As I waited, I thought about Christmas seasons past. I bet most can remember your grade-school class singing Christmas carols and no one thought that it was unconstitutional. Back then the USA was a predominantly Christian nation. We overlooked the Jewish faith and probably did not know anything about atheism or the other major dominant religions observed around the world.

That is not the case today. While I feel comfortable with my Christian upbringing to wish each of you a Merry Christmas, I am attuned to the fact that it is politically incorrect. To any of you who practice another religion, I wish you the best of this holiday season and that the longing for peace and brotherhood is part of your wish also. In the greater sense, I wish that all of you do have some faith to practice and believe in, whether Islam, Hindu, Shinto, Buddhism, Jewish, or other.

Nostalgia:
Driving my errand, I listened to some of the soundtrack of American Graffiti. What a fun movie that was. I had forgotten many of the early rock and roll songs that were on that sound track and how many I could hum along with. When we were still at Jeff, rock and roll was just coming on the scene. I don’t know if we, our class, and San Antonio was behind the times, but at the school dances, the bands played mostly slow ballads made popular by singers like Patti Page, Jo Stafford, Perry Como, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Kay Starr, Teresa Brewer, and bands like Percy Faith, Hugo Winterhalter, and so on.

When I arrived at UT as a wet-behind-the-ears freshman, the buzz was all about rock and roll, sung by the likes of Little Richard, Buddy Holly, and the Big Bopper, to name a few. This was about ten years before The Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan. I recall seeing Black Board Jungle during final exams week when I should have been studying and hearing Rock Around the Clock. I recommend that you get your hands on the sound track of American Graffiti (or crank up the movie on Netflix) and enjoy all the old songs you have forgotten, like Chantilly Lace, That’ll Be the Day, Love Potion Number Nine, and about forty more.

Resolutions? If any of you are making any, hit comment and tell me what they are. It could be interesting.

That said, I am signing off, probably for the year. We will be in Frisco with our son and family for a few of the holidays. All of you drive carefully, watch your step out if it is icy or slippery, and take care. We have lost too many of our class to lose another from recklessness or rambunctioness. My spell checker does not like that word and does not offer a correct spelling, but you know what I mean. Maybe Professor Priscilla Tate can offer a correction.