Is It A Cold Or Omicron?

Sometimes you have to enter the halls of the dead and walk among the shadows so that you can try to solve mysteries that ought to have simple answers

Because the answers to your questions are as simple as asking an older relative to tell you a story or two.

Read testimony today on the Yad Vashem database that says the Nazis made two of my teenage aunt and her mother dig their own graves before shooting them.

I haven’t ever heard this story and have multiple questions but also know it is likely true.

Makes me sad and angry.

****

Had a very rough Sunday night for a host of reasons and as I fell asleep demanded that my father, grandfather and great-grandfather meet me in my sleep.

Figured that one or all could provide the missing details, assuming they chose to.

That is a crap shoot because if Dad didn’t think you needed to know something there wasn’t much you could do to get an answer. The past was over.

Grandpa was similar, though I had far more leverage as I was the grandson.

Grandpa said his father called me the general and that he used to laugh watching me play so maybe I would have similar leverage there. I was six when he died, so I have a number of memories but I am no longer certain if I remember his voice.

Messages Keep Getting Clearer

Bruce’s words resonate with me more than ever and I pull out chunks and pieces thinking about application.

Stay on the streets of this town
And they’ll be carving you up all right
They say you gotta stay hungry
Hey, baby, I’m just about starving tonight
I’m dying for some action
I’m sick of sitting ’round here trying to write this book
I need a love reaction
Come on now, baby, gimme just one look

You can’t start a fire
Sitting ’round crying over a broken heart
This gun’s for hire
Even if we’re just dancing in the dark
You can’t start a fire
Worrying about your little world falling apart
This gun’s for hire
Even if we’re just dancing in the dark

Two weeks ago some mystery illness hit me out of nowhere and I began to wonder if it was the cold I catch once or twice a year or Omicron.

Sneezed hard enough I had to confirm my head wasn’t ripped from my shoulders and upon confirmation told my reflection we were going to give it 24 hours.

“You get 24 hours to see what happens and then you take appropriate action.

When I woke up the next morning I felt better and continued to feel significant improvement through the day. I was fine by 5 so I wrote it off as nothing special.

Figured that I had been driving myself so hard in other areas I had worn myself out.

****

The college admissions continue to roll in and the search for the great Wilner fortune continues on.

There is a 17-year-old girl who has big plans and is far more driven about her grades and academics than I was.

Couldn’t be more proud of her but try not to talk to her about the grades because you won’t convince me they are a useless metric. There is almost zero value in them.

They don’t predict success or offer anything that provides proof of what kind of future you have ahead of you.

That stuff is a mix of luck and a lot of hard work. When she pushes me a bit I concede they might make aspects of life easier but I have real questions about that though I don’t voice them.

No purpose in arguing about it and nothing wrong with her pushing herself. I have never argued against that, I don’t want her feeling bad if things fall short of where she would prefer them to be.

Maybe I ought to sing Across The Universe to her? 😉

Plant Your Feet

Didn’t tell the younger Mr. Wilner that I wondered if I could still tear a door off of its hinges and that my concern was on his behalf.

These things are far less interesting when you have to pay for the repair and replacement.

Did make me consider whether I could do the work myself and if I had the right tools.

Was kind of fun to wonder if I can still do it and to think about adding to the tool chest but spending money on tools I don’t have to have right now is probably not a good idea.

Probably not a good idea even without having to pay for college but there is merit in thinking about the steps that would be required to provide a solution for my own handiwork.

Anyhoo, the younger Mr. Wilner walked barefoot across the hot coals and confirmed he is made of sterner stuff.

The way in which he learned it is not the best or suggested way to gain that sort of confidence but when mining for gold takes more effort than plucking apples from trees.

I hear him walking down the stairs and smile, it is only us and the dog.

We eat breakfast together. I tell him about how my first real cup of coffee was a Turkish brew made by my great-uncle in Israel.

“I was 16. I loved it. No surprise really, coffee is big in the family.”

He isn’t particularly interested. I tell him if it wasn’t a work day I might grab some whiskey and add it, but probably not.

“Why not?”

“Got things to do and I have been pretty good about not drinking…much.”

“Your liver?”

“Yeah, but that is not what is going to kill me. The Malach HaMavet and I have an appointment. I am going to punch him in the throat and kick him in the knees. If he can take that then he can take me. I’ll be ready then.”

He gives me a half smile and I lay a quote from Game of Thrones on him.

“What do we say to the God of Death? Not today.”

We finish our meal in silence and as I walk back to my office I smile and tell him to “plant his feet. You’re on your way.”