My dream looks like this.

Bobby Kennedy was the single most important mentor in my life. Additionally, his words, either written or spoken, have been guideposts for me. Bobby was able to put words to what was spinning around in my mind or to help me better understand various issues. I have benefited from his example in his life as I journeyed down the yellow brick road of my life.

Additionally, Bobby was a father to my generation. He motivated millions of whites during the civil rights movement in the 60s. He was able to see as a white person much of what blacks were facing. He could speak to blacks in America and in the South Africa during apartheid. Regardless of race and other differences, he listened, he instructed, and he helped millions of Americans and many millions more throughout the world.

The single sentence that spoke to me the most was what Bobby said about dreaming. “Some men see things as they are and say, why; I dream things that never were and say, why not.” That sentence focused me and my generation as we faced seemingly insurmountable problems like racism, poverty, and the war in Vietnam.

While dreaming dreams is critical, realizing one’s dreams needs more than merely dreaming. Dreams take work in addition to the dream. Dreaming isn’t a wasted effort. Nevertheless, effort to realize a dream is critical. Without effort, one is merely daydreaming.

In my twilight years, the picture of the lake with mountains in the background is the most important of all my dreams. Before I run out of anymore bricks on my yellow brick road of life, I want to create a small utopian experiment. I’m going to bring together all my family members together from various countries throughout the world. Some live in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and America, but they all are family. Maybe the utopian experiment might motivate others to be more inclusive about who makes up their family.

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It’s Med Time-- A Follow-up to Sauna Time

11/22/24

What If.... It's All About My Mantra.

11/13/24

It's a Long, Long Road From Which There is No Return

11/04/24

What I Admire about Kamala And How She Will Change America

10/25/24

Professor Keating and I We Both Took Mrs. Davis’s English Class

10/07/24

Another Eureka Moment Thank You, Nancy

09/30/24

Discovering a Mentor In a Field of Dreams

09/13/24

Becoming a Monkey King It's More Than Mere Monkey Business

09/04/24

“The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far from the Tree” The Bobby Paradox

08/30/24

Destiny or Fate It is Another Either/Or Issue

08/16/24

The Duality of Daffodils Carpe Diem

08/12/24

Lessons Learned in Former British Colonies Like America, South Africa, and Myanmar

07/31/24

The Third Old Man Or Three Coins in the Fountain of Life

07/29/24

A Poem for Ti Ti Who is Now Twenty

06/02/24

Repeating the Past Make Sure You Understand the Past

05/24/24

The Flying Dutchman Then and Now

05/03/24

Field of Dreams A Haunting Return

04/24/24

What Did Rowe Learn from Beethoven? Erasing

04/12/24

Standing on the Hill Our Human Destiny

03/20/24

Träumerei Then and Now

03/15/24

Music and Me The Cost of Love Then and Now

03/01/24

My Hill of Beans Paradox Created by the James Webb Space Telescope

01/26/24

My Birthday And the Age of Aquarius

01/24/24

First, There was Jacques Cousteau Now, There is Ti Ti

01/12/24

This Is a True Story... About Guts

01/03/24

What’s It All About... The Paradox of Life

12/29/23

Unexpected Events Can Create Opportunities for Greatness

12/25/23

Why Write? Answers from Vonnegut and Faulkner

12/20/23

PaPa Al’s Reply To Ti Ti’s Posting, I Love Education

12/15/23

The Paradox of Learning It Is an Either/Or Knowledge Base

12/13/23

My Yin Yang World Dreams vs. Reality

12/08/23

If I Were Q I’d Tell the Whole Story of the Téméraire

11/08/23

Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night A Lesson Taught by Dylan Thomas

