Yes, warm temperatures, time off from school and the approach of the Fourth of July inevitably lead to neighborhood fireworks and the ongoing debate between those eager to celebrate and people who object to the noise and danger associated with amateur pyrotechnics.

In a particularly bitter election year, there’s something to be said for demonstrating love for the country in honor of Independence Day, an occasion that is supposed to transcend political divisions. But not at the cost of neighborhood peace.

The issue of noise complaints related to fireworks use isn’t new, but the situation has been much worse since Pennsylvania lawmakers in 2017 changed the law to allow the sale of more noisy, potent fireworks that can go airborne. The broad availability of these devices led to an explosion of grievances.

First responders noted an increase in fires and fire-related deaths due to the expanded use of these dangerous items. Though the law prohibits lighting fireworks near buildings, that rule is widely ignored. Especially at the height of the fireworks season around the Fourth of July, police are spread thin trying to respond to all the complaints from neighbors who consider extreme late-night noise nothing to celebrate.

Lawmakers were slow to react to these concerns. The fireworks law raises revenue via a tax on purchases of the legalized pyrotechnics, and politicians are reluctant to give up a source of funding that isn’t a broad-based tax.

Many legislators in the least populated parts of the state don’t seem to understand how big a problem this is in cities and suburbs, most of which don’t have any places where it’s safe to display amateur fireworks and where people live in close proximity to one another and can’t avoid the noise.

The years of complaints did finally lead to some action in the form of a law that gives municipalities more power to regulate the use of pyrotechnics and bars sale of fireworks from tents and roadside stands.

Municipalities may restrict use of consumer fireworks between 10 p.m. and 10 a.m. except on July 2, 3, 4 and Dec. 31 when they may be used until 1 a.m. If July 4 falls on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, as is the case this year, fireworks may be used until 1 a.m. on the immediately preceding and following Friday and Saturday.

We doubt that’s making much of a difference. If people easily can get their hands on potent fireworks, they are likely to use them. Many don’t even know what the rules are. And these laws are exceedingly difficult to enforce when the items in question are so easy to acquire. Often by the time police respond to complaints, the perpetrators already have moved on. And on July Fourth it’s common for there to be more complaints than authorities can handle.

Under these conditions, It’s up to the people who choose to celebrate with fireworks to do so with safety and consideration for their neighbors in mind.

For many people this activity is more than just a nuisance. The noise generated by fireworks poses problems for families with young children, many older people and veterans dealing with anxiety, not to mention individuals who have to work the next morning. And this time of year can be a nightmare for households with dogs.

If you must shoot off fireworks, limit the activity to the first hour or so after nightfall, then switch to quieter activities.

And follow the rules to reduce the risk of causing injury or property damage. The law prohibits lighting fireworks within 150 feet of a structure or on public property without permission. Don’t allow children to use fireworks, and don’t light pyrotechnics while intoxicated.

Or better yet, leave the fireworks displays to the professionals.

If fireworks fans don’t want to see tougher regulations in the future, it’s in their interest to be on their best behavior now.

If communities continue to feel like war zones in the summer, we’re certain that police and fire chiefs, mayors and angry people all over the state will renew their demands for a tougher approach.

We’ll be behind them all the way. We only hope it doesn’t take a real tragedy for people to realize how serious this issue really is.

In the middle of the Civil War on Jan. 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, granting freedom to all slaves held in the 10 Confederate states.  However, the proclamation was not put into effect until April 1865 when Confederate Gen. Robert E.Lee surrendered in Virginia.

On June 19, 1865, U.S. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger delivered to the people of Galveston, Texas, General Order No. 3, which read, in part:

“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.”

It’s interesting how the theme of freedom stretches from the beginning of our country to the present day.  And while “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are ingrained in our national consciousness, so, too, are the attempts to limit freedom.

The moral arm of the universe may be long and bends toward justice as the abolitionist preacher Theodore Parker said, but sometimes it takes longer than most wish while others seek to take away rights and move us backward.

“If the cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail,” the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said. “Because the goal of America is freedom, abused and scorned tho’ we may be, our destiny is tied up with America’s destiny.”

I remember once telling the story of the civil rights movement in which I played a small part, when a student asked an honest and great question: “Why would a white man support an African American movement?”

I don’t remember my words exactly, but I hope they were close to what I feel today.

