5/29/2023

JRB,

            We are fostering an ailing puppy who is so malnourished that her legs are crooked. She just started having an appetite. The SPCA has arranged for medical treatment & home care so she should be a happy puppy in a few weeks.

Why is it that we have the resources to help this puppy when thousands of Rohingya children in Bangladesh are ailing & malnourished, & we stand aside? Did you put some $$ for humanitarian aid for Burma in the bill you just negotiated?

            I hope you can sell your bill to your buddies on the Hill. I appreciate your comments that ““The agreement represents a compromise, which means not everyone gets what they want. That’s the responsibility of governing.” I hope that IOC & her crew agree.

            It’s my f(F)riend’s birthday. The capital F indicates he is a Quaker. We worship together every weekend, vacillating between Sat PM & Sun AM to accommodate folks from around the world who join us. We have Friends in Yangon, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, & England who regularly attend. He is turning 63, attending to the needs of infirm parents, cheering for the Cubs & spreading good vibes wherever he goes.  

            It’s also Memorial Day, a challenging day for us Quakers, because it can feel like a celebration of war. In 1973 I proudly carried the flag at the front of the Kenilworth Memorial Day parade in my girl scout uniform with my best friend, Susu McIntyre, boyfriend, Bob Bergman & fellow scholar Jeff Holland. I had no idea what the significance was. I just knew that a bunch of old geezers marched wearing medals on their chests. That town is so affluent that it could afford to pay for a military band to march with us. Looking back, I realize the event could be construed by the draft age boys in the neighborhood as propaganda to serve in Vietnam, & I regret my ignorance in blithefully going along.

            As you lay the wreath at Arlington today, please recite our mantra. WINTA!

            BYBS,