John Wayne would have been 109 years old yesterday. Born Marion Mitchell Morrison, "The Duke" was one of my favorite cowboy heroes. Tough. Fair. And for a man of so few words, he always had something smart to say.

As I was watching some of his old movies on DVD this week, I decided to gather up a few of my favorite quotes to share with you in honor of his birthday.

• Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.
• Talk low, talk slow, and don't talk too much.
• Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday.
• Get off your horse and drink your milk.

And my favorite of all:

• When you come to see a picture of mine, I want you to know that I'm not going to do anything that will make you uncomfortable. I want you to know that you won't be disappointed in me.

I was never, ever disappointed in a John Wayne movie or in the man. To me, he was and still is, one of America's greatest heroes. On screen and off.

Memorial Day is coming up on May 30th. It's one of my favorite holidays of the year. We get a day off of work. It's not too cold and not too hot outside. And we always do something fun, like going to one of the parties or backyard cookouts in the neighborhood or packing up the car for a camping trip.

Some of my favorite childhood memories are from the first holiday weekend of the summer season.  But my parents never let us forget that Memorial Day is about more than pre-summer parties. It's about honoring the people who gave their lives to serve our country. After we were finished swimming, playing and eating, we'd all gather around my grandfather and listen to stories about the brave soldiers he fought with. It was our small way of paying tribute, remembering and honoring the fallen.

Today, I continue the tradition in my own family. No matter what we do or where we go, we always take a couple of hours to settle down and listen to a soldier.  To remind us that we enjoy our freedom because of the men and women who were (and are) willing to risk all — and give all — for their country.

Raggedy Ann is looking pretty good for her age! The iconic doll turns 101 years old this year and she hasn't changed a bit. She still wears her traditional calico dress, pinafore and striped leggings. And she still has all the features I fell in love with — from her red hair to her button eyes to the I Love You heart on her chest.

I must have gone through dozens of Raggedy Ann (and Raggedy Andy) dolls when I was a kid. I dragged them around with me everywhere. Sometimes by their arms or legs, sometimes by their red yarn hair. That was the great thing about the rag dolls. You could wear them out, but you couldn't break them like some of the other dolls I used to have.

Most of my Raggedy dolls are retired to the attic now, but a few of them hold places of honor next to my 'adult' collection. Sure, they're a little bit worn and faded, but they remind me of those long ago days when Raggedy Ann and I went everywhere together.

My grandfather introduced me to numismatics (coin collecting )when I was just a kid. We'd dig through bag after bag of unsearched coins looking for a rare find — like a minting error or a coin that could complete some series he'd been working on.

My granddad was always on the lookout for the Million Dollar Nickel. We'd have piles of nickels spread out on his card table and he'd tell me the story of The Liberty Head Nickel (even though I'd heard it a thousand times). The nickel was first issued in 1883, without the text to indicate its five-cent denomination. It didn't take long for some unscrupulous folks to cash in on the mistake.

The most famous was a deaf-mute named Josh Tatum, who allegedly gold-plated the nickels and passed them off as five dollar coins. The popular story is that Tatum wasn't convicted for his crime because no one could testify that he had said anything fraudulent.

But the story doesn't end there. In 1912, the mint was ordered not to produce the nickels in 1913--they were supposed to wait for the new Buffalo nickel design. So how and why did five or six 1913 nickels get into circulation? Nobody really knows, but the last one to surface in 2013 sold for over $3 million! The buyer said he would have paid $4 million. I don't know about you, but I'll be looking closely at every nickel I see from now on!

Who doesn't love a Kewpie doll? The adorable little creatures have been around since way before I was born and I can't remember a time when I didn't own at least one. I think I must have about 40 of them now. (Not including the ones in the attic, of course.)

Modeled after Cupid, the Roman God of Love, Kewpie got her start as a comic strip in the early 1900s. A symbol of love and innocence, she was featured  in the "Ladies Home Journal" and other women's magazines. Like Cupid,  Kewpie battled injustice and helped people who were in trouble. Or sometimes she just made magazine readers laugh.

I fell in love with Kewpie dolls as soon as I saw one. They were irresistible to me then and they still are. With their cherubic faces and that cute little sideways glance that spells mischief, mystery and fun, I just can't stop collecting them. Even if some of them have to live up in the attic.

I didn't get a lot of sleep last night because I stumbled on an I Love Lucy marathon on TV. I was only going to watch one or two — maybe three — episodes. But six hours and hundreds of laughs later, I was still watching. I couldn't stop even though I've seen every one of them at least a dozen times.

I got to see the chocolate factory episode (which was actually titled "Job Switching"). It was as hilarious as ever watching Lucy and Ethel bite off more than they can chew while a wordless supervisor tried to show them how to keep up with the conveyor. I think it was even funnier because now I know that the supervisor was an actual candy dipper from the See's candy factory.

I almost turned off the TV after that one, but next came Lucy as your Vitameatavegamin Girl. It's one of the most remembered and funniest episodes ever, voted the "fan favorite" during a 50th anniversary special. So, you know I had to watch that one, too.

Finally, at three in the morning, I had to turn off the TV and drag myself to bed. Sure, I'm a little sleepy today but it was worth it. I'll just have a little Vitameatavegamin Cocoa. That'll should fix me right up!

First published in 1939, the "Curious George" books were among my favorites when I was growing up. I read them over and over until I wore out the pages. I remember being sad when the little monkey had to go live at the zoo and then happy when he escaped and The Man with the Yellow Hat decided to let George live with him.

I followed the little monkey's adventures closely, through all seven books. I loved it when he got a bicycle and got to join the circus. I journeyed with him to space and back. I flew up, up in the air with him when he learned to fly a kite.

George is now a huge star all over the world. He has his own TV shows and everything. But George hasn't changed with all that fame.  All these years later, he's still my favorite mischievous house monkey. And I still have every one of those old, worn out books up in the attic.