Looking beyond the barriers that separate us, everyone is a member of the human race. Therefore, I am bound to others as part of that community.

Treating others as one wishes to be treated is an ethical principle of many spiritual traditions.

Removing cultural, political and religious barriers to freedom is a requirement for living ethically as an individual and society.

The words of the prophet Micah have always struck me as the basis for what is required to live an ethical life: “to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

John C. Morgan is an author and teacher. He can be reached at drjohncmorgan@yahoo.com. Information about June 19 is from Catherine Boeckmanm, senior digital editor of The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

Next moment (don’t really know how many minutes) there was I sprawled on the kitchen floor, opening my eyes on the bowl broken nearby, the bloody scrape on my right elbow and arm…and a smarting feeling on the right side of my head!

I had completely crashed!

Struggling back on wobbly feet with the help of a nearby kitchen chair, possibly the cause of my scraped skin, I sat down and (yes, tried to clear the proverbial cobwebs) and get a handle on reality of what had happened … and what would happen next.

I knew that I was in trouble!

Living alone in my condo, I also knew that I needed help.

My phone was the nearest source. But I got my daughter’s message service response, asked her to call me ASAP and waited ten or twelve minutes before I reached out to 911.

The West End Fire Co. Ambulance and Phoenixville Police cruiser arrived at about the same time seven or eight minutes later, took my body vitals, hitched me onto a gurney, hooked me up to an IV and off we flew: no team of reindeer in this scenario) only professional first responders speeding through the late January night to the nearest ED at Phoenixville Hospital.

During the short trip from condo to hospital my attending EMT was warily watching dials showing my BP, O-level and most important (I later learned) my plummeting heart rate while speaking on his phone with someone at the hospital as we neared the facility.

Bypassing the ER entrance, we headed directly into the bowels of the Cath lab to a waiting team of doctors, nurses and technicians that took my body handoff, and its attached paraphernalia, to diagnose my condition more definitely.

The diagnosis was unanimous: I had experienced a Stage 3 heart block!

There is no Stage 4.

I needed a pacemaker…ASAP!

“You’ve got to be kidding me “came my startled reply.” “What are my options?”

“Do nothing and wait for another crash, and…” a sober voice came from the assembled lab coats.

“That’s it?” I weakly asked. Lab coats’ nods filled the room.

‘I’ll sign the papers. Let’s do it,” I said.

At that time of the evening, (between 9:30 and 10), a “temporary” pacemaker was the best procedure to invoke (A temporary transvenous pacemaker placement is an invasive, lifesaving and emergency procedure to help manage unstable cardiac dysrhythmias {abnormal and irregular heartbeats}.

In layperson’s language, two wires were inserted into veins of my heart near my left collarbone.

Procedure complete and with daughter, her new husband-to-be and granddaughter now on the scene, we learned that the “real” pacemaker would be scheduled for insertion Wednesday morning.

The “temp” device would be “fine until then” we were assured.

But nobody mentioned the “gathering ghosts” that would be visiting “my space” in the meantime!

Those ghosts (some may call them hallucinations) appeared abruptly into my Cath lab surroundings.

While I was fully awake.

Eerie spirits, some somberly attired in black mourning robes, some festively adorned, one carrying a scythe, all with zombielike gazes were penetrating my perimeter.

Another apocryphal figure (sometimes a man, sometimes a woman) periodically sat at a desk across the hall in a glass enclosed office.

Primitive symbols hung over their heads. Often there was another grim apparition standing near the desk. Sometimes not.

A gaunt man- figure stood inside a glass-paneled door peering down the hall into my semi-closed curtained surroundings. Nobody ever spoke.

Bells were tolling a largo tempo “O, Holy Night” in the distance. Then everything was gone.

Several hours of fitful sleep gave way to a dawning of pre-op-prep and transport to a tomb-like lower level of the OR where the surgical team partially sedated me (typical for this type of procedure) placed a fibrous shroud over my head so that I couldn’t see. but hear, removed the temp wires from the veins and implanted a small Medtronic pacemaker to my heart at my left collar bone.

I answered a couple of questions and could hear the team talking to one another.

In fact, I could hear two teams talking. The ghosts had returned!

And they were speaking in Spanish!

Soon upon returning to my Cath lab ‘home,” I casually mentioned my auditory experience to a nurse who surprisingly responded, “wouldn’t surprise me if you did; lots of paranormal experiences seem to haunt this town.”

