When I got the news on Saturday, I couldn’t believe it. 2018 is becoming the year of surprises–and not all of them are good.

Our much-loved contributor, fan, and supporter, and loving husband of our amazing moderator commonly known as ‘Brenda 55’ died Friday, June 8, 2018, in a tragic road accident.

We knew him here by the handle, “SirloinDBeef,” and his name was Keith. You might have had a smile or a chuckle from his “SirLoin’s Babe Wednesday”  or “Monday Pun Day” posts. He certainly had a way with words and told witticisms with a knowing look with a twinkle in his eye.

Keith and Brenda have been fans and supporters on Beyond Black & White almost since the beginning, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to have met them twice–once for a book signing and another time for a wedding celebration with another friend of the blog and former writer, “EarthJeff.”

The BB&W gang at happier times…our Las Vegas meetup for ‘EarthJeff’s wedding. Keith is the tall one. 🙂

What I admired most about Keith was his undying love and devotion to Brenda, who shared 20 years of wedded bliss with a man who could not have been happier and proud. They were one of the few older interracial couples I’d known personally and looked up to them like godparents. They were the models I looked up to for how I wanted to spend my later years–in love, carefree, with plenty of resources.

Here’s a little ditty from SirLoin just for old time’s sake.

Godspeed you on your journey, Keith. You were very much loved.

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It has been said that the PUN is the lowest form of humor … possibly battling it out with the Limerick for bottom-of-the-barrel last place.

The punster is one who should be “pun-ished” by being “drawn and quoted”.

Puns can be quite long or even short. Consider that the price of feathers is steadily becoming more costly. So, down is up.

The punster’s reward comes in the forms of groans … gagging sounds … howls … eye-rolls … and, for the ultimate puns, death threats.

Consider the tale of the two tourists from Czechoslovakia, to Southern Louisiana, where one was suddenly grabbed, dragged underwater and consumed by one of a mating pair of sizable alligators. Horrified officials were only able to capture the female alligator, and examine her stomach, which contained only crayfish and an old license plate. So, they had to conclude that the Czech was in the male.

So, for your weekly education and delight, I now submit my entry for MONDAY-PUNDAY:

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PRILEP, Macedonia (AP) – Outside a small Macedonian village close to the border between Greece and strife-torn Macedonia, a lone Catholic nun keeps a quiet watch over a silent convent.

She is the last caretaker of the site of significant historical developments spanning more than 2,000 years.

When Sister Maria Cyrilla of the Order of the Perpetual Watch dies, the convent of St. Elias will be closed by the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Macedonia. However, that isn’t likely to happen soon as Sister Maria, 53, enjoys excellent health. By her own estimate, she walks 10 miles daily about the grounds of the convent, which once served as a base for the army of Attila the Hun.

In more ancient times, a Greek temple to Eros, the god of love, occupied the hilltop site. Historians say that Attila took over the old temple in 439 A.D. and used it as a base for his marauding army.

The Huns are believed to have first collected and then destroyed a large gathering of Greek legal writs at the site. It is believed that Attila wanted to study the Greek legal system and had the writs and other documents brought to the temple. Scholars differ on why he had the valuable documents destroyed — either because he was barely literate and couldn’t read them, or because they provided evidence of democratic government that did not square with his own notion of rule by an all-powerful tyrant.

When the Greek church took over the site in the 15th Century and the convent was built, church leaders ordered the pagan statue of Eros destroyed, so another ancient Greek treasure was lost.

Today, there is only the lone sister, watching over the old Hun base, amidst the strife of war -torn Macedonia, and when she goes, that will be it. Over and done with, despite all the accumulated history.

Thus, that’s how it ends, with a ‘technically perfect’ game:

No Huns,

No Writs,

No Eros, and …

Nun left on base.