Last weekend, Alexandria, Virginia. I followed as Flo and Jackson, our 4 and a half year old grandson, got on the free "Trolley" that makes its way up and down King Street in Old Town. Flo found a seat on the front bench next to a pleasant looking woman with her child. They made room for Jackson on the bench as the Trolley started moving. The …
An aphorism is a short phrase that expresses a true or wise idea. We all encounter them and fall back on our favorites from time to time. For years I have enjoyed the aphorisms posted in our local bagel store. Steve, the owner of Town Bagel in Plainview, takes pride in the aphorisms that he changes every Tuesday and have become a tradition. But it …
I have been privileged to have been to the Western Wall in Jerusalem several times. There is an awesome and unavoidable sense of history and, for me, a holiness that encompasses the historical and more. There is a custom of inserting little slips of paper inscribed with personal notes, perhaps prayers, in the crevices of the Wall. It was reported …
"Please silence your cellphones." An often-repeated admonition that has become part of our everyday lives. Sometimes heeded, sometimes not. So, heeding the advice, and, more significantly, wanting to enjoy a romantic anniversary dinner, Flo and I silenced our phones and tucked them out of sight. About an hour later, when we were brought desser …
Last weekend, we went to Washington to visit our children, Jeremy (and Stephanie) and Mea (and Charles), who live in the nation's capital. We like Washington and having family to visit makes the trips their even more special. But this trip was very special. We drove down to D.C. with a very special passenger. When she heard that we were drivin …
At Tuesday's meeting of the Long Island Women's Group, the guest speaker, Joshua Lafazan, told us how, as a high school student, he started an anti drunk driving program that provided safe and free rides to students to avoid driving while intoxicated or being a passenger. Three hundred and fifty rides were provided in 2016. This relatively sm …
We had been to the glass artist's studio and Gallery before, but I didn't remember the big neon sign that went through its computer-generated silence, sequenced blinking to full message and back to silence. "LOOK! SEE?" At first glance, a very simple message. Look at the art but are you seeing it? Really seeing? Allow t …
It was an uncomfortable feeling of something missing as I realized that the cold on my head was the result of the absence of my favorite winter hat. Baseball style, cashmere, waterproof, with ear flaps - available if needed yet neatly folded out of sight most of the time. A perfect hat. On Monday, with the blizzard on its way, I was meeting a …
I'm looking for a word - perhaps not yet invented or evolved - or perhaps the extension of the meaning or import of an existing word. Here's the background to my search. A friend has an appointment on a certain day and, having been advised of this important event, I ask to be informed of the outcome as expeditiously as possible. "Let me know. I'd …
At first, I thought that the photograph on the front page of yesterday's Wall Street Journal was historical. As a child of Holocaust survivors, I have seen many pictures of gravestones toppled at Jewish cemeteries in Europe during the 1930's. I then realized that the photograph is not historical. It is current. It is today's news. A cemetery near …
Pitchers and catchers reporting early. Spring training. My nephew, Jared - who covers baseball for the Wall Street Journal - on his way to warmer climates. This is a good time of year for optimists. How are the teams shaping up? Who is healthy? Who's reporting in good shape? Can we finish better than last season? We need an outlet. We need hope. …
They tracked me down. It was an email from an old high school friend forwarding information about the upcoming fiftieth reunion of my class at Brooklyn Technical High School. Frankly, I am not one for reunions and have not attended either a high school or college reunion. But there was something about the email that caused me to save it. Perhaps i …
Yesterday, I was at the Annual Meeting of the Health Law Section of the State Bar Association. I've attended the meeting yearly for many, many years. Although I get continuing legal education credit for attending, I find the meeting a great way to keep current on developments in health care law. It's also a nice way to network with my colleagues an …
Every week, on Friday afternoon, towards the end of the workweek, I get a subliminal message reminding me to wish a good friend a "Good Sabbath" - a "Shabbat Shalom" - in anticipation of the imminent arrival of sundown. We exchange the greeting, whether in a text message, voice call or, on rare occasion, in a face-to-face exchange, and whether init …
Last Sunday, I gave a half-full/half-empty canister of cat treats to my longtime neighbor. We kept the treats for the neighbor's cats -- Oreo and Hoppy -- who were frequent visitors to our front porch. Oreo is the friendlier of the two. Hoppy, more guarded. Oreo would wait to see any activity by our front door, or wait for our car to pull up and …