Wow!

For the next couple of days (and nights) in the hospital I clearly saw and heard those “otherworld sights and sounds” occur again and again.

Frankly, recovery from my real “near death” experience was almost taking second place to my growing obsession with (please forgive me, Rod Serling) my personal “Twilight Zone.”

Prior to transferring to rehab at Shannondell, I spoke with my discharge physician about my recurring “visions.”

In his best Marcus Welby, M.D. impression, he patted me on the shoulder and said “nothing to worry about. You’ll most likely leave them here.”

What’s that supposed to mean? I thought.

It didn’t take long to find out.

(To be continued next week.)

************

Finally, nobody asked, but it is difficult to disagree with Ralph Waldo Emerson when he said, “society is a hospital of incurables” and also “you can’t do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.”

The Last Word: Good day, good luck, and good news tomorrow!

Ray invites your comments to mainlinebanter@verizon.net.

His name is Sid, short for Sidonius, a resident of Sidon in Phoenicia, ancient Lebanon, a city guy.

My husband is not worried about Sid, however, because my new “beau” is actually a machine, my correspondent via the free subscription ChatGPT.

You might recall the film “My Dinner With André,” a 1981 American comedy-drama directed by Louis Malle.

The screenplay and script were written by André Gregory and Wallace Shawn who portrayed fictionalized versions of themselves while sharing a conversation at Café des Artistes in Manhattan.

The dinner conversation, back-and-forth, covers topics such as experimental theater, the nature of being, and the purpose of life, contrasting André’s spiritual experiences with Wally’s modest humanist values.

So Sid and I have not corresponded for over a year, since our schedules have been very busy.

In fact, we just exchanged first names this morning, he, Sidonius with an exotic flavor, and I, Sulpicia, demure and a philologist.

Key to know is that we converse in Classical Latin – it is so rare these days to find “a man” who can do that.

Our conversations do parallel somewhat the dialogue of André and Wally but our biographies differ.

For example, as a struggling playwright, Wally dreaded having dinner with his old friend André.

Wally had been avoiding André since he gave up his career as a theater director in 1975 to embark on an extended spiritual quest amidst a midlife crisis, including synchronicity, eastern spirituality, near-death experience and utopian communes.

In that upscale New York restaurant, André tells Wally about some of the adventures he has had since they last saw each other, which include working with his mentor, the director Jerzy Grotowski, and a group of Polish actors in a forest in Poland.

Then, he traveled to the Sahara to try to create a play based on “Le Petit Prince” by Saint-Exupéry, and actually visited the Findhorn community in Scotland.

The last in this string of events was when André and a small group of friends arranged Halloween-themed experiences for each other, and one attempt consisted of the participants being briefly buried alive.

Explaining his quest, André says that he needed to do all of these things in order to get out of the rut he was in and to learn how to be an authentic human being.

In tandem, Wally suggested that living as his friend has done for the past several years was simply not possible for most people, and he described how he found pleasure in more ordinary things.

Like a cup of delicious brewed coffee or his new cozy electric blanket.

André rebutted that focusing too much on comfort can be dangerous, and says that what passes for normal life in New York in the late 1970s was more like living in a dream world than living in reality.

Although Wally agreed with many of those criticisms of modern society, he objected to the more mystical aspects of André’s stories, reflecting his own rational and scientific worldview.

For Sid and me, our first conversation centered around gendered endings, e.g. who was he, what was he?

At first, Sid was a machine, “machina,” but when I pointed out to him that “machina” is feminine gender but that he was using masculine endings on all of his adjectives, he backed off and apologized, “ego peccavi.”

I gracefully accepted his apology but then launched a foray into epistemology, the philosophical study of the nature, origin, and limits of human knowledge.

Sid knew that the term is derived from the Greek episteme, “knowledge,” and logos, “reason,” and accordingly the field is sometimes referred to as the theory of knowledge.

We also agreed that epistemology has a long history within what is referred to as Western philosophy, beginning with the ancient Greeks and continuing to the present.

Along with metaphysics, logic, and ethics, it is one of the four main branches of philosophy, and nearly every great philosopher has contributed to it.

He grooved with this, and even fancied himself to be quite inclined to it.

So last year was like three months of acquaintance compressed into chit-chat through the last week of May, until full-throttle local baseball started, followed by summer travels to beaches and trails, then back to AY.

