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Life Events

 44 records found

A Morning Walk Along Collumbus Avenue by Garrison Keillor


(My World   April 18, 2024)
I want to tell the parents on Columbus Avenue, 'Take that kid on a trip alone with you to the Grand Canyon or Greenland or some other stunning spot; the privilege will see that kid through many hard times.'…
Topics: Contemplation, Insight Humor Memories Optimal Aging Relationships


Man Walks Out on Stage as Storm RollsOn Stage as Storm Rolls by Garrison Keillor


(My World   April 11, 2024)
I did my solo stand-up act in Ohio last week and in the midst of a story, the auditorium shook with a blast of thunder. Another roll of thunder. And I started singing, 'How Great Thou Art,' with the line, 'I see the stars, I hear the tolling thunder'...
Topics: Contemplation, Insight Music Nature Optimal Aging


My Plan for Today and April and May by Garrison Keillor


(My World   March 21, 2024)
People love people who have good stories and there is no good story without trouble so get into trouble while you're still young and have time to climb out of the ditch…
Topics: Contemplation, Insight Contentment, Satsifaction Humor Inspiration Memories Optimal Aging


Mature Man Available for Speaking, Easy Terms by Garrison Keillor


(My World   March 14, 2024)
I am one of America's few remaining octogenarian stand-up comics, still able to stand for up to two hours, even three, and in the current comedy crop, I am a classicist…
Topics: Communication Contemplation, Insight Humor Optimal Aging Wisdom


Flaoting Down the Canyon Through the Rapids by Garrison Keillor


(My World   February 29, 2024)
I accept change, even some changes that pain me. In that respect, life is not unlike rafting through fhe Grand Canyon with calm pools between the boiling rapids…
Topics: Change Character, Integrity Choices and Decision Making Contemplation, Insight Contentment, Satsifaction Humor Learning Lifestyle, General Optimal Aging Trends


Look Around, I Get the Drift by Garrison Keillor


(My World   December 14, 2023)
I still feel loved. I tried to feel abandoned so I could be an important poet but it didn't work. LAUGHTER…
Topics: Attitudes Personal Stories (Biography/Autobiography) Contemplation, Insight Humor Writing


Epictetus on Fifth Avenue, a Week Ago by Garrison Keillor


(My World   November 30, 2023)
Epictetus said the way to happiness is to not worry about things beyond your power to control, which includes this taxi ride, totalitarianism, the cost of tickets to 'Tannhäuser,' and other things that begin with T…
Topics: Advice, Guidance & Mentoring Attitudes Coping Humor Optimal Aging Stress Wisdom


Thank Goodness for Minnesota by Garrison Keillor


(My World   November 23, 2023)
To be a leading producer of stupid misshapen birds who panic easily is not a distinction to be craved, but Somebody Has To Do The Work, and so Minnesota produces a billion turkeys a year so that America can feel gratitude…
Topics: Holidays Holiday Season Humor Lifestyle, General Thanks, Thankfulness, Thanksgiving


'Stand Up for Yourself' I Keep Thinking to Myself by Garrison Keillor


(My World   November 16, 2023)
I'm not a newcomer to this world and I have never met a person with such exquisitely fine taste in the coffee realm. Wine, yes. Coffee, no.
Topics: Attitudes Lifestyle, General Relationships


Visitng Home After a Long Time Away by Garrison Keillor


(My World   October 12, 2023)
Flattery is offensive to a Minnesotan. My mother recoiled if someone praised her cooking and I do the same when someone praises a book I wrote…
Topics: Attitudes Beliefs Contemplation, Insight Contentment, Satsifaction Memories Relationships Travel


All I Know is What She Tells Me by Garrison Keillor


(My World   September 28, 2023)
I get the news from my wife, who sits reading the paper across the breakfast table from me and tells me what I need to know, ignoring much of page 1…
Topics: Humor News Politics Relationships Writing


Sing On, Dance On, Good Eye, Ain't You Happy by Garrison Keillor


(My World   September 21, 2023)
I may be the only person in the ballpark who remembers the fall day in 1969 when Rod Carew got on base with a double, took a big lead, stole third, and the fans sat transfixed in silence, knowing he might do it, wishing he'd do it, and then…
Topics: Baseball History Memories Religion Travel


The Gift of Helen Story, Remembered by Garrison Keillor


(My World   September 14, 2023)
Somehow the ridiculous missteps of my life lead to this day in September, the back-to-school month, and in my heart I am still walking into the old high school, anxious to do well in Lyle Bradley's biology and Helen Story's English class…
Topics: Circumstances, Life Events Contemplation, Insight Coping Education Humor Learning Memories Optimal Aging Tribute, Testimony


As I Keep Telling Myself, Life is Good by Garrison Keillor


(My World   September 7, 2023)
It dawns on you, watching this, that what makes a society a civilized society is the existence of rescuers who will put themselves at risk in service to others…
Topics: Character, Integrity Civility Compassion Contentment, Satsifaction Courage Inspiration News Optimal Aging Risk Service


