Anthony’s Diploma – The Weird Side of the Internet – by Liam Sweeny.
Anthony Simeone is my hero. And with all heroes, you have the elements of a tragedy, or a comedy. In the tragedy they live a life of marble and polished gold, irradiating in perfection, very high above the casual reader but there’s just one detail, just one five centimeter strip on their heel by which a poison can pierce the twenty-four carat casing. But then there is the comedy.
When people think of comedy they think of laughter, but it’s traditions are far older. We don’t laugh at excellence or perfection, but at their opposites. We see the hero in a lowly state, with perhaps a single redeeming quality that propels them into their denouement.
I may be a comic figure, because I say a lot of words for a man like Anthony Simeone instead of just telling you about him.
Anthony Simeone is a 98 year-old man who has hit his personal apex not too long ago, with the receipt of his high school diploma.
Yes, Anthony was a comedic figure, sans the jokes. At 16, he dropped out of high school to take care of his family, only to enlist in World War Two. So maybe his lowly status bore an indomitable spirit. And that spirit would take him through the Battle of the Bulge and back home, where he did get his GED.
Maybe it could be wondered why Anthony didn’t go the full bore when he got home to get his high school diploma. Or maybe upon seeing the horror and emergency of Hitler’s last stand, the Axis’ last stand in the European theatre, Anthony couldn’t find comfort in spitballs and the prom queen.
No, I believe Anthony had a family, took care of them by working hard for decade after decade.
So finally Anthony received that which fate tore from him, and that is the example of dramatic comedy. Way to go, Anthony!