Monthly Archives: May 2025

Proverbs 31:26-27 is closely tied to Mother’s Day, as it celebrates the wisdom, kindness, and diligence of a good woman, qualities often embodied by mothers.

Verse 26 describes a woman who speaks with wisdom and imparts kindness, reflecting the nurturing and guiding role that mothers fulfill.

Verse 27 emphasizes her care for her household, illustrating a mother’s unwavering commitment to her family’s well-being. This is where my wife would likely insert the idea that a mother’s love for her child(ren) is unconditional.

Proverbs 31, written between 600 and 1000 years before the birth of Christ, shares lessons from the writer’s mother and is traditionally attributed to King Solomon. The words remain just as true today, particularly in verse 27.

This passage highlights a mother’s diligence, responsibility, and care in managing her home and fulfilling her roles as nurturer, provider, protector, and guide.

Consider this: mothers ensure their family’s needs are met, whether through physical care, emotional support, or spiritual guidance.

Even the phrase “does not eat the bread of idleness” is significant, meaning no rest. Mothers are actively engaged in making decisions and fostering a loving environment.

Beyond all this, as if there could be more, mothers often juggle multiple responsibilities: caretaking, teaching, and mentoring, and their influence extends far beyond the home, shaping the values and character of future generations.

The last sentence turned into a paragraph that resonated deeply with me.

I added verse 28 as a special touch, just in case my wife happens to see this. The original image only had the first two verses, but something felt incomplete. Before posting, I took another look and discovered verse 28—unmarked, yet present. It felt like God was working overtime for me. I wanted her to know how much I love her and to wish her a very Happy Mother’s Day!

It’s unfortunate to write something like this every year, but it was a busy time on the phone with parents. My feeling today is that if an attorney needs to be called, there’s some bad parenting going on.

Celebrating Mother’s Day After Divorce

What I write here also applies when Father’s Day rolls around. Both days are a special time for each parent and their children. On Mother’s Day, children express love and appreciation for their mothers. The way it was once celebrated changes after divorce, but the kids’ feelings don’t, aside from the fact that most kids would like to see their parents still together. I learned this as Guardian ad Litem.

Mother’s Day after divorce can cause stress or tension between parents and sometimes other family members. It shouldn’t. It should be a day to show your kids that even though Mom and Dad aren’t together, everyone respects Mom’s role in the family (and Dad’s on Father’s Day).

If divorced, treat Mother’s and Father’s Day as parent-specific holidays. Regardless of the visitation schedule, kids should be able to spend each occasion with the celebrated parent. Likewise, a mom should be able to enjoy a fun, stress-free day spent with her kids. However, come June and Father’s Day, the roles are reversed again.

Suppose, though, the parents do not live close to each other. The drive may not be convenient, but it is a weekend, and something can be arranged. If not, children should be encouraged to call or have a little video chat with their mom. The other parent should work with the kids to come up with gift ideas for Mom, just as Mom should do the same for Dad on Father’s Day if the situation is reversed. I believe an essential key is to keep the kids as actively involved as much as possible.

You may have divorced your spouse, but you didn’t divorce your kids. You may have custody, but this doesn’t mean the other parent is no longer a parent. It’s about working together as parents for the kids’ best interests.

In the past, you had a way of celebrating holidays. Those days are over, so it’s time to develop new ideas and new traditions. And hey, maybe mom and dad can suck it up for a couple of hours and get together with the kids for brunch or dinner. Consider the children’s ages and what message it may send them.

Happy Mother’s Day, and next month, Happy Father’s Day! 

Albert P. Ebacher Papers, Box 1, SHAEF Mission Accomplished Outgoing Message 5-7-45

“The mission of this Allied Force was fulfilled at 0241, local time, May 7, 1945. Eisenhower”

Such a simple yet powerful statement marked the war’s official end in Europe, at least from the military perspective. Eisenhower’s words were remarkably concise, especially given the years of struggle that preceded them. The political and ceremonial end came the next day, May 8, with the second surrender in Berlin.

Despite Eisenhower’s matter-of-fact approach, the world reacted with celebrations, especially in the United Kingdom and the United States. Streets were filled with people rejoicing at the long-awaited victory. There was still work to be done in rebuilding Europe, and a war to be fought and finished in the Pacific.

I love the simplicity. Eisenhower didn’t make it about himself at all. His leadership was characterized by pragmatism rather than personal ambition, which is why his statement was likely understated. The victory belonged to the millions who fought and sacrificed, not to any one individual.

#VEDay #simplicity #Leadership

On this date in 1961, Alan Shepard made history on May 5, 1961, with a 15-minute suborbital flight aboard Freedom 7. Later, he would return to command Apollo 14 in 1971, making him the only one of the original astronauts to land on the Moon.