The Lucky Man Hits the Road, My Gosh by Garrison Keillor


(My World   August 10, 2023)
I dread the prospect of retirement, which in so many cases leads to disintegration and dementia. I intend to go on performing until I reach the age of 98, beating my mother by one year…
Topics: Circumstances, Life Events Health Care Optimal Aging Retirement Travel Wellness


Enough About Them, This is About Me by Garrison Keillor


(My World   August 3, 2023)
I turn 81 in a few days and I intend to spend my remaining time looking at beautiful things, starting with my wife, and enjoying music and comedy and theater and the writing of writers who make me happy.…
Topics: Beliefs Personal Stories (Biography/Autobiography) Change Contemplation, Insight Optimal Aging Relationships


The Art of Leaving Home by Garrison Keillor


(My World   July 27, 2023)
The pleasure of moving is the excavation of the past. I open a box and here's a photo of my fifth-grade class, the eager neatly-combed-and-dressed boy with glasses is me. I am still that eager boy, heavier but anxious to do well…
Topics: Change Contemplation, Insight Hopes & Dreams Humor Memories Optimal Aging


Canada is Burning, But We're Doing Okay by Garrison Keillor


(My World   July 13, 2023)
And so I set aside the past and retreat into the present and take pleasure in the morning coffee, the granola with berries, the appearance of She Whom I Love . . . there is serenity to be found and freedom from the vast treasury of available anxiety.
Topics: Change Circumstances, Life Events Contemplation, Insight Contentment, Satsifaction Disaster News


A Lovely Lunch Last Week in New Haven by Garrison Keillor


(My World   June 22, 2023)
At lunch with a pregnant woman, you talk about ordinary life, family, summer, the food, the elation of the kids at the graduation we’d attended that morning and the pride of their parents, and we never set foot in politics at all…
Topics: Circumstances, Life Events Communication Contentment, Satsifaction Optimal Aging Relationships


O Fabulous Day! Callooh! Callay! by Garrison Keillor


(My World   June 1, 2023)
Stupidity has given me sympathy for other knuckleheads and also admiration for the beautiful competence of American medicine, which has extended my life dramatically, making it possible for me to beat myself up for my mistakes and not just take up space.
Topics: Attitudes Circumstances, Life Events Civility Current Events, News Humor News Optimal Aging Politics Relationships


Manhattan Man Living in the Past by Garrison Keillor


(My World   May 25, 2023)
What's on my mind is family history, the seven children of James Keillor and Dora Powell, and in all of Manhattan there's not a single soul who has the slightest interest, nor should there be…
Topics: Circumstances, Life Events Contemplation, Insight Faith Family Memories Optimal Aging


What We Don't Know We Must Invent by Garrison Keillor


(My World   May 18, 2023)
We were a happy family that kept many secrets and how does one pry open those locked doors?…
Topics: Family Humor Memories


The Beauty of Being a Guy by Garrison Keillor


(My World   May 4, 2023)
This week of struggling with the knee brace has changed my life forever. I used to want to be hip and cool and now I just want to be capable. . . . So this week I discovered I can be a guy.…
Topics: Advice, Guidance & Mentoring Attitudes Coping Gratitute Hopes & Dreams Humor Optimal Aging Wellness


A Walk in the Park in April by Garrison Keillor


(My World   April 20, 2023)
It strikes me as sad, walking around Central Park on a paradise spring day, the cherry trees in full blossom . . . so much public happiness, to think of the cloud of bitterness over this generous country…
Topics: Communication Contemplation, Insight Contentment, Satsifaction Gratitute Leisure Nature Politics Seasons Social Issues Social Media Social Movements


The Longer You Live the Better It Gets by Garrison Keillor


(My World   March 23, 2023)
Mortality is what makes the gifts enormous…
Topics: Advice, Guidance & Mentoring Attitudes Gratitute Inspiration Optimal Aging Relationships


The Old Man's Winter Weekend by Garrison Keillor


(My World   March 9, 2023)
Omaha is a well-kept city with a handsome classic downtown and I ate lunch in a downtown café a few tables away from a long table with six middle-aged guys around it and I loved listening to them talk…
Topics: Contemplation, Insight Humor Memories Travel


Even Old People Need to Explore New Realams by Garrison Keillor


(My World   February 10, 2023)
I do not have a single friend who was looking forward to hearing Taylor Swift and who was furious at Ticketmaster for messing up her tour and watched carefully the congressional hearings into the whole Swiftian crisis. Nobody.…
Topics: Attitudes Change Choices and Decision Making Learning Optimal Aging Relationships


The Beauty of a Bitterly Cold Sunday Morning, 8 AM by Garrison Keillor


(My World   February 2, 2023)
The world is a mess but dread gets us nowhere so cheer up and then go do what you were put here to do…
Topics: Attitudes Faith Memories Relationships Religion Wisdom


