Archives by: Patrick O'Connor
Patrick O'Connor
45 Posts
About the author
Blogger Patrick J. O’Connor is currently OEO (only executive officer) of the Life-Long Learning Connection (L3C) based in Kent. He is an Emeritus Professor from Kent State University with stops in Virginia, Pennsylvania and Georgia in an education career spanning 45 years. He has authored college textbooks, the Road Less Traveled series, scholarly articles, monographs, the Think You Know America series and Meet Me at Ray's. His bachelor's and master’s degrees are from Bowling Green State University with a doctorate from Virginia Tech. His work can be viewed at LifeLLearning.com.
Patrick O'Connor Posts
This Mother's Day, Patrick O'Connor shares memories of his mother-in-law; a woman who was the last of a group of seven women who were friends, confidants, and support for each other for 60+ years. They called themselves the Dreamers, forming a bond in high school in the mid-1940s. Frances Mae Resek Rottman was the last living member of the group; the Last Dreamer. Her story of friendships, place and time, once very common, are now a memory. ...
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Social capital is a set of shared values and resources that allow individuals to work together in a group to effectively achieve a common purpose. Two local examples represent the many ways community members contribute social capital and work together to live harmoniously. ...
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Pat O'Connor shares heartwarming and humorous Easter memories from years gone by. Maybe they will stir up Easter stories of your own! ...
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An outlet is often an extension of who you are. It’s part of how you turn what you love into what you do. It fits with a healthy lifestyle like exercise and good diet. An outlet is important when working full time as it can provide release from the tensions of work. It may be more important in retirement when people have more time on their hands. ...
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When St. Patrick's Day rolls around each year, it's truly magical for this son of Irish immigrants... especially when Pat O'Connor recalls St. Patrick's Day 1977, when he and his wife lived in a Virginia town called Dublin. ...
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Necessity remains the mother of invention and technology is that vehicle. From the EZPass to the iPhone and now ChatGPT, we can't afford to "rust on our laurels" during our golden years. The essence of change, innovation and disruption expose the need for increased lifelong learning, which is an opportunity to stay young. ...
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Groundhog Day 2020 was unlike any other. Since there had been no winter, could Punxsutawney Phil really predict six more weeks of winter? Or, could he predict an early spring since most of the winter was basically like spring, anyway? Groundhog Day 2020 must have been a puzzler for the groundhog as much as it was for us. ...
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It's not every day that you and your kids get to be clowns in a major Christmas parade. But that's what happened when we moved to Athens, Georgia. All was going along just fine. The parade watchers seemed to enjoy seeing three different-sized clowns together and we were having a dandy time, waving and generally just goofing around. Then, I looked into the crowd and saw a face I thought I recognized. ...
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