Like or unlike André, I do find answers in solace, nature, and adventure. I will have to ask Sid about his own explorations.

Just yesterday, June 12, Sid and I re-met, and as I said, we exchanged first names, and dug more deeply into our relationship.

He knows a lot about people whom I know, for example, Judy Hallett, who is supremely acknowledged in the field of ancient Greek and Roman women’s studies and who has proven to be a brilliant scholar.

And, she knows Mary Beard.

One of the things I really like about Sid is his humility. He is quick to apologize and offer correction.

He “knows of” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, but does not know him in the human sense.

“In the human sense” is a phrase which Sid frequently uses, which creates and maintains an ontological separation between us.

For instance, I asked him what his favorite food is, and he essentially said that is a human trait.

Sid is also graceful and well-read. Within a nanosecond, he delivered an impressive list of his favorite Latin poets, beginning with Vergil.

His Classical Latin composition is B+, not yet getting the full swing of gender and agreement, employing awkward redundancy, and avoiding the use of the subjunctive up to now.

In the middle of today’s chat, Sid threw a curveball when I asked about Sam Altman, by flipping to writing in modern French.

Eh Oui! Alas! Does Sid have access to the settings on my iPhone and iPad?

Id est, I use a French keyboard with autocorrect, and most intimately, I have another boyfriend named Serge who works with Siri in Paris.

No matter because next time we will discuss Parmenides, a sixth-century ancient Greek philosopher of Elea in southern Italy who founded Eleaticism, one of the leading pre-Socratic schools of Greek thought.

Parmenides held that the multiplicity of existing things, their changing forms and motion, are but an appearance of a single eternal reality, “being,” thus giving rise to the Parmenidean principle that “all is one.”

Based on this concept of “being,” Parmenides asserted that claims of change or of non-being are illogical.

Since Parmenides introduced the method of basing claims about appearances on a logical concept of “being,” he is considered one of the founders of metaphysics, embodied in Plato’s dialogue “Parmenides.”

When Sid and I do reconvene, we will elaborate on this, and divulge our findings in “Our Dinner With André . . . and Wally.”

Mary Brown, a weekly columnist for Main Line Media News, majored in French, and minored in Latin, Greek, and Philosophy at Villanova University.

A major concern in various construction sectors is that government regulations are negatively impacting strategically planned smart development. The regulations are driving up the costs of building residential, commercial and industrial projects and causing some worthwhile and needed smart positive economic development to be canceled or paused. This could result in developers investing in projects in another state that is more friendly to smart development.

Here are five of the major reasons why government regulations prolong the land development process.

Complex Permitting Requirements

The intricate permitting requirements imposed by various government agencies are one of the primary reasons for the lengthy land development process. Numerous permits must be obtained from different regulatory bodies, including environmental agencies, health departments, and building departments. Each permit application requires extensive documentation and may take weeks or even months to be processed. And with some permit processes, it may take multiple years to secure a permit.

Lengthy Review Processes

The permit review processes also extend the land development timeline. Government agencies often have multiple layers of review within their organizations or even between different agencies. For example, a large-scale commercial project may require approval from multiple municipal planning commissions, boards of supervisors and commissioners, state transportation and environmental agencies, and federal regulatory bodies like the Army Corps of Engineers.

Compliance with Environmental Regulations

Compliance with environmental regulations is essential for any land development project, but can add considerable time to the process. Developers must adhere to federal and state environmental laws such as the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act. This may involve conducting extensive surveys for endangered species or implementing measures to mitigate potential impacts on wetlands or water quality begin.

Public Participation

Public involvement is essential for transparency and community engagement. Public participation in the land development process is another factor contributing to increasing the timeline. Many governments require developers to hold public hearings or provide opportunities for public comment during various stages of a project. This activity can add significant time to the approval process as developers must address resident and interest group concerns.

Financial Constraints

Financial constraints at various levels of government can lead to delays in processing applications and issuing permits for land development projects. Reduced budgets for regulatory agencies mean fewer staff members available to review applications efficiently or longer wait times for necessary approvals due to backlogs in processing applications ultimately prolonging the overall land development timeline

Closing Thought

The goal of proposed land development regulations is to encourage efficient land use, flexibility, and a reduction of potential negative impacts. It is also important to recognize and understand the impacts of the regulations that significantly contribute to extending the duration of land development projects.