A Pleasant Night with Nice People in LA by Garrison Keillor


(Connections   January 13, 2023)
People could go hear a lecture on the coming water shortage in the Southwest or come hear me tell you that life is pretty good and could be worse but even if bad things happen there is a great deal of kindness in the world…
Topics: Attitudes Circumstances, Life Events Contentment, Satsifaction Optimal Aging Relationships


A Hike to Times Square and Back by Garrison Keillor


(My World   January 6, 2023)
And then it comes back to me, the memory of Times Square in 1953, I was eleven, on a trip with my father…
Topics: Christmas Family Holidays Holiday Season Love Memories Relationships


Sick in Hotel Room, Thinking Back by Garrison Keillor


(My World   December 8, 2022)
This would've been a good story for the college kids to hear but of course they have no interest in listening to an old man talk about the 20th century. To them, 1964 is next door to 1864 and the Civil War…
Topics: Personal Stories (Biography/Autobiography) History Memories Relationships


A Word to the Wise as Winter Approaches by Garrison Keillor


(My World   October 20, 2022)
Cold weather stimulates the brain because survival is involved and the body wants to survive and when challenged it will do what is necessary, even think clearly…
Topics: Advice, Guidance & Mentoring Attitudes Change Optimal Aging Seasons


October is Coming, Prepare to Be Bold by Garrison Keillor


(My World   September 23, 2022)
October is a month that encourages courage. The languors of summer are finally dispersed and the chill of reality in the air tells you to get to business…
Topics: Choices and Decision Making Circumstances, Life Events Opportunity Seasons


What if It Does and They Don't? by Garrison Keillor


(My World   September 15, 2022)
Thoughts of rising sea levels, politics, and an ode to the pig whose mitral valve saved my life…
Topics: Attitudes Beliefs Change Health Care Nature Politics Science & Technology Social Issues


What Has Been Done for Me Back in Minnesota by Garrison Keillor


(Health & Wellness   September 8, 2022)
Lessons from open-heart surgery: Nursing is the occupation that comes closest to what Jesus told His followers to do —bathing the poor, feeding them, adjusting their pillows, making small talk to reassure them of their humanity…
Topics: Gratitute Health Care Inspiration Optimal Aging Service Tribute, Testimony Work


Into the Tunnel, Thinking in the Dark by Garrison Keillor


(My World   September 2, 2022)
The technician said through a speaker, “How are you doing? Not much longer.” Actually, I wished it could be longer…
Topics: Contemplation, Insight Contentment, Satsifaction Health Care Memories Optimal Aging Wellness


Life Comes in Focus as the Day Approaches by Garrison Keillor


(My World   August 26, 2022)
Open-heart surgery didn’t exist when I was a kid; . . . the fact that they imagine a guy of eighty deserves a battery jump is very inspiring…
Topics: Contemplation, Insight Health Care Hopes & Dreams Opportunity Optimal Aging Science & Technology Wellness


Drama is Life Trying to Get Our Attention by Garrison Keillor


(My World   August 12, 2022)
Carrying anger in your heart is misery in a bottle. . . thoughts on life as an old man prepares for open heart surgery…
Topics: Attitudes Contemplation, Insight Forgive, Forgiveness Health Care Hopes & Dreams Learning Optimal Aging Wellness


A Big Event and Then a Major Accouncement by Garrison Keillor


(My World   August 4, 2022)
I feel I should go to Iowa this week and meet the donor of the heart valve I'm about to get and express my gratitude…
Topics: Gratitute Hopes & Dreams Humor Optimal Aging Wellness


Listen to the Lonesome Whistle Blow, etc. by Garrison Keillor


(My World   July 29, 2022)
I am in the process of packing up and leaving Minnesota where I’ve lived for most of eighty years, because…
Topics: Change Friends & Neighbnors Humor Memories


The Author Disembarks Almost by Garrison Keillor


(My World   July 22, 2022)
Thoughts of summer—and life—triggered by a New York subway mishap…
Topics: Attitudes Change Choices and Decision Making Contemplation, Insight Nature


Just One More Morning of an Old Man by Garrison Keillor


(My World   April 7, 2022)
Thoughts on life from the right field bleachers…
Topics: Baseball Change Choices and Decision Making Circumstances, Life Events Contentment, Satsifaction Optimal Aging


What You Won't Read in the Paper, Except Now by Garrison Keillor


(My World   March 3, 2022)
Say what you will, life is good…
Topics: Contemplation, Insight Contentment, Satsifaction Inspiration Memories


Thoughts About Toothpaste and Patriotism by Garrison Keillor


(My World   February 11, 2022)
I am at an age when one is grateful for every day…
Topics: Comfort & Consolation Contemplation, Insight Contentment, Satsifaction Friends & Neighbnors Humor Patriotism