A8
COFFEE BREAK
East Oregonian
Saturday, February 19, 2022
DEAR ABBY
Nonbeliever credits work, not ‘blessings,’ for success
DEAR ABBY: My husband and I have had
some crazy life swings since the beginning
of the pandemic, mostly positive. I found a
wonderful, well-paying job that I enjoy. In our
16th year of marriage, we have also brought
a healthy, happy daughter into our lives. We
recently bought a lovely home, and have
added another, nicer, used car to our assets.
In addition, my job allows my husband to live
his dream of being a stay-at-home dad with
our daughter.
I come from a very religious family,
although I am no longer religious. We don’t
attend church services with the family, and
it seems they have adopted the philosophy
of mostly “don’t ask and we won’t tell.” My
dilemma is: How should I respond to their
constant comments that we are “so blessed”
to be where we are?
I have worked extremely long, hard hours
to get to this point in my career. I put myself
through school with no support from my of your success. But to announce it in this
family and worked my butt off to get us to instance and with those deeply religious
where we are. Yes, I’m thankful for
people would be braggadocious and
the people I’ve worked with who
is uncalled for. This is not a personal
have helped me to grow and reach
putdown, so continue to resist the
this point. However, it feels wrong
urge.
for me to equate my success to being
DEAR ABBY: I have been
blessed from God.
happily married for 32 years. My
That statement comes up numer-
wife is going to a girls’ thing this
ous times during family get-togeth-
coming Saturday and asked me what
I will be doing. I said I’m going to
ers. Normally, I ignore it or say we
JEANNE
a funeral for a girl I knew in high
feel very lucky to have what we do.
PHILLIPS
Should I continue saying that or
school. (We were never boyfriend/
ADVICE
ignore them altogether? Is there a
girlfriend, just friends.)
tactful response I’m not seeing in
My wife asked me how I heard
this kind of awkward situation? — DESERV- about it, and I shared that one of my friends
ING IN MICHIGAN
mentioned it during our Monday night foot-
DEAR DESERVING: In the interest of ball chat. She said, “You haven’t talked to
family harmony, smile, nod and agree with her in more than 40 years. You really didn’t
the person making the comment. Of course know her anymore, but you’re going to her
you have worked hard and are deserving funeral?” I said yes. Then she said it is “eerie,
strange and weird” and it seems inappropri-
ate. I reminded her that people print obituaries
to let people know.
I asked the guy who told me what he
thought about me going. He said it sounded
fi ne to him, but I shouldn’t go stag. I said,
“Doesn’t ‘stag’ mean single and looking? I’m
an old married man.” I’m perplexed about
both of these conversations. Am I missing
something? Am I a weirdo if I go? Can I go
alone? — PAYING RESPECTS IN CALI-
FORNIA
DEAR PAYING RESPECTS: The
answers to your questions are no and yes.
If you feel the need to pay last respects to
a friend from high school, there’s nothing
“weird” about doing so. Your football friend
may have substituted the word “stag” for the
word “solo,” which means “alone.” (I see no
reason why you shouldn’t attend the funeral
alone if the spirit moves you.)
DAYS GONE BY
100 years ago — 1922
The bounty system of fi ghting predatory animals in Oregon
stands an excellent chance of being succeeded by paid state
trappers and hunters if sentiment expressed by those who
attended the state meeting of the game wardens and the state
game commission materializes, according to W. H. Albee,
deputy game warden from the Umatilla district who returned
yesterday evening from Portland where he was in attendance
at the meeting. An eff ort to increase the present bounty on
wolves caused the present bounty system to be attacked. It
is claimed that Oregon has been assisting neighboring states
materially by making payments such as are allowed on preda-
tory animals. That the employing of hunters and trappers will
be more eff ective and less expensive was the belief expressed
at the meeting.
50 years ago — 1972
Lilly Chinn, Hermiston, 41-year-old Hong Kong Cafe
owner-operator, has a deep-rooted bitterness toward the Red
Chinese government for the misery and death it has dealt her
family. She said she does not want to see the United States
get associated in any way with the Red Chinese. Mrs. Chinn
tussles with her English, but she put it this way: “If Nixon
and those people get acquainted, we are going to get in trou-
ble.” Mrs. Chinn’s husband, Daniel, is a native of Heppner.