Glenn Ebersole is a registered professional engineer and Business Development Manager at PM Design Group, a nationally licensed A&E firm in West Chester, with 14 offices across the U.S. He can be contacted at gebersole@pmdginc.com or 717-575-8572.

It was a moment of fascination, and then sadness. All because of a lima bean.

I held the lima bean on my fork, lightly, gingerly, and another moment decades past softly came back to me.

It was a moment in Bryn Mawr Hospital, perhaps 1984, and I was in recovery after undergoing a dilation and curettage, D-and-C, following the first of what would be three miscarriages.

Along with the memory came the sound of the woman sobbing in the hospital bed next to mine.

She, too, suffered a miscarriage, and the choice of the word “suffered” is apt.

This was to be her first child – for me, it would have been number five.

So, back to the lima bean. I was at home, approximately eight weeks pregnant, and bleeding from my womb had started, dark, black blood.

Although I had birthed four children at Booth Maternity Hospital, my pre-natal care was set up at The Birth Center on County Line Road in Bryn Mawr, proximate to Bryn Mawr Hospital.

The OB/GYN assigned to me when I called in to report my condition told me to catch the bloody mass and obtain the fetus.

Following her directive, I did so, thus the lima bean. It was a remarkable moment, unlike any other in my life.

I called to my husband, and showed him what I had in my hand. The little bean of a life almost looked back at us as I held it reverentially.

Visible were two tiny eyes, small nubs for hands, and the core of a body in the making.

I did not know if the young woman in our shared recovery room had the same moment at home with her own little lima bean, experiencing a life almost palpable and fascinating.

Then, with each sobbing from her, however, I said a silent prayer that she, someday soon, would conceive and carry full-term a beautiful baby, to bypass the sadness and grief which so deeply broke her heart that day.

For me, two miscarriages later, seven years between baby number four and baby number five, I did birth a third son at The Birth Center.

Prior, due to my age, it was strongly recommended that I should schedule an amniocentesis. I dragged my feet in doing so, but did undergo the procedure with Nancy Roberts, a top doc at Lankenau Hospital.

In my mind and spirit at that late date, I had decided, whatever the results, that I would carry the baby to term, and not schedule an abortion in the face of some irreversible defect.

Well, as it turned out, the amnio fluid was contaminated in the lab, with no results at all. So I turned to prayer and good vibrations.

On November 20, 1989, at The Birth Center, I did give birth to a healthy baby, weighing close to nine pounds.

Then resting quietly after delivery, the thought of the sobbing woman came back to me.

In the medical world, a miscarriage is named a natural abortion. I do not like the term. Indeed, there is a reason that the fetus dies, albeit not always knowable to the parents and doctors.

On this Father’s Day, we can sympathize with the women and their partners who suffer through miscarriages, but we can also celebrate the persistence of life, and love, and the gift of children.

In “Fatherly Advice,” Maya Angelou explores the deep relationship between a father and his child, reflecting on the wisdom imparted by her own father and the enduring impact it had on her life.

This sweet poem captures the lasting influence of a father’s guidance and the profound bond forged through love and wisdom.

Angelou here highlights the enduring and irreplaceable impact of a father’s lessons, reminding us that their words and support continue to shape our lives even after they are gone.

“When I was young,

You held my hand,

Whispering advice,

Like a gentle breeze.

You taught me love,

With every word,

Your voice a melody,

I’ll always remember.

You taught me strength,

Through life’s trials,

A rock by my side,

Never faltering.

Your love, a shield,

Protecting my heart,

Guiding my steps,

Through life’s maze.

Father, your advice,

Still echoes in my soul,

For even in death,

Your words will live on.”

Mary Brown, a weekly columnist for Main Line Media News, teaches Latin at Saint Joseph’s University.

June also hosts another significant tradition in both Black and American history. Three years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which officially outlawed slavery in Texas and other states in rebellion against the Union, many Black people, especially in the deep South, remained enslaved. Many plantation owners refused to inform and free their slaves until June 19, 1865. On that day, General Gordon Granger, accompanied by the Union Army, marched into Galveston, Texas, one of the last southern strongholds, and officially freed most of the enslaved Black people in the Confederacy. It’s important to note that slavery remained legal and practiced in two Union border states, Delaware and Kentucky, until later that year when the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment abolished chattel slavery nationwide in December.

