For dinner, my dad. He lived truth. “No one will ever believe you again once you lie.” “You are born with one thing only you can lose, your integrity. I have been told the story of the boy who cried wolf so many times. I know it verbatim.
At the beginning of my business career, it did not take me long to learn that so many were not instilled the value of truth.
It is sickening to hear a president lie every time he speaks.
I am so grateful to have parents, aunt, uncles, cousins, a wonderful extended family who love me and each other.
If only I could invite my beloved parents to dinner who passed away when I was 18 for my Mamma and 25 for my Papa’,
I would love to talk about many of the qualities that have faded in humankind since their passing and rejoice at the chance to have conversations with respect, integrity, humor and love!
Wow….. that’s a tough one.. top of the list …. All four of my grandparents…. All from Italy and immigrated at very young ages I assume to escape Musselini’s (sp?) growing influence in Italian politics (1915ish) or the promise of a better job in one of the many textile mills the doted the state at that time… above all, the promise of a better future for their growing families…
As always, thanks for the thought provoking prose…
Hi Ed I would love to have my grandparents the Cimorellis for dinner , the Biafores died before I was born . Would love to hear their experiences coming to America , what they thought of the many advances in technology. Both were born in the late 1870s and lived into the 1970s .The advances they saw in everything from TV , gas engines , aviation, men on the moon , central heating, indoor plumbing and electricity, whew I could go on and on .
Indeed, it would be, Don, but you have to be sure they have integrity and honesty. Not a common trait among office seekers these days. They have been swayed by the example that lying is OK and gets you somewhere.
I would invite curious people. Or maybe someone with deja vu.
That’s a difficult question to answer, Ed! Lot of those good guys are no more.
Besides Yo-Yo Ma, Tom Hanks, Nelson Mandela, Dolly Parton, Bill Gates, Fred Rogers? Jimmy Carter, John McCain?
Please consider Barack and Mechelle Obama to fill in the seats left vacant by President Carter and war hero & ACA- saver John McCain ..
Sincerely,
Sattar Memon
Sattar, I am leaning toward Lincoln #1 and Washington #2. And, of course, my favorite baseball player, Ted Williams.
155534
For dinner, my dad. He lived truth. “No one will ever believe you again once you lie.” “You are born with one thing only you can lose, your integrity. I have been told the story of the boy who cried wolf so many times. I know it verbatim.
At the beginning of my business career, it did not take me long to learn that so many were not instilled the value of truth.
It is sickening to hear a president lie every time he speaks.
I am so grateful to have parents, aunt, uncles, cousins, a wonderful extended family who love me and each other.
Beautiful. I wish I knew your Dad. Mine was the same. Work, honesty, integrity. " Do the right thing, and you never have to worry."
If only I could invite my beloved parents to dinner who passed away when I was 18 for my Mamma and 25 for my Papa’,
I would love to talk about many of the qualities that have faded in humankind since their passing and rejoice at the chance to have conversations with respect, integrity, humor and love!
Thank you Ed for this beautiful reflection.
Yup, you got it, Melina . . . respect, integrity, humor, and love!
I'll add honesty
I have this curious sense of déjà vu …
Wow….. that’s a tough one.. top of the list …. All four of my grandparents…. All from Italy and immigrated at very young ages I assume to escape Musselini’s (sp?) growing influence in Italian politics (1915ish) or the promise of a better job in one of the many textile mills the doted the state at that time… above all, the promise of a better future for their growing families…
As always, thanks for the thought provoking prose…
Excellent! And so too would i.
Hi Ed I would love to have my grandparents the Cimorellis for dinner , the Biafores died before I was born . Would love to hear their experiences coming to America , what they thought of the many advances in technology. Both were born in the late 1870s and lived into the 1970s .The advances they saw in everything from TV , gas engines , aviation, men on the moon , central heating, indoor plumbing and electricity, whew I could go on and on .
Regards Terry Biafore
What a great suggestion, Terry. So too would I love another chance. I knew them well, but not well enough.
A most reasonable way to evaluate office seekers.
Indeed, it would be, Don, but you have to be sure they have integrity and honesty. Not a common trait among office seekers these days. They have been swayed by the example that lying is OK and gets you somewhere.
Ed, if you were in NJ or close by I would invite you to break bread with me and Phyllis…your wife too if she was with you!
Now, Mr. Fern, THAT'S an invitation. 'sa deal
Agreed!!
I would invite a street person to balance all this self righteousness. I bet it would be refreshing. You said you like an honest person.
Yes, Gus, it would be refreshing indeed. Some honesty and integrity would be a welcomed relief.
Abraham Lincoln.
Nothing more needs to be said.
Agree. How about Washington?
If Lincoln had a scheduling conflict, Yes on George.
Ned, a question. If you were to invite a third president, who might it be? I'm leaning toward Truman, but wavering.
Kennedy - so we could ask, “What happened? No one will tell us the truth.”
Agree. But we keep asking
I would invite you and your wife, AND I DO 👩🍳 COOK😋
We love you. Un grande abbraccio.
I would invite my group of elementary school student/friends who still text each other.
2 docs, 2 lawyers, and one business leader in the financial world.
2 New Yorkers,1 Connecticut, I Mass/RI and 1 Mass./NY hybrid.
3 Jews/2 Christians --though one Christian is half white bread and half rye bread.
If only one person......My late chief of medicine Vincent Armenio M. D.....
Wonderful. Star-studded because they belong.
What? Not Micky Mantle?
If sports Tom Seaver
If music Springsteen
If play write Arthur Miller
If author Phillip Roth
If artist Marc Chagall….
A perfecta. Thank you
I want YOU (& your wife) to come for dinner! Problem is I don’t cook anymore!😳
You are kind. Is there such a thing as a virtual dinner?
David McCullough
Oh yeah, for sure. He would have to stay overnight. Include breakfast.