The old man and the sea of change
Note: This column appears in the 11/18 issue of The Glendale Star and the 11/19 issue of the Peoria Times Like many men of his generation, my grandfather held strong—often stubbornly strong—to his worldview. God only knows what he experienced and witnessed during World War II. He wasn’t the type to talk much about it. Post-war America was a much different place than it is today, and all of this helped shape his ideals and opinions. When we were kids, my grandfather was a larger than life presence, sitting on his throne, which doubled as a recliner, watching golf on TV and generally not wanting to be bothered. The underlying threat of my grandmother telling Pop of our misdeeds was enough to redirect us to better behavior, though I’m now certain that the last thing he ever wanted to do was get out of his chair to discipline us. All would have been well should things have proceeded as expected in his world, but life had other plans. It began when his eldest daughter married a Jewish man a...