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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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