11/06/23

The Reason for Being An Either/Or Situation

11/03/23

The Ripple Effect An Either/Or Issue

11/01/23

Breath of Fresh Air From My Web Administrator

10/20/23

Me and My Echocardiogram Beyond a Diagnosis

10/18/23

Lawrence of Arabia... A Mentor of Mine

10/11/23

My World of Xanadu Another Personal Parallel Essay

09/20/23

Ti Ti’s Surprising Email To Her Grandfather

09/18/23

Tyson’s Two Thoughts Regarding AI and a Ticking Clock

09/15/23

Holding Hands with Neal Katyal What My Teacher Taught Me

08/21/23

What I Learned In My Twilight Years Giotto Revisited

08/04/23

The Clown Car Drivers Are Driving Scared

06/30/23

The Tree in the Silo A Metaphor of Me

06/23/23

Pick Mentors Carefully The Lady and Bobby

06/02/23

A Suggestion of a Mentor A Sequel to Picking a Mentor Article

04/07/23

Pick Mentors Carefully The Lady and Bobby

06/02/23

A Suggestion of a Mentor A Sequel to Picking a Mentor Article

04/07/23

The Effects of the Sun’s Coronal Hole Be Prepared

03/27/23

NASA Discovered Six Massive Galaxies So What?

03/08/23

Music Explains Me Music Drives Me

03/03/23

I Wish that I Had Asked My Father About WWII

12/19/22

I Could Hear the Silence While I Raged

12/12/22

Problems are Assets Seize the Problems

12/09/22

A Soccer and Hockey Game What’s the Take Away?

12/05/22

My Way Morphing to My Mentoring

12/02/22

If You Are Looking for a Mentor... I Have a Suggestion

11/28/22

My Twilight Hauntings... About Immortality

11/25/22

A Message from Missoula And the Dangling Dog

11/04/22

Growing Up Without Transparency And Finally Discovering It

10/14/22

Facing Storms of Life Another Either/Or Situation

10/07/22

Picking Mentors It Will Change Your Life

09/09/22

Seeing Things More Clearly On My Yellow Brick Road

08/22/22

Hoosier’s Neighbor? The Ultimate Question

08/17/22

“The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men… Often Go Awry.”

08/1/22

A Lesson About Life… Don’t Fear Death…

07/24/22

“The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men….” Reset and Carry On

05/13/22

I Love Teaching… Here in Myanmar or Anywhere

05/09/22

Ti Ti, the Driven An Exceptional Young Lady

05/04/22

Grasping Reality While My Clock Is Ticking

04/29/22

Diversity Visas What’s That All About, Alfie?

04/24/22

Acclimating to the New World In Mt. Lebanon, Taunggyi, and Crown Point

04/20/22

I’m An American Oligarch…. Of Sorts

04/15/22

Building Castles in the Sky Pushing the Limits of Possibility

04/13/22

Ti Ti’s Yogi-ism “It’s Like Déjà Vu All Over Again.”

04/06/22

I Have Miles to Go Before I Sleep

04/04/22

Seeing the Future At Least Three Times

03/30/22

My Family in Myanmar: A Sequel to What’s It All About

03/28/22

Two Views of the Ides of March One for Caesar and One for My Family

03/14/22

History Is Repetitious Then and Now

02/21/22

My Personality Quirks… I Have Several

02/16/22

The Tale of My Foot Years Ago and Today

02/11/22

Parallels Between Myanmar and America Even Though They Are On the Other Side of the World

02/04/22

My Dream of Diversity In the Footsteps of Bobby

02/02/22

My Dreamland During My Operation

01/19/22

Coming to America A Dream of Many

01/17/22

A Reason for Being… The Most Important Reason for My Being

12/31/21

Christmas: Past, Present, and Future

12/24/21

Two Dreamers... Discuss the Way the World Should Be

12/08/21

Moh Moh’s Roles in Our Family: My Daughter and My Mother

12/06/21

Archimedes and the Syracusia It’s All About Dreaming

12/01/21

Waking Up… To Getting Old

11/29/21

Ginger and the Mask and Shot Mandates A Canine Teaching Moment

11/05/21

From a Ripple to a Raging Current Based Upon Reciprocity

11/03/21

A New World Order The World from Campbell’s Perspective

11/01/21

The Duality of Changing Times Change, and We Change

10/22/21

Having a Purposeful Life Another Sequel About Dreaming

10/20/21

Societal Dreaming Delayed but Not Dashed

10/18/21

A Dream Delayed Or a Dream Dashed

10/13/21

“I’m Doing the Dance” The Title of Ti Ti’s Poem

09/03/21

What Can We Learn from Art? The Answer Is….

