October 29th, 2010 by Regina Brett

The sports page continues to surprise me. Just when I expect to read  nothing but stories about overpaid athletes, Terry Pluto throws me a curve ball.

 

Today he wrote about his mother. He called her a Hall of Famer. She majored in unconditional love. She taught people to love, of all things, bowling.

 

You gotta appreciate a mom who knows the value of a strike, and gives out A's in bowling class so you don't lose the love of the game.

 

October 28th, 2010 by Regina Brett

The Cavs won their first game without LeBron James.

 

The Cavs beat the Celtics 95-87. The Celtics!  Yahoooooooooo!!!!!

 

Maybe we really can win the whole shebang without James. Wouldn't that be something to see the Cavs win it all? Ya gotta love the underdog, and we in Cleveland are barking louder than ever for our Cavs. 

 

The team is off to a great start. And LeBron?

 

The Miami Heat dream team LOST  to the Celtics on Tuesday in LeBron's big debut game.

Final score: Celtics 88 Miami 80

 

Go Cleveland!

Go Cavs!

 

 

October 24th, 2010 by Regina Brett

My little grandson got to see his aunt Sheila get married yesterday.

 

He's just over a year and a half so this was his first wedding ever. When his parents wanted to get him to try on his tux, they tried to sound all excited. He thought they said, "Trucks" and got excited until he found out it was a boring article of clothing.

 

Turns out the tux they borrowed was too big, so I found a 2T black suit at J.C. Penneys. I had to hem the sleeves and pant legs, taking up about four inches. I found him a white dress shirt, black Buster Brown dress shoes and black and gold argyle socks. I bought two iron-on patches to sew inside the jacket, one of a fire truck and one of a dump truck, so he could flip the suit jacket open to see his trucks.


He couldn't wait to put it on when he saw the "trucks" on his "tux." He looked like a miniature GQ model. He had a ball at the reception. He had even more fun once he could ditch the "tux" for his dinosaur fleece pajamas and run around the dance floor until bedtime.

 

Best part of the deal? He now has a new uncle named Ted, who is like big Teddy Bear, and likes to play with trucks.

 

 

October 20th, 2010 by Regina Brett

Two Vietnam combat vets joined me on "The Regina Brett Show" tonight. It was hard not to cry as they spoke.

 

Tom Saal was a Marine lieutenant in Vietnam. He lasted four whole months before stepping on a land mine. Those four months have haunted him for 40 years. He went to Vietnam at age 21; he returned to visit this month at 65.

 

Joe Caley was an Army scout who worked with a dog sniffing out booby traps and possible ambushes. He was 21 and spent 365 days there until his chopper was shot out of the sky. He's 63 now and still gets jittery when he talks about that year in hell.

 

Tom read a poem on the show about his buddy Jack Ruggles who took his last step on Feb. 28, 1968.

 

"We had known each other for over a year.

Gone through OCS together, trained together,

Slept in the mud together, witnessed our first death together.

Talking on a trail together for five minutes.

"Well, we had best get back to our platoons before they wander off."

Laughter.

"I'll see you when I see you. Be safe. Be careful. Watch where you step."

More laughter, Lieutenants laugher.

That was it. No more. His last words to me.

Minutes later...Land mine...Explosion.

His last words: "Be careful. Watch where you step."

It's ironic that war has no feelings, takes no sides, doesn't care who dies.

My good friend, Jack Ruggles.

Gone in an instant."

 

In another poem called, "If I began" Tom wrote:

 

"If I began to hear, to taste, to smell, to feel

the death of the too, too young Marine lieutenant,

the tears would flow from me like the torrents

of the Spokane River which I sit watching with my daughter, Anna.

She, naively and unknowingly sitting by my side,

and telling me how happy and fulfilled she is

nursing cancer patients at a small community hospital

as an introduction to her new-found life.

And me, determined and refusing to share these intrusive thoughts

which leap in and out of my brain

as does lightning shatter the darkness of a summer storm."