They met when he made a trip to Canton City in 1947. When
the Communists swarmed over Canton City, China, it was a
nightmare for Lilly and Daniel, with air raids and dynamite
blasts. In the wake of the Communist move Lilly’s parents lost
their two movie theaters. An uncle and his children starved to
death. Many people were shot by the Reds. Mrs. Chinn said
she likes Hermiston. She and her husband have no worries,
no dynamite and no airplanes terrorizing them.
25 years ago — 1997
It will cost $4 million to repair aging, leaking McKay Dam,
a price tag that would have to be partially borne by irrigation
districts. That was the message Bureau of Reclamation offi -
cials delivered at a public information meeting at Stanfi eld
Senior Center. “There’s not too many structures that are 50
years old that don’t need some structural modifi cations,” said
Larry Wolf, a Safety of Dams engineer from the bureau’s
Boise offi ce. But many of the audience members complained
loudly about the costs of the safety measures, arguing that irri-
gators were the only ones being charged for the repairs. The
repairs are necessary to prevent a dam failure, although that
threat is not at this time considered acute. There are approxi-
mately 4,200 people living along the Umatilla River, and 1,900
downstream of the dam along McKay Creek. If the dam were
to fail, Wolf estimated the fl oodwaters would reach McKay
School in 20 minutes and the confl uence with the Umatilla
River in 30 minutes.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
In 1473, astronomer
Nicolaus Copernicus was
born in Torun, Poland.
In 1807, former Vice
President Aaron Bur r,
accused of treason, was
arrested in the Mississippi
Territory, in present-day
Alabama. (Burr was acquit-
ted at trial.)
In 1878, Thomas Edison
received a U.S. patent for “an
improvement in phonograph
or speaking machines.”
In 1942, during World
War II, President Franklin D.
Roosevelt signed Executive
Order 9066, which paved
the way for the relocation
and internment of people of
Japanese ancestry, including
U.S.-born citizens.
In 1945, Operation
Detachment began during
World War II as some 30,000
U.S. Marines began landing
on Iwo Jima, where they
commenced a successful
month-long battle to seize
control of the island from
Japanese forces.
In 1959, an agreement
was signed by Britain,
Turkey and Greece granting
Cyprus its independence.
In 1976, President Gerald
R. Ford, calling the issuing
of the internment order for
people of Japanese ancestry
in 1942 “a sad day in Ameri-
can history,” signed a procla-
mation formally confi rming
its termination.
In 1985, the British soap
opera “EastEnders” debuted
on BBC Television.
In 1986, the U.S. Senate
approved, 83-11, the Geno-
cide Convention, an interna-
tional treaty outlawing “acts
committed with intent to
destroy, in whole or in part,
a national, ethnical, racial or
religious group,” nearly 37
years after the pact was fi rst
submitted for ratifi cation.
In 1997, Deng Xiaop-
ing, the last of China’s major
Communist revolutionaries,
died at age 92.
In 2003, an Iranian mili-
tary plane carrying 275
members of the elite Revo-
lutionary Guards crashed in
southeastern Iran, killing all
on board.
In 2019, President Donald
Trump directed the Pentagon
to develop plans for a new
Space Force within the Air
Force, accepting less than
the full-fl edged department
he had wanted.
Today’s Bir thdays:
Singer Smokey Robinson is
82. Actor Carlin Glynn is 82.
Former Sony Corp. Chair-
man Howard Stringer is 80.
Singer Lou Christie is 79.
