THE 42nd GENERATION

Our License Plates JRUSALM & JERUSLM WHY? By James Eugene Barbush 2021 Blue Mountain Parkway Harrisburg, PA  17112 (717) 514-5549 JamesEBarbush@GMail.com I have had vanity license plates for many years, since about 1989.  For our 2 cars at the time, I had JRUSALM for one car and JERUSLM for our other car.  Why? Initially, I wanted to get MT ZION, but when I applied at Penn DOT for that one, I was told it was taken.  So, I stood there at the counter and came up with JRUSALM and JERUSLM, one for each car.  Why? First, a vanity license plate usually says something about the person and conveys a message .  The person wants to convey to other people a message about themselves or something.  What is the message I wanted to convey?  I will get to that. Second, a license plate is can be a banner that we express over our lives and in our lives.  Again, a message is being conveyed about what a person believes about themselves. It can be a form of the

I am ONLY 67 years old.  Actually, I am OVER 67-1/2 years old.  Not that I'm counting.   This year, in September 2017, I am attending my 50th High School Reunion.  As this milestone event began to rise on the horizon, I wondered about it and was thinking, " 50 YEARS, that's 1/2 CENTURY.  That's a long time.  That was another time in the history of my generation.  Things are so different today, not like they were when I was a teenager. This is a time that my father would not recognize.  I can hardly believe, but I do believe, the differences, both good and bad, between now and then." THINKING ABOUT PEOPLE I KNEW.  Coming to this age of 67, being retired, and thinking about 50 years having gone by since high school, I have been thinking about people that I used to know and saw on a daily basis in our relationships.  That has brought me to looking at those people from two generations, my generation and the generation before me. REMEMBERING THEM.  It s