White Shoes

My grandpa Irving passed away in 1992. He was 92 years old and lived in Florida. He had been living down there for quite a few years so I didn't get to spend a whole lot of time with him in his later years. Growing up in Central Jersey, he lived in Brooklyn so I have great memories of spending time in the apartment on holidays, etc. He was my last grandpa so it was sad when he died and I think about him often. One of the memories that always comes to mind is the white shoes. Grandpa Irving always wore those patent leather white shoes. He wore them in the morning, noon and night. Typical grandpa in Florida. White shoes, polyester patterned pants and belt with the buckle pulled to the side. Beautiful.

I bring this up because we lost another pair of white shoes last week. Deb's grandfather, Zeide Abe, passed away after several weeks in the hospital at the age of 80. Too early. He was a good man whom I got to know over the last 8 years. His life had not been the same since his wife, Bobe Ana, passed away in April, 2001. He's probably happier now. I was grateful to have had a grandfather again, even if it was just for a few years. Deb spent the week in Florida with Hannah. I went down for 24 hours to pay my respects. I came back and Elijah and I spent a few days alone together.

When I told Elijah that Mommy went to Florida to see Zeide Abe because he was sick, Elijah asked, "Is he going to get dead?" I said I didn't know. The next morning, he passed away. I wonder if Elijah understands. When Deb got back on Saturday from Florida, Elijah said he wished he could have gone too.

I never knew my great-grandfather. I think it's neat that Elijah got to know one of his. Zeide Abe always said that Elijah was going to be President of the United States. "El Presidente" he called him.

All of this makes me think of my Grandmother. Buba Pearl is 98 years old. She is lucid, she is in good health and she lives in the a Jewish home here in Cherry Hill. Imagine if Zeide Abe had lived to 98! Elijah would be 22 years old!! Hannah would be 19!

I will always remember Zeide Abe. I am honored to have known him. I know Bobe Ana is up there ironing his underwear again! (she really did that!)

Looking Through a Glass Onion

This is the worst winter weather I have ever experienced! Every day brings more threats of ice and snow and temperatures in the teens and twenties. It's horrible! Right now, it's raining slush and it's totally gross out. Three weeks until I hear the best three words in the English language: "pitchers and catchers." Spring Training begins this month and that means BASEBALL season is just around the corner. Next to Hanukkah, Opening Day is my favorite day of the year. It means spring and hot dogs and BASEBALL. Ahhhh.... BUT that is still weeks away. For now, I need to find other little pleasures to keep me happy.

One of those pleasures is my new toy. I got an iPod. This little device fits in my shirt pocket and it's hard drive will hold ALL 900 of my CD's. I still can't grasp that fact. It's got a 40gb hard drive and I am "ripping" all of my CD's to Mp3 so I can import them to the iPod. I already have around 1,500 songs on it and it's like a wet dream. I go into the car and hit Shuffle and get the ULTIMATE mix! I am one of those guys that spent half their childhood making mixed tapes. How can you top this? No more choosing which songs make it and which don't! THEY ALL DO! Needless to say, Deb is none too happy with my new joy because she is...well...she's jealous of the thing. I told her that the iPod has a volume control and she......ah never mind. JUST KIDDING HUDDY!!

Anyways, I had a misty moment on Tuesday morning. I was driving Elijah and Hannah to Melissa's house for daycare and put the radio on. Elijah likes to listen to his music but he had a liking for Hello, Goodbye by the Beatles. So I taught him Yellow Submarine, She Loves You and All You Need is Love. Being a huge Beatles fan myself, it was fun teaching him those songs because that's how I began my love of music. I heard the Beatles and it was it for me. Now I knew that one of the local radio stations had a morning show called Breakfast With the Beatles. I was scanning the radio stations looking for the show. I stopped on 102.9 WMGK and they were playing "Glass Onion", a track of the classic Beatles White album. Well, before I could even speak, Elijah YELLS out from the back seat, "YOU FOUND IT DADDY! It's Breakfast With the Beatles!!!!" WHAT? He does NOT know Glass Onion! Glass Onion??? I was flabbergasted. Did he recognize the singing?? the SOUND??? How did he know this was the Beatles? I remembered the first time I heard the Beatles and then it hit me. Elijah is going to have the same respect and love for music that I do. I got a little mushy! Now we listen to Breakfast With the Beatles every morning on our way to Melissa's. This morning he heard "All You Need is Love" for the first time! I've been singing it to him for weeks. Very cool.

Our kitchen is getting redone. We put our order in for the cabinets and things are underway. The entire kitchen is getting remodeled. We have to move the dishwasher and sink too. It's everything. We are going to pick out the granite countertop tomorrow at the granite yard. They say the entire kitchen will be done by April 3rd. We will be kitchen-less for 6-7 weeks! Can you say TAKEOUT?

Hannah is clapping her hands now. We sing the "Clap Your Hands Hannah" song and she goes to work! It's adorable and she loves it. She also blows kisses. She is so freaking cute that I can't stop squeezing her. She's like a zit that almost pops every time I hug her. (collective "EW! that's no way to talk about your daughter!") Whatever. She's awesome.

So what's up with you?