On Falling in Love with Queen

Is it possible to fall in love with a band and all its members?  Were we born generations too late?  And in the wrong country?  Another thought - I had just this morning - what would we be willing to pay if we could be transported back in time to Wembley Stadium to join the masses - swaying, singing, clapping, and awestruck by Queen at a historic concert?  It seems that I'm constantly thinking about Queen songs & we play their concert videos almost every day.  Not to mention all the biographical videos I keep watching....

For me, the singular event of the past couple months was going to see the movie Bohemian Rhapsody after Thanksgiving.  I think it changed my life.  We went with Steve, Pam and Taylor - a wonderful six-some.  It was phenomenal, and Rami Malek the lead actor who played Freddie Mercury should get as Oscar for his performance.

To stop for a moment and grieve.....  the world lost Freddie Mercury to the horrendous disease AIDS in 1991.  While it can be managed as a chronic ailment for many people who have it now, it was a death sentence in the 1980's.  And for years it was stigmatized as a disease that "bad" people get i.e., mostly gay men.  So sad, and the potential, unrealized accomplishments of all those who died early is a loss to the world.

So, right now, let's just enjoy a wonderful performance of the song that's currently stuck in head.  Alex, you pulled this one up on YouTube for me a couple weeks ago.



Well, I could almost forget all the other important things you boys have been up to....  But coming back to the current day for a minute, here's the latest:

• Alex, you officially got your Associate's Degree from LCCC in August and then finished your first semester at Misericordia.  It was a success!!  You transitioned to "serious" college-level workload (especially reading) and ended up with a 3.7 GPA.  Fantastic !  After a nice break with Taylor home and some shifts at Gerrity's produce department, now it's on to semester #2.  One great compliment to Misericordia University is that you seem to have excellent, interesting teachers.  Inspiring teachers are one of the gifts that every young person needs (American society does not value thoughtful, motivating teachers for the critical difference they make in our lives).  We celebrated your 22nd birthday at Pizza Perfect & with banana cream pie.  Your favorite Xmas/Bday gift will be the new fly fishing rod that you buy for yourself.  You decided not to go skiing with Taylor this month ....  hmm, I wonder why.  When I asked, you told me you are currently listening to Linkin Park (e.g,. "Numb") and Machine Gun Kelly (e.g., "Bleed it Out").  I checked them out on You Tube and thought they were pretty awful.  In other news, Taylor will graduate from Slippery Rock in May (wow!  already!) and has an internship with a safety consulting firm in the Pittsburgh area coming up this summer.  Great news!
• Rob, you are half way through 10th grade (as we discussed last week, "sophomore" wise fool year).  It is going very well, including Anatomy class which had Alex and me concerned on top of all your Honors classes & French.  And this year you've been an active member of Key Club - in fact, within a few weeks after school started you were elected to its Board.  It was fun coming by to see you working the Key Club stand during football games (and asking at every game what snack you recommend.....  Lol !).  I admire your genuine interest in helping others, which now extends to tutoring elementary school kids at the Institute on Wednesday nights.  Your favorite Christmas gift was a white Fire Emblem 3DS.  And you seemed to mostly enjoy our time at the cabins, particularly since you got to bring the PS4 and play games with Lu, Kyra and her boyfriend Mike.  Unfortunately, you had a bad cold over the holiday break then came down with pneumonia the first week of January (in time to miss 3+ days of school).  Your favorite musicians are currently Bob Dylan (too many to mention) and Credence Clearwater Revival (e.g., "Bad Moon Rising").  They are fine, but I hope I don't ever again have to hear Bob Dylan songs for 4 hrs straight as we did on the way back from Hancock NH last August.

One additional note about Christmas - it was our first one without Tiger, and we do miss him a lot.  Rob, I felt so badly when you told me how much you missed having him with you over the past couple weeks when you were sick.  😢  I made you each Tiger photo albums which you got as Xmas gifts.  I was sad as I worked on them, though grateful for the special childhood pet we'll always hold close to our hearts.  As to our "dos gatos".....  Jean Luc continues to be his agreeable, friendly, portly self - willing to be Rob's  bedtime buddy and pal most nights.  Rambo is still somewhat anxious (he over-grooms, especially his tail), but overall is more social than ever before.

Our 2018 holiday card this year was a photo card with then-and-now pictures of you (enhanced by our resident photographer Steve - thank you!).  To wrap up, here are your 2006 and 2018 photos, sitting on the porch at 14 Hill St.  You are both very handsome and very loved.