Today I drove my wife to San Francisco International (SFO) Airport to catch a flight to Manchester so she can be with her family (in Liverpool). Hil flew back earlier in the year to spend time with her mum before her passing. Her mum’s health has been poorly for some time and has recently taken a turn for the worse. She has just been released from hospital to hospice care. It is a time of mixed emotion for us as while we will miss her mum, she will be joining her husband (George) who has been waiting on her some 20 years now. I guess “Papa’s” calling her home is finally getting too much for “Nana” to ignore.
Here is a photo of Hil’s mum and dad (“Nana & Papa” to our kids) in happier times:
This is a book I’ve been carrying around for decades and just never got around to reading. Back in the 1980’s, my wife and I used to watch Buscaglia’s lectures on Public Television (KQED) during “pledge week”, and this book (my copy) is marked as being from KQED and “Not For Sale”. Which is okay, because I’m probably not going to sell it. It has too many quotes for me to use as future posts on my blog (LoL).
The book is sub-titled: “The Challenge of Human Relationships” and that’s pretty much what the book is all about. It seems as part of his academic work researching “successful” relationships, Dr. Buscaglia sent out a survey to 1,000 folks and received back an over 60% response rate. Dr. Leo analyzed the responses and this book is his summary of what the respondents opinions were of why relationships succeed (and fail). The book has ten chapters: an intro / definition of a “loving relationship”, three ending chapters – kind of a two-headed summary of the book, a chapter quoting some of the advise from the survey / questionnaire, and it has six chapters dealing with (what the Dr. believes) are the key components of a successful, long-term relationship. The components are: Communication, Honesty, Forgiveness, Joy, Letting go of jealousy, and Intimacy. The chapter with the advise quotes is really just filler to get the book up to the 200 page minimum for this type of relationship / self-help book. (IMHO)
So, is the book interesting and any good? Yes and yes. The Doctor is a terrific public speaker and the book completely mimics his style. There are absolutely no “airs” about him or his family / up-bringing and this makes for a true family history story-telling. At just 208 pages (including notes and bibliography / further reading), the book will be a fast read for most. The book took me a couple of weeks to get through, because I was using it as a prompt to my imagination of future conversations I could have with my wife. I started the book while she was away visiting her family in Liverpool this month. Even a slow reader (like myself) could get through this book in three days of a couple of hours each day. The author’s conversational style of writing makes for a pleasant break in an otherwise hectic / “normal” day. I found myself intentionally pacing myself so I could enjoy the book longer. Reading it was like catching up with an old friend you haven’t seen in awhile and wanting to stay just a few minutes longer.
Final recommendation: Very Highly Recommended! I have actually gone online to try to find a copy of the survey Dr. Buscaglia sent out, but have not located it. I am tempted to re-create a portion of the survey to post on this blog to see what results I might get. Given I have so few followers, it might be possible for me to offer up the results “raw” and / or if I did happen to get sufficient responses, I might analyze them and compare / contrast the results with those from the book. It just sounds like it might be an interesting project for the future…
There is a saying in the martial arts that when a student is ready a master will appear. I guess the time was ripe for me to finally read this book. Again, if you can’t afford to buy Dr. Buscaglia’s books, several of his lectures are available online (on YouTube). I highly recommend those, too!
You will, of course, see multiple quotes from this book appearing in the future.
I grew up with divorced parents, back in the day when 90% of marriages / parents stayed together. My mom raised my sister, brother and me all on her own. It was difficult. We were a handful. I appreciate it more every year (particularly now that my own three are full grown). The song / video below is about a dad who looks after his son. When I hear it, though, I hear a song about a parent / provider who looks after his (or her) children. Happy 92nd Birthday, mom. Thanks for being my role model.
If you’re planning for one year, grow rice. If you’re planning for 20 years, grow trees. If you’re planning for centuries, grow leaders. If you’re planning for eternity, go to confession.
— Australian proverb
[One year ago, I had my heart stopped and re-started. The procedure is called: “electrical cardioversion”. Basically, the doctors zap you with electricity to “re-set” your heart rhythm from AFib to normal. I’m still here a year later and Thanksgiving is coming up. …One more year to be thankful for. So far, good to go! I’m hoping to plant a few trees this year. — KMAB]
As happy as I am with the Democrats re-taking the House of Representatives in yesterday’s mid-term elections… The “real” election I was on the edge of MY chair for was my daughter running for her first elected office – to be a member of the Contra Costa Community College Board… And, with 100% of the precincts reporting, the results are in (drum roll please)…..
Victory!! 59.39% of the vote!
County election data breakdown of votes
Congratulations to the “Honorable” Miss Rebecca Barrett!! (Needless to say, her mum and I were especially happy and proud parents last night.)
LOL!!! Isn’t it amazing how they go from being introduced as your kids, to you being introduced as their parents.