Unlike the gals doing it earlier this year in their form-fitting blue suits, it was a little different for Shepard. He didn’t have make-up artists getting him ready to prance in front of cameras, entering the capsule. His capsule was so small that the height requirement for astronauts was 5’11” or less just to fit in the cramped space. He had to wait several hours from when he woke up until liftoff. Is that important? In a way, it is.

The flight had been postponed several times. The United States would have launched the first man if not for the delays. In the interim, Russia beat us to it. And it was almost delayed on the day of the launch. Nature called as Shepard sat in Freedom 7, forcing him to empty his bladder into his suit.

Medical sensors attached to it to track the astronaut’s condition in flight were turned off to avoid shorting them out. The urine pooled in the small of his back, where his undergarment absorbed it.

But we learn by trial and error. After Shepard’s flight, the space suit was modified, and by the time of Gus Grissom’s flight two months later, it included a liquid waste collection feature built in.

I learned three funny things researching this, one that made me do a literal LOL. The first was Shepard, who later recalled his wife Louise’s response when he told her that she had her arms around the man who would be the first man in space: “Who let a Russian in here?”

The second was on May 18, 1959, when the seven astronauts gathered at Cape Canaveral to watch their first rocket launch, which was similar to the one that was to carry them into orbit. It spectacularly exploded a few minutes after liftoff, lighting up the night sky. The astronauts were stunned, of course. Shepard turned and said to John Glenn, “Well, I’m glad they got that out of the way.”

My favorite quote was from a book about him, recalling an interview. When reporters asked Shepard what he thought as he sat atop the Redstone rocket, waiting for liftoff, he replied, “The fact that every part of this ship was built by the lowest bidder.”

Every year on this date, I’ve written about the shootings at Kent State University, now 55 years ago. I lived close to KSU, about 20 miles away. I was 17 at the time and have always maintained that I was the first in my school to know about it because I was out riding around, having a couple of smokes.

My uncle and others from our little town were in the National Guard that day. Other young people from home were students at KSU. I still have the jacket my uncle wore that day.

Over the past 15 years on Facebook, I’ve written what amounts to a small book. I had an unusual perspective on what happened—not just because my uncle was there or because I knew students at KSU, but because I worked on the school newspaper and covered the political groups on campus.

Since it was always a topic of discussion, and because of my work on the paper, I had access to people involved and interviewed many of them. After 55 years, what’s left to say?

Some compare this to the Boston Massacre 200 years earlier. The second president of the United States, a nation’s founder, defended the British in court, and all but two were found innocent. The other two were guilty of reduced charges. The defense argument was similar to that of the National Guard.

But there really isn’t a comparison. The first led to the founding of this country. May 4th was indeed a tragedy—death almost always is. Some from my generation feel it led to ending the war in Vietnam. It didn’t. The war dragged on for three more years, followed by an almost Afghanistan-type withdrawal a couple of years later.

I learned a lot from talking to people and recording their stories in print. I never accepted that the Guard was solely at fault. It is also unfair to suggest that the students were at fault. I spent my first year at Ohio State and participated in protests.

Today, we see campus protests; some students do not even know what is being protested. There’s speculation that some are paid, and others are curious and hanging around.

For me, protesting wasn’t so much about calling for an end to the war. I liked to be where things were happening. I should be ashamed to say this, but I liked throwing rocks and busting (my wife hates when I use that word) things. But at the last protest I attended, a Columbus police officer changed my mind. Not in a bad way. They were busting heads with batons and billy clubs. But when it was over, I talked to him. He had a bandaged face from being hit by a brick the night before.

The reality for me was that I wasn’t anti-war. That doesn’t mean I favored war. I find it abhorrent but, at times, necessary.

My last active involvement was five years ago. The 50th anniversary was set to have Jane Fonda as a featured speaker. I, Ohio’s Secretary of State, and others opposed her coming, not because we opposed free speech, but because we felt the event should be about remembrance and healing. But her appearance and the rest of the speakers would open old wounds. And to those who claim she apologized for her actions in North Vietnam, she did not.

For me, it was mostly a writing campaign. Fonda did not speak live on campus, but not because of anything I did. The 2020 pandemic wiped out the ceremony.

There was a virtual program, but I didn’t participate. Based on a personal online debate with the sister of one of the wounded students organizing the program, I know there was no intention of reconciliation. The listed speakers were there to assign blame for the “murders” 50 years earlier.
By the way, the picture is of a bullet hole in a metal sculpture by Taylor Hall, where the shootings occurred and where I had all of my journalism classes.

After over five decades of talking and writing about it, I’m done—forevermore. I could say a lot more, but why? I mentioned fault early on. Governor Jim Rhodes bears responsibility for what happened, in my opinion. I could explain why I believe this, but I won’t. But fault is less important than what happened, and I hope it never happens again.