The weather has been beautiful down south with warm days and cooler nights. You can open the windows before going to bed, something that bothers my wife, but I still sneak open the bathroom window in our bedroom. In Florida, that usually only lasts a couple of months during the year. So it's a special time for me.

We used to tease my mom that she was the best infomercial shopper.  If she had trouble sleeping one night, my sister and I knew that unexpected, and often unusable, gifts were on the way.Well, fast forward.  My soft spot isn't necessarily an infomercial (although sometimes . . .) but instead those Facebook pop up ads.  I admit to having been drawn in once or twice, or more, with credit card in tow.

I recently sat for jury duty for two days. On the morning of the first day, approximately forty of us were called to a courtroom. Eight people were put into the jury box and the rest of us sat in the well of the courtroom. I sat in the well  for a day and a half waiting for my turn to be called into the jury box, be questioned  and ultimately dismissed. During those days I sat next to a group of four people. We shared a lot of information about ourselves with one another,  and, for that short time we felt almost close to one another. 

Many know of my affiliation as chair of the board of directors of Services Now for Adult Persons, Inc. ("SNAP”).  Others in Gotham also play key roles in support SNAP’s work including as board members (Elder Law Attorney Jeff Greenwood as Board Secretary and mortgage advisor Renee Richter as a fellow board member) or working as professionals to help the agency make a difference (including Joshua Zinder as the project architect for our new building, Steve Glassberg as our construction counsel, Scott Bloom as our real estate leasing advisor and Nancy

This is a story about two people who lived through the same kind of trauma. Same long nights, same weight in their chest, same question running through their minds: How did this fall apart so fast?

"Brown Eyed Handsome Man" is the B side of Chuck Berry's 1956 "Too Much Monkey Business" recording and is a paean to the great Brooklyn Dodger player Jackie Robinson (#42) who broke through, indeed changed the World.The song got me thinking about eye color and spawned the realization that, until recently, I did not look into someone's eyes. Rather, despite near normal hearing, I focused on the lips.Thus, only recently, have I noticed the mesmerizing beauty of blue eyes, eg, those of KonkLife Publisher Guy deBoer pictured. 

For the past thirty years or so, my assignment for Passover is to bring my signature charoset and marror for the Passover Seders.Charoset symbolizes the mortar used by the Hebrew slaves to build in ancient Egypt. My not-so-secret recipe is simply apples, walnuts (or almonds for those allergic to walnuts) and sweet red wine. The blending and exact proportions are secret - even to me.The marror is pure horseradish - from the root - cut and shred by hand. It symbolizes the bitterness of slavery….and does a very good job in doing so.

Someone remarked to me recently that young people think “The Jetsons” was about life in the old days. Flying cars, food in a capsule, video phones! Who would have believed it!Technological advances have certainly put “change” into overdrive. And when it comes to change, some folks dig in their heels, while others jump in with both feet, eager to see what’s around the corner. For some, the fear of missing out works like rocket fuel; for others, it’s more like quicksand.