Dunkin' Donuts

The new Dunkin' Donuts in Natick, Mass was our special stop on the way home to Connecticut from our apartment in Boston. It was 1955 and Lou and I were just married. Today's radio report (August 24, 2008) announced that Dunkin' Donuts is coming to the midwest. My arithmetic tells me that's fifty-three years. Fear of death by atomic bomb is not so powerful as it was then (though perhaps more realistic). The Korean conflict is long over -- finally recognized on Veteran's Day and in the Washington D.C. memorial as the real war it was. Our house with the fall-out shelter inspired by the Cuban Missile Crisis has long belonged to another family. The Vietnam War is over, but the fall-out remains. John F. Kennedy; Martin Luther King; Robert Kennedy, to name only the most frequently cited martyrs, have left their mark on rights for black citizens. Women have made great strides toward equality even though the equal rights amendment didn't make it. We all, men and women, still have a long way to go.

Lou and I, divorced after twenty years, can be grateful for our two healthy children and two healthy grandchildren. Friends remain a strong and powerful source of comfort. Lou's parents have completed their journey, as have mine. My brother and Lou's brother-in-law have moved on. The rest of us are, as my father once said, on our way out, but stretching exit time as long as possible.

The point is, we are all still here, making our small marks on the world. I need to remember that when I look at today's crises. So many years to contemplate and practice forgiveness and justice, and to fall short, 'cause we are human, and to learn from it. At least so far, life for us fortunate ones go on. Each of us can only do a small part toward extending that fortune to others, but we sure do try.

So welcome, Dunkin' Donuts. I guess we are all growing old, hopefully with as much energy as you display in coming here to challenge MacDonald's and Starbuck's, and maybe Caribou Coffee?