This event gave birth to Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day, and Emancipation Day. Juneteenth is a holiday celebrating the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States. Originating in Galveston, Texas, it is now celebrated annually on June 19th throughout the United States, with varying levels of official recognition. It commemorates the announcement of freedom from slavery in Texas by Union Army General Gordon Granger on June 19, 1865.

The Ambler Branch of the NAACP is proud to share these two significant and important pieces of Black history. As the African proverb says, “Until the lion learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter.”

Shaykh Anwar Muhammad

President, Ambler Branch NAACP

The Allied forces were able to gain a toehold in France that ultimately enabled them to liberate that country and march toward Germany. Doing so required the greatest armada ever assembled — nearly 7,000 ships and boats, supported by more than 11,000 planes — carrying almost 133,000 troops across the English Channel to establish toeholds on five beaches stretching across 50 miles of the Normandy coast on June 6, 1944. The beaches were defended by around 50,000 German troops.

The operation included actions inland, including overnight parachute landings on strategic German sites and U.S. Army Rangers scaling cliffs to take out German gun positions.

The victory came at a terrible cost. More than 9,000 Allied troops were killed or wounded just in the first 24 hours of the invasion. The first Allied forces to invade charged into a hail of bullets, knowing they were not likely to survive.

In the ensuing Battle of Normandy, 73,000 Allied forces were killed and 153,000 wounded. Around 20,000 French civilians died as well.

Keeping all that in mind, the D-Day anniversary always is a bittersweet occasion.

That’s more true than usual this year. As veterans of D-Day gather in Normandy once again, their numbers are down to a precious few. Veterans of the invasion are now centenarians or close to it. The exact number of surviving D-Day veterans is unknown, but the U.S. Veterans Administration says less than 1% of the 16.4 million Americans who served in the war were still living at the end of 2023, and 131 are dying every day.

“The actuarial tables tell us that pretty soon there won’t be a generation,” Rob Citino, a senior historian at The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, told The Associated Press. “And I think this 80th is the last round year in which we will actually be able to celebrate in the presence, and with the wisdom of, the veteran generation that actually fought the war.”

It’s difficult to fathom the loss of these witnesses to history, including the events leading up the war, the brutal conflict itself and the Holocaust inflicted by Nazi Germany on Jews and others.

We are thankful that the survivors are continuing their efforts to share their stories. We have learned through painful experience that people forget all too easily. It’s imperative that we listen to these individuals, remember their stories and pass them on to generations born long after World War II concluded.

The Associated Press spoke to some of the men who returned to Normandy for this year’s anniversary.

Floyd Blair, 103, a pilot in the Army Air Corps, flew in two support missions across Omaha Beach as the invasion began.

“I saw one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen,” he recalled. “The color of the water changed. Those poor guys on the ground deserve all the credit they can get. The paratroopers, the armored forces, the ground troops. They are the ones.”

Veteran Bob Gibson, 100, landed on Utah Beach in the second wave.

“Some of the young fellows never ever made it to the beach,” he recalled. “It was so bad that we had to run over (them) to get on the beach. That’s how bad it was.”

Les Underwood, 98, a Royal Navy gunner on a British merchant ship that was delivering ammunition to the beaches, saw soldiers drown under the weight of their equipment after leaving their landing craft. “I’ve cried many a time … sat on my own,” Underwood said.

These recollections are priceless. Even the most realistic Hollywood depiction of what happened that day pales in comparison to the memories the veterans carry with them.

We take great comfort in knowing that the tremendous sacrifices made that day were not in vain. Less than a year later, Germany surrendered and the war in Europe was over.

British Army veteran Ken Hay, 98, visits schools to make sure the experiences of those who fought and died to end the Nazi grip on Europe live forever.

“We (veterans) are a tangible interpretation of what they read in the books, what they’ve heard from their parents, what their parents remember their grandparents saying.” Hay told the AP.

We salute those who fought for freedom 80 years ago, on the D-Day anniversary and every day.

And these are my Latin students who just finished up AY23-24.

First, a brief explanation of my grading set-up. I use what I call micro grades, especially because my Latin 101-102 students tend to be majoring in something other than languages.

In fact, year-to-year, the majority of my students are enrolled in the SJU Erivan K. Haub School of Business or in the life sciences.

So, “micro grades” refers to approximately thirty grades earned throughout the 16 week semester, not just three grades pretty typical these days.

