December can be a very melancholy and emotional month for a lot of people - especially those of us “rounding third.”

Fond memories of Christmas past are filtered in with lonelier times and lost friends as we age. We start looking back on the past year and realizing how things have changed for us.

Recently, I was wrapping up the paperwork for the Veterans Day golf tournament we run at Rome Country Club. It was a good year for cash and food donations - our best ever, and I was a little somber and thinking about my dad. I think I’ve mentioned him before - a few times. He was my mentor and hero.

Every boy needs one - a good one.

He passed when I was 22, just out of college. He was a hard taskmaster and pats on the back were few. You CAN do better.

I was sitting there wondering what he would have thought of the life I’ve led - bumps and all. I don’t like getting maudlin, so I shook it off and went to the post office.

There were three letters, two bills and a personal letter from a dear friend down south. When I opened it, I was stunned at the donation inside and appreciation for my work with “the O,” the paper I write monthly for people from Oriskany.

What stunned me most was the last paragraph of his letter, in which this 90-plus-year-old man said, “Also, take note of the fact that I have it from a very reliable source that Johnny Fay is particularly well pleased and very proud ... just so you know.”

I kept reading it and wondering, “I was just thinking of that and he …?”

There is more than what meets the eye to this world. The timing was perfect. Coincidence? That’s what the literalists and atheists say. I don’t know. What do you think?

Had to write a poem for this topic because I hadn’t anticipated this. It’s called: “Coincidence.”

Mighty is the man who thinks he can interpret all,

For I can only think his heart and mind are full of … gall.

Things happen that we can’t explain; this world is full of doubt.

‘Tis better to accept and go than try to figure it out.

The mind is such a muddled place, too hard to understand,

And more than often, where it goes is not where you had planned.

Coincidence is such a thing; it leaves us all confused.

We sit and watch it happen, as if we are bemused.

Now, many say there’s no such thing; ‘pon all can be shed light,

The more I see and more I live - I’m not sure they are right.

The kids all live by Google; the answer’s always there,

But things have happened in my life that I would never share.

I’m sure it’s happened to us all; some things we can’t explain.

That voice that’s deep inside you, not coming from your brain.

That sense that comes from deep within; more ESP that reason,

That thing about to happen—and sometimes it’s not treason.

A sound or voice that comes to you; you know not where it’s from,

But what it tells you isn’t wrong; a thought that leaves you numb.

So, don’t just smugly look at me and say the answer’s there.

It may be out there some place, but you can’t tell me where.

“There are more things, Horatio,” … than science can reveal,

So, put your science book aside, and go with what you feel. JDF 11/22

Joke:

Beryl and Gladys were talking about the poor state of Beryl’s marriage, and Gladys said, “If things are THAT bad, then you should leave your husband.” Beryl thought for a moment and answered, “Well, you know I would - if I could only do it in a way that wouldn’t make him happy!”

Historical tidbit:

In the early 1900s, this article appeared locally with the headline, “Boonville Wreck: Seems the Work of a Woman Without Experience.”

The story - in my words: Six people were killed when an inexperienced telegraph operator sent, “No. 55 will wait in Boonville until 5:55 for No. 90.” It should have read: “until 5:15.”

Result: The two trains met head on at a curve. The rest of the article gives great detail of the heroism of the engineers - who were among the dead.

Well, better stop before I get cut. See ya! JDF