"We'll teach you to drink deep ere you depart." (Hamlet)

The dictionary defines "legacy" as "something received from an ancestor or predecessor from the past." I suppose that's me if I want my progeny to remember me. So, I must again take a "blogging" opportunity to document my "legacy" for the future generations of my family. To do so I will again write what I received from a student of mine from the class of 1964; a "student" who must now be 60+ I would imagine:

Dr. Ross introduced me to the love of my life--words. It was in his class that I discovered the pure sensual joy that using words can give, and the tremendous satisfaction of working with words to communicate precisely one's intent. In introducing us to poetry and teaching us to analyze a poem, I had my first experience in what became my profession which is psychoanalysis. Words were the tools by which the poet commucicated his or her unique emotional or perceptual reality, and it is by listening to a person's words that I can participate in that reality in my office. But it was in teaching me to use my mind that Dr. Ross made his greatest impact on me. I had never thought of myself as particularly bright or smart before meeting him. I got the feeling as his student that he "got" me, and it was this recognition and validation of my thinking and creativity that allowed me to see myself as a capable student, and I hold that awareness with me today. Thank you, Dr. Ross, for your discipline and humor, and for that special talent that only certain teachers have of imparting a love for learning. Barbara Mitchell Kolenda, Class of '64

Since one letter from a student does not a legacy make, here is one from the former North Shore H.S. psychologist:

As a young man, you repeatedly risked your life during World War II, and because of your sacrifice you enabled us to remain free. As a teacher, you mentored those free young souls, gracing them with the power and beauty of literature and wisdom far beyond what ordinary teachers have. As a father, your love and commitment to your children brought them through confused times and enabled each of them to make his or her chosen path in life. As a friend, you never let down those who were lucky enough to be counted among your many comrades. As a man, there are few who egual your rich and varied life, and there are none who surpass the sum total of your courage, your wisdom, your love and your loyalty. Knowing you has made us all better people, and has made this world a better place to inhabit. Ray Maccagli, School Psychologist, 1970-1972.

I realize that I am in a rare position late in my life to receive such endearing compliments written to and about me. It is most rewarding and satisfying to have been a teacher most of my days on this earth and to know that I have reached out and touched someone.

Coming of Age in the 21st Century

Last Saturday night I went to a Bat Mitzvah reception which was held in a very large room in a Temple. Actually, I never heard of a "Bat" Mitzvah which is held for a girl who has reached the age of 12. When I was a Bar Mitzvah, I don't recall any girls in my Hebrew class. But now, I have no idea when girls started to become Bat Mitzvah, not that it matters to me. Why shouldn't girls have the same rites and right as boys? Including a reception that is becoming more and more like a wedding? "Bar Mitzvah" literally means "son of the commandment." "Bar" is "son" in Aramaic, which used to be the vernacular of the Jewish people. "Mitzvah" is "commandment" in both Hebrew and Aramaic. "Bat" is daughter in Hebrew and Aramaic. (The Ashkenazic pronunciation is "bas"). Technically, the term refers to the child who is coming of age, and it is strictly correct to refer to someone as "becoming a bar (or bat) mitzvah." However, the term is more commonly used to refer to the coming of age ceremony itself, and you are more likely to hear that someone is "having a bar mitzvah."

The receptions that parents give their progeny these days are in the cost range of $50000 to $100,ooo range. And also these receptions have to have "themes". For a boy it could be sports, but for Chelsea on Saturday it was "Chelsea's Winter Wonderland." Often before dinner there is a "Cocktail Hour" when servers come around with trays filled with all kinds of hors doevres. Then if you want to fill up your plate with lots of food, there are tables covered with whatever you would like--chopped liver, fruit, potato pancakes, lox, --whatever. By the time you are invited to your table in the main dining room, you are fooded to the limit. When you enter the dining room you are greeted with a DJ or a band and a million decibel of music. The dance floor gets flooded with teenagers and adults jumping up and down as if they were in an aerobics class. Then comes the soup or salad and along about midnight I found on my plate a filet mignon that looked delicious but because of the cocktail hour food orgy, I couldn't eat it. Back in 1937 when I had my reception, it was in the apartment and everyone dined on deli sandwiches. In addition, the custom was for the bar mitzvah boy to write and read a speech. They don't do that any more. They just interrupt the dinner by having aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, grandparents, friends, and parents to come up to the stage and light a candle. What a bore!

"O God of battles! Steel my soldiers' hearts." (Henry V)

I am simply amazed that today I received a comment on a blog I wrote 15 months ago on August 26, 2007 called "Bad Dog, Bad Dog" ! It was from someone named Yolinda and she wrote, "You write very well". Now, I can't think of any four words nicer than that. The point is--what was she doing reading a blog I wrote that long ago? She's way behind. How did she get to it? Did she write the comment back then and it's just getting to my blogspot now? Are there really many people out there reading my blogs whom I don't know? Well, I don't think I'll find the answers to these questions. People writing comments don't usually leave their email addresses. But wherever she may be, I thank Yolinda for the compliment.