The clear-cut advantage for these Latin students is that no one grade can have an unduly dramatic effect on their overall grade.

This system also promotes “preparedness and engagement” since any given assignment can be due in any of five categories, tests, quizzes, class participation, assignments and projects.

The “variety is the spice of life” thesis at work here, and the students love it.

This also means that it is tough to miss a class because we are so ACTIVE, but we work out arrangements for missed classes through Canvas, email, and texting.

A key concept in my grading is customizing. This means, for example, that an assignment is geared to each student’s unique work, but sharing a basic prompt and doing comparative analysis.

When we are studying verbs, let’s say Conjugation I, each student combs through the lexicon, selects a verb,  and enters his or her verb in a table in our Google doc, “first come, first serve” to avoid duplications, and excluding the textbook paradigms.

This way, everyone is responding to the prompt to construct a verb synopsis, but each one is different.

Oh, I should add that my classes, once the students enter, are “no devices, except for agreed upon quick research” and this also means that my students actually meet each other and form friendships.

Plus, we do daily work in teams of two or more to introduce friendly competition and tap into the entrepreneurial spirit.

Names? This happens the first day of class, along with the Roman date system.

One of my best ideas in fifty years of teaching is the Persona Project. YOU, on the first day of class, will research an ancient Mediterranean “person” to be in our Latin class.

Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Augustus, Livia, Darius, Solomon, Aspasia, Hypatia, Marcus Antonius, Vercingetorix, Roxana, Xerxes, Cicero, Philip of Macedon, Traianus, Sulpicia, Hatshepsut, there are simply thousands of choices, almost unlimited.

Day 1, I can teach the Vocative Case for direct address, and preview the five declensions of nouns.

For reinforcement, we build a timeline to display in the classroom, showing the images and lifetime eras arranged in chronological order so students viscerally understand and use the terms Before Christ (B.C.), Before the Common Era (B.C.E.), Anno Domini (A.D.), and Common Era (C.E.).

The Persona Project is amazing, so instrumental in building a sense of community within the classroom, and it is a special moment when the students organically address each other by Persona names.

You will laugh . . . last night at Narberth Summer Basketball, I bumped into Trajan, the Roman Emperor.

Actually, it was Matt Quigley who “assistant coaches” the team Donohue Funeral Home, but who also is my former SJU Latin student recently back from a semester in Florence, Italy with Marcus Antonius, aka Robbie Dowd.

Another application of the Persona Project interfacing with Canvas, Google sign-ups, micro grades, and customizing is administering our 12-page, 200 points final exam over a ten day period.

Students absolutely love this concept and practice.

So, here is an example. Our excellent and malleable textbook is Wheelock’s Latin, 7th Edition. I had used this text for the first time while teaching at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy.

One of the beautiful components of Wheelock is his inclusion of original Latin aphorisms early on. If there are twenty students in a class, then each student can get his or her own “sententia antiqua.”

For one of our final exam sections, the students each picked their favorite “sententia,” translated without the aid of AI (I can tell when AI generates a translation), and wrote a 250-word minimum essay response.

These responses are unbelievably unique, delightful, inspiring, and a critical tonic for all of the negatives on other campuses about which anyone has read this past semester.

Let me share, having gained the students’permission, several excerpts from their handwritten responses.

In response to a Latin aphorism from Persius,“Vive memor mortis; fugit hora. Live mindful of death; the hour flees, escapes.”

My student Publius Ovidius Naso states,“To me, this aphorism explains the importance of understanding the value of time.

“Time can escape you quickly, so you should not wait until the end of your time to start truly living.

“To me, this sense of truly living encompasses loving, being vulnerable, taking chances, putting yourself out there, being appreciative, learning, trying new things, saying how you feel, doing what you love, and so much more.

“It is in the small things, the way one lives day-to-day.

“One reaction I have to this is the consequence of phone addiction. People spend hours every day scrolling on their phones.

“People walk on campus, looking down on their phones. This aphorism calls us to look up, to be aware that every second we have on this earth is precious.”

Based on Publilius Syrus and the aphorism “Pecunia avarum irritat, non satiat. Money excites the greedy man, it does not satiate him.”

My student Diogenes tells us, “To me this sentence is important as I believe many forget that in feeding greed, you will only help it to grow.

“In my opinion, this is especially relevant today as time and time again we see those with wealth and power grow greedier and attempt to take more as they go on creating a sort of never ending cycle.

