Author Archives: Bob Welbaum

Cancer, Running and Teamwork

Teamwork.  It’s important in any organization, essential in the military.   And once you learn how important it is, you never forget.  Even when you’re 70 years old. My reminder came at the Providence Hood To Coast Relay on August 24-25, 2018 (https://hoodtocoastrelay.com/htc/).   Classmates from my alma mater, the Air Force Academy class of 1970,

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What Is The Secret To Feeling Younger?

Now that I’m into my seventh decade, the simple question of how to feel younger is taking on a renewed urgency.  So the article “This May Be the Secret to Feeling Younger and Living Longer” by Jamie Ducharme quickly caught my eye ( http://time.com/5363984/how-to-feel-younger-aging/? ).  The answer may be simpler than you think. We really have

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Why Songs Get Stuck In Your Head

It’s happened to all of us (especially Disney collectors!).   You hear a song, or maybe a couple of bars, and it’s stuck in your head forever.  At least it seems like forever.  And it doesn’t have to be the actual song; it could simply be a memory trigger, like a movie poster. Your nemesis is

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The Counterfeit Aretha Franklin

While the music world mourns the death of Aretha Franklin, I was reminded of a recent story about a woman who was lured into impersonating the Queen of Soul. Mary Jane Jones of West Petersburg, Virginia was blessed with a remarkable voice and cursed with a difficult life.  Married at 19, her first husband died

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What’s More Important — Patriotism or Free Speech?

Today the test-of-patriotism spotlight is on professional football players, but in 1942 it was on Jehovah’s Witnesses.  Specifically, two elementary school girls from Charleston, West Virginia. At that time, West Virginia required all students and teachers to salute the flag.  Jehovah’s Witnesses objected because they believed this violated the Bible commandment against worshiping images.  Gathie

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Something Just For Fun

This is original writing, just not by me.  It was sent to me by a friend, and was attributed to the New York Times’s annual lexophile competition. “Lexophile” describes those that have a love for words, such as “you can tune a piano, but you can’t tuna fish”, or “To write with a broken pencil

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If You Think I’m Strange…

We have never completely understood the human brain.  In some ways, we’re actually frightened by the strange behaviors we’ve seen around us.  Yet out of strange behavior can come remarkable gifts, like extraordinary insight and creativity. Science journalist Helen Thomson has written a book to explore the brain’s unusual characteristics.  Entitled Unthinkable: An Extraordinary Journey

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Watch Out For Charity Fraud

I try to support as many charities as I can, particularly with regard to veterans.  But unfortunately, one always has to do some “due diligence” before donating. One of the best sources I’ve found for checking a charity is the Better Business Bureau (BBB) Wise Giving Alliance ( https://www.give.org/ ).  Recently I’ve received an email from

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