Today is Veterans Day, but I don't feel any different from any other day. There aren't' too many people around in my building--and most everywhere else-- who have any memories about WWII. Even if they are 70 years old, they were only 7 when WWII ended and only 4 when we got into it. So, when they meet a vet from WWII, they are probably wondering what he is still doing around. It's somewhat like someone who was 70 in 1934. How much would they care about the Civil War which ended in the year they were born or about vets who fought in it? Most Civil War vets were long gone in 1934 or in their 80s and 90s and getting around with a cane or a wheelchair. I don't remember honoring Civil War vets when I was 10 in '34. November 11 was called "Armistice Day" back then and referred naturally to the end of WWI. My father earned a Purple Heart in that war and I wonder if the American Legion still puts a flag by his grave on this day.

"We are such stuff as dreams are made on..." (The Tempest)

I make no claim to be a medical researcher or a lab technician or whoever is in charge of these things, but there really must be something to this DNA stuff besides a starring role on CSI and Law and Order. My son, Joel, has done a spectacular genealogy chart of our family which anyone interested can find on the internet, but genealogy charts do not do justice to the effect of DNA on members of the family. My mother's family, the Auslanders, appear to have inherited the talent DNA all the way down (so far) to her great grandchildren. My mother was for a time a night club singer and her sister, Bessie, was a very talented writer--never published, however. I was the first member of the family to have graduated from college, and while in retirement (the DNA is rather slow, I guess), I had the performing gene. In our condominium 600+ theater I had the leading role in several productions of Broadway shows such as PAJAMA GAME, MUSIC MAN, SHOWBOAT, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, MY FAIR LADY, HMS PINAFORE, THE MIKADO, and PIRATES of PENZANCE. I could always sing, and I must have learned to act through years of teaching. I also inherited the writing gene having written and published my autobiography in MEMOIRS of a TAIL GUNNER and several books of blogs and poetry.

My mother's sister, Bessie had four children, one of whom had professional musical talent. My cousin, Eddie played drums with the KIRBY STONE FOUR, a group that opened Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, made several albums, and had their own television show--black and white. Eddie is also now retired.

My sister's son, Jeffrey (known now as "Zaldor") has a great voice and music has been a part of his whole life, but unfortunately he has never capitalized on his talent. Of my mother's seven other grandchildren, three graduated college--my son, Joel and my daughter, Robin, and my sister's son, David. Shayne, my sister's granddaughter is a real talent--acting and singing. She is soon graduating from the prestigious high school, the Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach. Rhoda and I went to see her perform in FAME and she was brilliant. She also has the red hair gene, passed down from my father, to me, and to my sister's granddaughter. But the talent gene seems to have skipped a generation and went on a real tear with my mother's great grandchildren, Adam, Hannah, Sean, Shayne, Megan and her great niece, Michelle--all of whom are college graduates with the exception of Shayne who is just graduating from high school and Megan who graduated last June. Adam is the founder of a Graphic Designer company, Hannah is a fashion photographer (and red haired!) for a California magazine and she had a showing of her photos in London. Her father assures me that she has the performing gene but has desided that her career will be in back of the camera. Sean is a talented artist who has had two shows and who is now attending the California School of the Arts. Michelle, my second cousin is an Opera singer who has performed professionally and who now is teaching singing in FIU. Megan is going to a performing arts school in New York, and Shayne expects to follow her there. Next stop, Broadway? Hollywood? What more can I say? Well, I can say a lot more, but I'm already confused enough.

"What fates impose, that men must needs abide; It boots not to resist both wind and tide." Henry VI

Not that I'm any great historian or philosopher or seer but I believe the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States was the most astounding event in the history of the world. And after all, my blogs are simply a record of my own opinions, and my skill in having opinions goes back a millennium ago to when I was five. But Obama's election was more incredible than an asteroid wiping out the dinosaurs; more unimaginable than Moses leading the Jews out of Egypt; more stunning than the assassination of Julius Caesar; more unbelievable than Israel winning a six day war against millions of Arabs; more impossible than the Greeks overcoming the Trojans with a wooden horse; more awe inspiring than landing a man on the moon; more implausible than knocking down the Berlin wall; more inconceivable than Hannibal leading elephants across the Alps; more improbable than my book becoming a best seller. And now that I have exhausted the thesaurus, perhaps there is an answer to this event of the centuries.

When television broadcasts projected and announced that Obama had won the election, millions of people--not only here--but around the globe were dissolved in tears. A man of color, a black man, an African-American had somehow become the President of the United States in a country where men like him had once been slaves and where minorities like him had suffered discrimination and prejudice since the Emancipation Proclamation. How is it then, that Obama was nominated to run, let alone win the election? Is it because the country was fed up with George Bush and the Republican party? If so, why not a white nominee?