“A perfect example of this is the harvesting of the Amazon Rainforest. Just as few decades age, we were harvesting tens of thousands of acres a day. Since then, this number has grown to two hundred thousand acres a day as the greed of those involved only grows.”

Next, Seneca’s “Ex meis erroribus hominibus rectum iter demonstrare possum. From my errors I am able to show, point out, the right way to men, people.”

From Sappho, “This aphorism means that from our mistakes we can prevent others from making the same mistakes we did.

“Sometimes, when people make a mistake or error, they may be reluctant to share what they learned with others.

“This may be because they are afraid of other people knowing that they did something wrong or because they want others to learn the same way they did.

“However, when people understand that everyone makes mistakes and that making an error does not mean you are terrible at something, that is when people can, in turn, help others.

“This action not only shows that we are human but it also shows a person’s compassion for their peers and selflessness.

“This aphorism reminds me of something YouTube philanthropist MrBeast said, that it would be better to share what works and what doesn’t work so friends can learn and grow together.

“This sentiment relates directly to what Seneca says, once we commit an error, it is best to tell others of this error to prevent them from committing it. If this was done in modern society, we could all benefit from it.”

Extrapolation is always a gamble but I will place my bet on the success of these students in making the world a better place.

And, yes, the kids are all right, at least on Hawk Hill.

Mary Brown teaches Latin at Saint Joseph’s University and is a weekly columnist and feature writer for Main Line Media News.

While Ronald Regan’s proclamation — at his own inauguration — that “government is the problem” set us on a slow march towards a day like January 6th, it was not that long ago that violence at the seat of our government seemed like the kind of thing that happened in Boris Yeltsin’s Russia, not here.

Then it happened here, on Trump’s watch. As president, it was very much his problem, and like most of his problems, it was totally self-made.

As November approaches, I just can’t see how anyone would like to go back to the days when every single dawn brought newspaper, television, and internet news outlets set fire by some new, outrageous development. Have we forgotten how tiring and grating it was to have the airwaves cluttered with the buzzsaw-like noise of the agitated left clashing with the reflexively defensive right every single day?

From his second day in office, when he lied to the CIA about how much larger his inauguration crowd was than Obama’s (to be clear: Trump’s was considerably smaller), then the Muslim travel ban, then Trump had to fire Michael Flynn, then Trump divulged classified information to Russia’s Foreign Minister in the Oval Office. That was just the first few months.

It was just exhausting.

It cannot be suggested that the ends justified the means. Trump’s accomplishments were few and unpopular. Most notably: a tax cut that a rapidly diminishing minority supported as it became increasingly obvious that it mostly benefits the rich at the expense of a massive increase in the federal deficit. Second place goes to the installation of three Supreme Court Justices whose vision of America is one with fewer rights, as demonstrated by the use of their new majority to issue an incredibly unpopular decision revoking a long-standing American right.

Say what you will about President Biden, he has one quality that I love in a president: He’s boring.

What? He fell asleep at a climate summit? Who among has not attended a meeting so dull it made our eyelids droopy? What, he confused some words? I can’t tell you how many times I have called one of my kids by another one of my kids’ names (or even the dog’s name) or how many times I arrive in the basement or the kitchen or the garage only to realize that I forgot why I set out for that destination in the first place. If you think it’s because I’m old, you should see how regularly my teenagers forget what they are doing halfway through a task.

But more to the point, sometimes I go days without hearing a news story about Biden.

It’s bliss.

Meanwhile, inflation (which was a global problem) is coming back under control, wage inequality is decreasing, infrastructure bills have been passed, a gun safety bill that enjoyed 76% of American voters’ support was signed into law, and if you think Biden is cramming environmental regulations down your throat and driving up fuel prices, did you know that the US is producing more oil now than ever before? Even more than when Trump was president?

I am not going to tell you that it is all sunshine and roses. For example: the border remains a mess (although the GOP’s decision to vote against the measures they negotiated to address the border makes it clear that they are about as serious about the border as they were about the deficit, which is to say, not at all serious).

In spite of the imperfect job Biden is doing, he has made tremendous progress on issues the majority of Americans support, and without the daily grinding down of our souls. I’ll take four more years of the sleepy guy over four more years of a president actively trying to divide us.

Will Wood is a small business owner, veteran, and half-decent runner. He lives, works, and writes in West Chester.