece.

That Mark, he’s always a kidder.