The Revolutionary War was erupting.   After a long siege, George Washington had managed to take Boston from the British in March 1776.   As the British evacuated Boston in 120 ships with over 11,000 people placed on board, several loyalists gathered at the rail of one of the ships and expressed confidence that they would be returning soon in triumph. A prominent Boston merchant, George Erving, turned and said solemnly, “Gentlemen, not one of you will see that place again.”   (1776, David McCullough)
This reminds me of the hope (I should call …

The movie Second Hand Lions is a tale about two old guys who have lived a life of adventure but no one knows it because they have been gone for decades.  Mystery shrouds their lives and all their relatives are guessing as to who and what they are.   The two gentlemen feel like “second hand lions”:  used up and of no general use any more to society, so they have decided to just “fade away.”   However a young nephew gets deposited on their doorstep and slowly they begin to realize …