TERRE HAUTE —
The family assembled as usual for the Thanksgiving feeding frenzy. We were missing our granddaughter who is studying in Ireland this semester, so we plugged in the computer and took turns sending her messages about how all her favorite foods were consumed as a tribute to her.
I was, of course, giving thanks for the whole day. In addition to the customary thanks for family and friends, good health and freedom — all four of those so memorably pictured by Norman Rockwell — I number other blessings.
I am thankful and boundlessly grateful to people I don’t even know who have made it possible to retain forever the sights and sounds as history unfolds. Some of my favorites are already history.
How sad it would be if the voice of Frank Sinatra was only a memory. I can call it up with the touch of a switch on the CD. Maybe I should be thinking iPod?
Somewhere stored in archives are the voices and faces of Jack Benny and Fred Allen, of Nat King Cole and Louis Armstrong and Jimmy Durante. Just the memory is good for a laugh and how wonderful it is that they exist and maybe the iPod generation can actually call them up.
I appreciate this addition to history, but the thought of those voices and faces which are lost forever make me doubly thankful for what we have. What wouldn’t I give — not to mention what scholars would give — to see William Shakespeare on stage. How amazing if we could hear his voice and know with absolute certainty what he looked like.
We don’t know what Cleopatra looked like either, and wouldn’t it be nice to have a video of Julius Caesar setting foot over the Rubicon or to hear his voice and the roar of his army as he led them into battle?
I would give almost anything to be able to see and hear Queen Elizabeth I as she addressed her troops prior to the arrival of the Spanish Armada. The words have been preserved, but I want the delivery.
Maybe all those sights and sounds are drifting around out there in the air. Maybe someday a genius will put together bits and bobs of technology and retrieve them for us. But, I am thankful that we have what we have. We are so lucky.
Liz Ciancone is a retired
Tribune-Star reporter. Send e-mail to opinion@tribstar.com.
Liz Ciancone
MS. TAKES: Thankful for the voices we have
- Liz Ciancone
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LIZ CIANCONE: Friskey no doubt was in favor of gun control
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I saw a robin the other morning. It was not the first robin of spring, of course. A few of the more daring robins had opted to spend the winter and, although they looked pretty sorry about it on a few occasions, it was a fairly mild winter.
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LIZ CIANCONE: The mystery of the small animal mascot
I hope you won’t think I’m picking on small animals, but I’ve been thinking about Easter and the Easter bunny.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Rising up to defend the poor groundhog
I read in the newspaper the other morning that Punxsatawney Phil is being hauled into court and charged with falsely predicting an early spring. I am volunteering my services as counsel for the defense.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Keeping eye out for signs of spring
The problem with expecting a groundhog to predict the arrival of spring is that there are groundhogs scattered all over the country. The Pennsylvania groundhog may not see the same kind of weather as the groundhog out here in Dobbs Park. In this way, false hopes are roused and the groundhog loses credibility as a meteorologist.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Not every other name smells sweet as a rose
It was either Romeo or Juliet who said, “What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
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LIZ CIANCONE: Innocence appreciated when you’re growing up
I grew up rather stupid. I didn’t realize it at the time. Neither did my teachers who seemed to think I had “promise.”
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I’ve been following plans for celebrating “The Year of the River” with interest. Rivers have played such a role in my life that I’ve celebrated a good many rivers. The Wabash River is merely the most recent example.
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I was asked the other day why I write about dogs I have known, but never about cats. “What’s the matter?” they asked, “Don’t you like cats?”
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LIZ CIANCONE: Sharing the family history
My Grandmother lived with us. Ed and I were eager audiences for her family stories about the Cooks. Mom also shared her memories of growing up with three brothers.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Do we want our privacy or not?
We Americans are a strange bunch. We insist upon our right to privacy, yet we neglect few opportunities to parade our personal business in public.
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I’m told that a pun is the lowest form of humor. I guess that typecasts me! I love them, but then, I like any type of word play.
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LIZ CIANCONE: For now, justice is served in Bball Hall
News this past week brought justice of a sort. The folks who decide these things have declined to pick anyone to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame this year.
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Let me ask you something.
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There has been lots of reporting lately about how long movies are becoming.
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Today is the big day. That makes tomorrow a sort of let down — rather like “What have you done for me lately?”
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LIZ CIANCONE: No thanks to getting mags delivered via the Internet
I am a creature of habit. I like to know what I’m doing and I need to know how to do it. That’s why I am annoyed when corporate America seems determined to drag me, kicking and screaming into the age of Internet.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Everyone has a favorite holiday
I suppose everyone has a favorite holiday. My guess is that, for most of us, that holiday is Christmas. It's a holiday with a miracle no matter how old we get.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Christmas season puts time back into focus
It’s a funny thing about time. It can speed along so that you cannot believe that your kids can possibly be old enough to have good sense, or it can drag its heels while you wait for that first grandchild or while you are saving up for something really special.
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LIZ CIANCONE: The bottom line is what drives ‘Black Friday’ sales
Why is it called "Black Friday"?
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LIZ CIANCONE: Have we lost the meaning of holiday?
I’ve been considering a lost-and-found ad to see if anyone knows what’s happened to Thanksgiving.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Magic is always there with live theater
I’m a pushover for live theater. But movies? Not so much. For me it’s like the difference between canned peas and those picked fresh from the garden. Movies even COME in cans.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Maybe the Cubs will win it all next year
I was relieved to have the World Series ending before the snow flies. Heck, it didn’t even last into November this year.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Holiday decorating better when personal, simple
I fear that I am becoming an old poop!
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LIZ CIANCONE: Surprises from mail worth the extra penny
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- More Liz Ciancone Headlines
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LIZ CIANCONE: Smell of fresh air gave way to dryers




