My granddaughter Gloria Delphine Endermann wriggled her way into our hearts from the very beginning. We loved her tender spirit. We loved her precocity. She knew words way beyond her three years. She had a special way of pronouncing multi-syllable words, having to enunciate every syllable. “Av-o-ca-do,” “En-der-mann,” “des-tin-a-tion.” “Could you sing me the silver song?” she would ask her mother when it was time for bed. And so my daughter Joanna would sing to Gloria her favorite song. …..
Historians debate over whether General George Washington lost more battles than he won during America’s War of Independence. By my own count his Continental Army was directly involved in seventeen major battles. Six ended in clear American victory. The British indisputably prevailed in seven. In the other four battles, the victor was unclear. But what finally decided the war on the side of America was that, despite losing seven major battles, none of the British victories were decisive. Somehow, General…..