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Month: December 2020

Mark these words

December 30, 2020Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

I often quote Mark Twain in my classes, but before I do, I tell the students I must speak very slowly and very deliberately when I say, “Mark Twain quote.” If I don’t, if I rattle it off without concentrating… Continue Reading →

Aunt Dorothy’s Christmas candy

December 26, 2020Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

I’ve often said every kid should have a single aunt.Ours was Aunt Dorothy, my mother’s sister.Aunt Dorothy brought into our world all the things our mom could not afford.In the ‘50s, our family had four kids and a dad who… Continue Reading →

A tradition interrupted

December 23, 2020Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

My sister and her husband won’t be going to the movies Christmas night. Another tradition shelved by Covid-19.Sheila is a few years older than I, and her husband Paul a few years older than she, so their dating world, in… Continue Reading →

Lucy

December 18, 2020Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

It’s hard to say who loved me more, my friend Martin’s mother or my friend Martin’s grandmother.Mart and I became friends in 7th grade, close to 60 years ago. I spent a lot of time at his house, an upstairs… Continue Reading →

Getting real at Christmas

December 16, 2020Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

My wife, Mary Kay, turned me on (don’t get excited, that’s ’60s Speak for enlightening me) to Helen and Ed’s Christmas Tree Farm in Wapwallopen in December of 1999.We had met a year earlier and had our first date on… Continue Reading →

The toy of the future

December 11, 2020Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

Tom Friedman’s book “Thank You for Being Late” will blow your mind. It’s about the power of computers and what’s yet to come.Here’s a little tidbit: if a 1971 Volkswagen Beetle advanced as much as computing power has since then,… Continue Reading →

Do you smell what I smell?

December 8, 2020Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

I had just stepped out of the Pittston Post Office one day last week when an old woman turned to me and said, “I can smell the birds peeing.”I could not think of an appropriate response, so I just smiled.And… Continue Reading →

Snow Birds?

December 4, 2020Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

On my way to Redner’s on the Pittston By-pass Thursday morning, I could not help but think, “If seagulls had credit cards, K-Mart would still be in business.”If you’ve been in that area, you know what I’m talking about.Every day… Continue Reading →

With it

December 2, 2020Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

My cool factor has gone up significantly since September.I have my wife to thank.And my torn Achilles tendon.I ruptured it playing tennis in late August. Ripped it clean off my heel. Right foot, too, which meant no driving. And that… Continue Reading →

About the Optimist

Ed Ackerman Ed Ackerman, a consulting editor and columnist for the Greater Pittston Progress, has served the people of Greater Pittston for 48 years, starting in the newspaper field at age 17. The Pittston resident will share his thoughts in this blog and in a weekly column published in the Progress. greaterpittstonprogress.com

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