08/18/21

A Follow-Up to Snow’s Email Another Teaching Moment

07/26/21

Happy Birthday, Snow Time To Remember

07/21/21

If They See the Goblin… They Might Also See Planet X.

06/23/21

More Apologies Expressed To My Physicians

06/21/21

Reincarnation of Ra-Ra… Reincarnation of Ra-Ra…

05/14/21

Learning from Collecting Written by a Collector of Treasures

04/16/21

My Quest to Find Meaning Life My Search for My Holy Grail

04/07/21

As Kierkegaard Said It Is Either/Or

04/05/21

I Live in Two WorldsI Have Benefited from One World

03/22/21

What’s It All About Aldie My Haunting Question

03/19/21

Teaching Moments TodayAnd Teaching Moments for the Future

03/15/21

Getting My Second COVID Shot… And Immortality

03/05/21

Who Is That Lady in Yellow?A 21st Century Eppie

02/01/21

Stopping in the WoodsWhile Dreaming Dreams

01/27/21

Purposeful LivesOn Steroids

01/13/21

A Secret About LifeHow To Be Successful

12/21/20

This Is a Teaching MomentAbout America

12/07/20

Remembering the PastSpring Follows Winter

12/02/20

Problems Are Catalysts for ChangeBut It Is Up to You

11/18/20

The Importance of the Sound of Music…According to Nietzsche and Me

10/26/20

Hear Ye, Hear Ye…Ti Ti Is Starting College Today!

10/16/20

"I Dream Things That Never Were…"And Say Way Not”

07/03/20

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The Devil Made Me Do It. A Presidential Duet

10/09/20

This Is an AddendumTi Ti, the Bridge Builder

09/25/20

From Then to NowWhat a Difference Seven Years Has Made

09/23/20

Masks Matter…To Some

09/16/20

Two PoemsBy Two Ladies

09/14/20

A Present Day Parable for AmericaIt Is All About Sharing

09/11/20

There Is More to Dreaming…Than Just Dreaming

08/07/20

"Give Me a Place to Stand...And I Will Move the World.”

07/20/20

Regarding Dancing with CoronavirusCampbell’s Five Commandments

03/25/20

I Don’t Like FailingModus Operandi

03/13/20

How Playing Scrabble Changed My LifeWho Would Have Thought?

02/28/20

My Swan SongAnd My Family’s Swan Song

01/17/20

Perspective What You See Is What You Get.

09/20/19

I Get That Ibn Battuta Loved Travel… But Why?

09/09/19

Another Déjà Vu In the Arts and Philosophy

06/07/19

Hanging My Problem on My Lantern Jacob Soboroff

04/15/19

Hanging My Problem on My Lantern Contacting Clarence Page

04/12/19

Hanging My Problem on My Lantern Contacting Rod Stewart

04/10/19

Dreaming…. About My Moment in Time

03/11/19

One Moment in Time Carpe Diem

03/04/19

Tintern Abbey Viewed by Wordsworth and Turner

02/18/19

Light at the End of the Tunnel However, the Tunnel is an Illusion

02/06/19

The Wall Issue The True Value of a Wall

01/14/19

Pa Pa Al’s Grandfatherly Advice To Ti Ti Who Doesn’t Need It.

01/11/19

A New Year’s Eve With a New Resolution for the Coming Year

12/31/18

It’s All About Family I Agree with John Lewis

12/17/18

Reflections on The Magnificent Seven…

12/12/18

The Magnificent Seven… My Dream Team

12/07/18

I Celebrate Two Thanksgiving Days… And This Is Why

11/22/18

On Making Your Mark And Leaving It

10/22/18

The Relevance of Religion In the World

10/15/18

Rhythm of My Heart Here and Abroad

10/03/18

Be a Dreamer.... And Never Quit Dreaming.