Rock musician Tony Iommi
(Black Sabbath, Heaven and
Hell) is 74. Actor Stephen
Nichols is 71. Author Amy
Tan is 70. Actor Jeff Daniels
is 67. Rock singer-musician
Dave Wakeling is 66. Talk
show host Lorianne Crook
is 65. Actor Ray Winstone is
65. Actor Leslie David Baker
is 64. NFL Commissioner
Roger Goodell is 63. Britain’s
Prince Andrew is 62. Tennis
Hall of Famer Hana Mand-
likova is 60. Singer Seal
is 59. Actor Jessica Tuck is
59. Country musician Ralph
McCauley (Wild Horses) is
58. Rock musician Jon Fish-
man (Phish) is 57. Actor
Justine Bateman is 56. Actor
Benicio Del Toro is 55. Actor
Bellamy Young is 52. Rock
musician Daniel Adair is 47.
Pop singer-actor Haylie Duff
is 37. Actor Arielle Kebbel
is 37. Christian rock musi-
cian Seth Morrison (Skillet)
is 34. Actor Luke Pasqualino
is 32. Actor Victoria Justice
is 29. Actor David Mazouz
(TV: “Gotham”) is 21. Actor
Millie Bobby Brown is 18.
CHURCH DIRECTORY
PENDLETON
LIGHTHOUSE CHURCH
Sunday Service: 9am & 6pm
Tuesday Kingdom Seekers: 7pm
Wednesday Bible Study: 7pm
We offer: Sunday School • Sign Language
Interpreters • Nursery • Transportation • & more!
Pastor Dan Satterwhite
541.377.4252
417 NW 21st St. • Pendleton, OR 97801
www.facebook.com/
PendletonLighthouseChurch
Solid Rock
Community Church
140 SW 2nd St Hermiston, OR 97838
541-567-6937
Worship Service: 11:00AM
Sunday School: 9:45
Pastor Wilbur Clark
Our Lady of Angels
Catholic Church
Redeemer
Episcopal
Church
565 W. HERMISTON AVE.
241 SE Second St. Pendleton
(541)276-3809
www.pendletonepiscopal.org
PendletonPresbyterian.com
Sunday Holy Communion: 9am
Wednesday Holy Communion: Noon
M-F Morning Prayer 7am on Zoom
Worship Services On Facebook
10:00am Sundays
All Are Welcome
Community
Presbyterian
Church
14 Martin Drive,
Umatilla, OR
922-3250
Worship: 10 AM
Sunday School at 11:30
First Christian
Church
565 W. HERMISTON AVE.
201 SW Dorion Ave.
Facebook.com/PendletonPresbyterian
OPEN HEARTS – OPEN DOOR
www.graceandmercylutheran.org
Sunday Worship 8:45 a.m.
Sunday School 10:00 a.m. (Nursery Provided)
Fellowship, Refreshments & Sunday School
Check Out our Facebook Page or
Website for More Information
541-289-4535
Pastor Weston Walker
Grace and Mercy Lutheran Church, ELCA
(First United Methodist Church)
191 E. Gladys Ave. / P.O. Box 1108
Hermiston, Oregon 97838
The Salvation Army
COME WORSHIP
WITH US AT THE
COUNTRY
CHURCH
215 N. Main • Pendleton
10:30 - Worship Service
Sundays at 11:00am
In Person worship Sundays
at 11:00am
5:30 Family Fellowship Meal • 6:00 Bible Study
32742 Diagonal Rd.
Hermiston, OR
Office Phone: 541-276-5358
Hours: M-F 9:00am-1:00pm
(DISCIPLES OF CHRIST)
Iglesia Católica Nuestra
Señora de los Ángeles
Center for Worship & Service
Sunday Worship Service
9:30 - Sunday School
Wednesday Bible Study
COME AS YOU ARE
150 SE Emigrant
(541) 276-3369
St. Johns
Episcopal Church
N.E. Gladys Join
Ave & Us
7th, Hermiston
541-567-6672
JOIN OUR INCLUSIVE
CONGREGATION
ON OUR JOURNEY WITH JESUS
Services 9:00am Sundays
In-person or streaming on
Facebook or Zoom
FAITH LUTHERAN
CHURCH
in Mission for Christ LCMC
Sunday Worship.........9:00 AM
Bible Study......10:15 AM
Red Lion Hotel
( Oregon Trail Room )
To advertise in the Church Directory, please contact Audra Workman
541-564-4538 or email aworkman@eastoregonian.com