 

 

October 19th, 2010 by Regina Brett

We're talking about the impact of war on a soldier's heart and soul at 7 p.m. Wednesday on "The Regina Brett Show." Tune into WKSU 89.7 FM or listen by podcast after the show.

Edward Tick joins us. He's a psychotherapist and co-director of Soldier's Heart, a non-profit that helps men and women who return home from combat. He co-founded Sanctuary International Friendship Foundation to help people in Vietnam recover from the effects of war.

Shannon French, leader of the Inamori Center for Ethics and Excellence at Case Western Reserve University, will be on the show. She's an expert on military ethics and has written about the use of torture, warrior transitions and moral responsibility.

We hope to talk to a group that takes men who served in Vietnam back to Vietnam to heal their wounds.

We'll also discuss the International Peace & War Summit going on at CWRU in Cleveland all week. Call in during the show at 888-WKSU-897 or email regina@wksu.org

We'd love to hear from you.

October 12th, 2010 by Regina Brett

We survived Brettapalooza.

 

My sibs rented a house on Garver Lake just north of South Bend to enjoy a weekend at Notre Dame.

What a wild time I had with 19 of us packed into one house.

 

My nieces and nephews wore me out. We played Twister, football, ping pong, tag, SPUD and hide and seek.They ran around wearing neon green glow stick necklaces in the dark until we got yelled at for making too much noise. Then we moved indoors and played hide and seek in the dark.

 

Man, I felt like a kid again and have the bruises to prove it. Who says you have to grow up?

 

 

October 8th, 2010 by Regina Brett

I'm heading off to Notre Dame to cheer, cheer for my niece Leah, who is in the marching band.

 

My sibs rented a house on a lake a few miles outside of Southbend, so we're turning it into a family reunion. We're all so proud of Leah. She's made the band all four years she's been at St. Mary's. It's taken a lot of work and perserverance to play and march and practice, to work to earn money for school and to get good grades.

 

She's taught me a lot about going after what you love in life. She grew up in a small town and competed with kids from all over the country to get in that band. She's so humble about it. She never boasts about it, but damn, does she make us all proud.

 

October 6th, 2010 by Regina Brett

Andy Lehman was bullied to death.

 

Every day on the bus, the kids called him "Polar Bear" and refused to let him have a seat. They mocked him for being so smart and so quiet. They teased him for being overweight and wearing glasses.

 

One day, Andy had enough. He called his dad, told him he loved him, then walked out onto the interstate and stepped into the path of a truck. He planned it so well, he even left a note in his car apologizing to the truck driver.

 

Andy's dad, Nicholas, came on "The Regina Brett Show" tonight to share his story. It broke my heart. Kirk Zajac, who was one of the kids who bullied Andy on the bus, also came on the show. Kirk was devastated when he found out Andy took his life.

 

Kirk went to the Lehman's and confessed. Nicholas forgave him. Now they do talks together on suicide prevention and how to stop bullying. 

 

If you want to know more about bullying, tune into WKSU's series on Mean Kids with Vivian Goodman. It'll open your eyes, and maybe your kid's heart.

 

You can also read more about bullying in my column on Thursday.

October 5th, 2010 by Regina Brett

I just returned from a weekend at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Trappist, Kentucky.

 

The silence and solitude attracted me, that, and the writing of Thomas Merton. He is the one person whose words touch me every time.

 

My favorite work of his is an excerpt from "Thoughts In Solitude." They form the prayer that I keep posted in my daily planner:

 

"My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you...."

 

Someone placed two rosaries on the small white simple cross that marks his grave. It looks like all the other white crosses outside of the abbey. Inside the men pray non-stop for the world, chanting ancient psalms that somehow still soothe me, along with Merton's words:

 

"Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with  me, and will never leave me to face my perils alone."

 

 

 

About Regina   Books   Columns   Radio   News & Speaking Events   FAQs   Blog   Press Kit   Connect   Home

© 2011 Regina Brett    Website Design: Substance    Photography: Jerry Mann, James Sullivan