Why not Hillary Clinton? Is it because Obama has a mesmerizing charisma? A hypnotic style of speech? His ability to raise millions of dollars from public contributions? Will anyone ever know how this all happened? Will the answer ever pop out of Pandora's box along with her economic evils? Yes. Perhaps in years to come, but not right now. Am I happy with the result of the election? Yes, very much so--and I'm hopeful that Obama will be able to fulfill the dreams that Americans have in him. And for those whose hopes rose and fell with John McCain, perhaps they will support and board Obama's train.

Barack Obama--President of the United States. Wow!

I admit that when the news reported that Barack Obama would become our next President, I didn't know how to react. I just felt a great sigh of relief, for I truly felt that this marvelous man would energize this country and bring Americans of all persuasions, races, color, religions or otherwise together as they never have been in the past. We must follow the beacon of equality and freedom that the founding fathers left burning for us until our country is truly--America, the greatest democracy in the history of the world--and the world has a very long history. I did happen to read in today's newspaper that a Haitian-American woman said she should now be known as an American-Haitian. And so why not just a plain American? Obama's election has electrified the world. It has been a fortunate occurrence that, in the past, when countries are suffering from great and debilitating events that a great leader appears on the scene. Lincoln appeared, saved the Union, and signed the Emancipation Proclamation; FDR and Winston Churchill appeared in WWII to counteract the madness of Adolf Hitler, and Benito Mussolini. Queen Elizabeth found he Admirals to defeat the Spanish Armada, and the Bible reminds us that Moses led his people out of Egypt. Now, Obama has arrived to somehow lead us out our financial morass, and the two wars we are engaged in; give us the jobs and the health care that we need, and provide us with the energy we need without dependence on foreign oil.

Obama's election has been the most important since Lincoln. I'm not claiming that Obama is a saviour, but a man smart enough--if he lasts eight years in the White House--to accomplish the things that he has promised and what we need. It will remain for many years in the future to understand the meaning of the historic election we just witnessed. I know the pundits on the TV, the newspapers, magazines, and the internet are having a marvelous time with all of these questions, but none of them will come up with the right answers until they learn what Obama is doing with his power, and now he is the most powerful man on earth. May he use this power to get this country moving in the right direction. And what is the right direction? If it happens, we'll know it.

Signature Days

Into every one's life come signature days which etch themselves into the mind and soul of those who experience them so that they are never forgotten. These days make a difference in the entire world and become a part of history that will last forever. October 29, 1929 was one of those days when the stock market plunged into oblivion and created The Great Depression. The United States and the world economies did not recover from that disaster for ten years until WWII began. That event, that signature day, certainly had a dire affect on my own life. Granted I was only five years old and I did believe there was a Santa Claus. But when my sister and I hung our stockings out on our little fireplace, the next morning found only oranges in them. It was then I began to realize that we were very poor. I looked around at our circumstances, our crowded bungalow, the clothing we wore, the food that appeared on out table, my handicapped father, and jobless mother and with my empty stocking in hand, wept for our lot--not for me so much, but for my parents who could not afford to buy a toy for my sister and me.

The second signature day in my life occurred on December 7, 1941 when the Japanese navy bombed Pearl Harbor. At the time, I was listening to a football game on the radio when the announcer broke in with the news. His report was rather sketchy--hardly comparing with the skill of the news media these days. I was 17 at the time, and hardly aware of a place called Pearl Harbor until I had a chance to hear the late news and read my newspaper on Monday morning. It was not long after that when Franklin Roosevelt declared war on Japan. I couldn't understand how the bombing could happen. Wasn't anyone on the radar? Couldn't a Japanese fleet and aircraft of the size involved be detected in adequate time to defend the ships we had berthed at the Harbor? And what did the Japanese hope to gain from what they achieved that day? I believed it to be an impossibility for them to invade the United States. So, the event was a puzzle to me. But that day had an effect on my life--I voluntarily joined the military--the United States Navy. On June 6, 1944, known forever as DDay, the greatest invasion in world wars took place. And the rest is history.

Two other signature days occurred in my own life after WWII. One was on August 28, 1963 when I took time off from school to go on the Washington March and heard Martin Luther King make one of the greatest speeches in American History. Before that, I was hopelessly and helplessly against the inequalities I saw for blacks in America. It would be 45 years before Rev. King's dream would come to fruition with the election of a black president of the United States--an unthinkable and amazing event surpassing even the first time election of an Irish Catholic president a few months later than the March when JFK defeated Richard Nixon. Certainly 9/11 was a signature day. I woke to the TV when I saw replays of the planes charging into two magnificent buildings. When I saw them collapsing it was beyond belief. Over 3000 people died in that project of terrorism, and it changed our lives in countless ways.

But one of the greatest of my signature days happened yesterday when Barack Obama became the next President elect of the United States. While he was making his historic speech in Chicago's Grant Park, you could see the look on the faces of some of the people who were there. Many were shedding tears of joy, including Jesse Jackson and Oprah. Others were looking at Obama who had them mesmerized with his presence and his speech. Now, it remains to be seen what Obama can do to put this country back on the right road. It will take great skill and leadership to accomplish all the needs that we have, and if he succeeds in saving the real America, he will become a legend as a truly great president.