Thomas Wictor

Posts Tagged ‘optimism’

The wretchedness of defeatism

My father was the most negative person I’ve ever known. If he’d won $20 million in a lottery, he would’ve gone into several years of depression that it wasn’t $40 million. My mother said that he wasn’t always like that. Going by the conversations we had right before he died, it’s clear that he didn’t…

 

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Mom rewards my optimism

Mom has seen fit to reward my optimism. Yesterday I broke with the pessimists in my life, and by nightfall I was shown that I made the right decision. Those of you who think I’m insane for believing this can go right ahead. I respect your opinion, and I— No I don’t. Cram it. Shove…

 

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Good-bye, pessimists. I’m sorry.

My father Edward Joseph Wictor was the most pessimistic person I’ve known. His favorite pronouncements were, “It’s really scary” and “Nothing’s ever gonna get better.” Here’s Dad at the age of twenty-three in 1951, serving in the U.S. Coast Guard at LORAN Station Bikati. Dad being Dad, the only thing I know about his time…

 

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