08/10/18

Dreaming The Drug for Realizing Your Hopes

11/07/18

Lack of Leadership In Turbulent Times

11/02/18

It Is In Giving That We Get Being Like Bobby

08/03/18

The Ripple Effect… “…Can Sweep Down the Mightiest Walls.”

07/23/18

Ti Ti and Her Family My Assistants in Myanmar

05/28/18

Forrester and Jamal You and I

05/11/18

Moh Moh, Bobby, and Me…. All Dreamers

04/30/18

Dear PaPa Al..... Dear Ti Ti

04/16/18

Bobby’s Suggestion About My Problems… A School in Taunggyi, Myanmar

04/06/18

The Question Is… How Will You Be Remembered?

02/26/18

What Would You Attempt To Do If You Knew You Could Not Fail?

02/21/18

An Age of Revolution If We But Know What To Do With It

02/16/18

The Water Horse of Loch Ness And Our Water Horses of Life

02/07/18

Moh Moh, Tin Tin, and Me We Are the Incarnations of Bobby

01/31/18

Lesson Learned About Dreaming I Learned from Bobby

01/22/18

Bobby the Runt Turned into Bobby the Leader

01/17/18

My Thoughts about the Meaning of Life My Perspective from My Twilight Years

01/05/18

Another Breakfast with My Shrink Dealing with Dreaming

01/01/18

America As Bobby, Moh Moh, and the Jazz Singer See It

12/25/17

Dreaming Dreams that Never Were... Asking Why Not.

12/15/17

Doing the Dance... Fathoming the Unfathomable.

12/11/17

Lawrence of Arabia One of My Mentors

10/06/17

Me and My Shrink Dealing With What Drives Me

08/16/17

Ti Ti and I A Most Haunting Relationship

08/04/17

The Benefit of Failed Dreams The Dalai Lama’s Oxymoron

06/19/17

Frobisher’s Quests The Northwest Passage and Gold

05/31/17

Shrimp Can Whistle "I dream things that never were and say, why not."

03/08/17

Kennedy Socks Presidents and Camelot

02/20/17

I'm Hanging My Lantern For All To See

12/23/16

Accomplishing Things in Life... Even Long Shots

12/16/16

We Shall Overcome A Belief Amid Darkness

07/18/16

I am Don Quixote But I Am Not from La Mancha

04/15/16

Don Quixote and Albert Einstein The Two Dreamers

04/04/16

Could I Have This Dance... For the Rest of My Life?

03/11/16

The Value of Dreaming About My List of Dulcineas

02/12/16

Do You Have Any Suggestions... On Planning My New Life?

05/18/13

Only Those Who Dare to Fail... Can Achieve

12/05/16

Bobby Kennedy Still Reaches Out to Us.

07/29/16

Rewriting History To Fit Our Notions

04/22/16

Bobby or the Donald Picking Mentors

03/14/16

Two Roads in the Wood Choose Wisely

02/26/16

Revitalizing My Brain After Winding Up in ICU

01/25/16

Doubling Down... To Make Dreams Come True

10/19/15

It Is About How You Lead Your Life Start With Refining Words

05/11/15

Dare to Dream Even When Dreams are Delayed

01/09/15

Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream The Disconnect Between Dreaming and Reality

12/26/14

Serendipity... Finding Without Looking

12/12/14

Wolverton Mountain The Place Where Dreams Occur

09/26/14

Darkest Before Dawn A Logical Disconnect that Is True

08/15/14

"Hang a Lantern on Your Problems..." So All Can See.

04/27/14

The Value of Dreaming Instructions from My Cardiologist...

02/14/14

What Makes Me Tick Finally, an Explanation

07/12/15

Lawrence of Arabia A Mentor of Mine

10/18/13

Bonhoeffer—Crossing the Line... Thank You: Dietrich, Bobby and Barack

11/20/12

Lean on Me An Open Letter to My Grandson

11/11/11

Bobby and Barack Election of Barack Obama

09/28/08