"What? Me Worry?"

Those are the famous words of Alfred E. Newman from MAD magazine back in 60's. You see, that's what most people did back then and Alfred was the clueless cartoon character who didn't worry. Hey, it was bred into my psyche at a very young age. My first memory of grade school was getting my polio vaccination. My mother was worried I could end up like my best friend who lived four doors away from us. He was paralyzed below his waist from "infantile paralysis". That sounds serious to a kid even if you don't understand what it means.

Eventually, she also told me of her oldest brother who died of diphtheria as a baby, her sister of tuberculosis, and my grandmother of a kidney infection before I was born. The Korean War had just ended, the Vietnam War had just started, the Russians were going to bury us, and my car had no seat belts and a steel dashboard. I was convinced there was no way I would live to my 18th birthday!

My future brightened around the time I flunked my draft physical, met my lifetime sweetheart, bought a house, started a family, and thrived during a couple of recessions that in some ways were actually worse than our current downturn. Besides, Alfred didn't worry. Why should I?

Looking back now, what I avoided scares the bejabbers out of me. There is no need to detail all of the events. There is no reason to give any ideas to my grandchildren.

Let's just say the angels and the good Lord were busy looking after me and my own.