Giving Thanks

For nine days of the year my parents were the same age. Then, on November 30^th, Mom would jump ahead. She would have been 86.

And, like my Dad, I thank God for my Mom each and every day, and I miss the heck out of her!

There was this great contrast in my parents…while Dad was silly and outgoing, Mom was quiet, reserved, almost shy. She was happy to be at home reading or working in the garden, but, like Dad, she was very creative and talented, but in a quieter way. She would knit and crochet these amazingly intricate afghans, and in later years she crocheted blankets and hats for the newborns at Dominican hospital.

Mom was calm, practical and pretty rational, which is hard to do when you’re raising four kids! She was a great audience for me when, as a kid, I would try comedy routines and jokes out on her.

Of course, around the holidays you tend to get a little misty eyed when thinking of loved ones who have passed. At Christmas I think more of Dad because that was his favorite holiday…he was like a kid himself…he loved all the decorations and the music, and especially the family gathered around the table with lots of wonderful homemade food!

Mom I miss most around Thanksgiving, because that was her big day. Nobody put on a better Thanksgiving spread than Mom, and her stuffing was the best in the world…(now I know you could try and tell me that your Mom’s or your Grandma’s stuffing was the best…but that couldn’t possibly be…’cause my Mom’s was THE best! )

With both these holidays and both their birthdays all so close together, it makes for a long month! And though I feel those tears welling up when I think of them (like right now), they are less tears of sadness, as they are tears of joy! I rejoice every time I think of Mom and Dad…I am so happy that there were enough similarities in their personalities to attract them to each other, and enough differences to make it really exciting and interesting for 48 years!!

I really did get all the best of both my parents…the creative, outgoing, comedic side of my Dad, which allows me to go out and entertain and do what I do… and the creative, reserved, practical side of my Mom, which allows me to go out and entertain and do what I do…without getting arrested!

Thanks Mom!

Love,

Your Son

All The Best

My Dad died 3 days after New Years in 1994.

Today, November 21^st , is his birthday. He would have been 85.

I still miss him. I thank God everyday for him, and I thank him everyday for all that he gave me.

I wonder how he would have aged…Gracefully? Painfully?

He was an incredibly funny person (he performed with a comedy team in college and went on to write for Bob Hope and Red Skelton in the 50’s) so I often wish I could pick up the phone and see what he thought of some new movie or show on TV. Would he think that Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert and their shows were funny? I think he would have appreciated them, though he was kind of old school comedy…Mel Brooks or the early Pink Panther films were really his style.

Besides a great sense of humor and a zest for life, Dad was kind, loving and giving. He was a creative and talented writer, and he had a great voice…sound like anyone you know?!

And, oh yeah…he was also one of the most amazing cooks you could have ever met. More than a cook, he was really a Master Chef! Everyone who ever had a meal in our house said he should have had his own cooking show! I don’t think anything gave him more pleasure than to create a meal and have family and friends gathered around the table…the more the merrier! Our kitchen and dining room were the loudest, most fun-filled rooms in the house!!

So that’s him in a nutshell…and me too!

I truly got all the best of him!

So, again, thank you God!

Thank you Dad!

You are missed every day.

Reenie

Thrill Ride

I was looking at a newspaper article from this past summer about The Lazard Group taking over Mapleton Communications. I saw a quote from Adam Nathanson from a few years back that said he was “thrilled” to be collaborating with Lazard. Well of course he was “thrilled”, at that time they were giving him a butt-load of money to buy up a bunch more radio stations!

I wonder if he’s still “thrilled” now that Lazard has taken controlling interest in Mapleton after they couldn’t pay back the loans….I mean, after all, it was because of Adam that this thrilling new business opportunity has come about!! I wonder if he still has that excited, wide-eyed, kid-in-a-candy-store look on his face now that he’s found out the candy ain’t so sweet!

More than likely Adam has his usual expression on his face, that of a deer-caught-in-the-headlights.

Well, actually, Adam is more likely the scapegoat-caught-in-the-headlights! I know that Adam is the one who seems to be in charge, who we see at the helm, who we Pigs interact with whenever it is that we interact with management…but if you look closer, you’ll probably notice his fathers hand in his back moving the mouth and shaking hands over deals.

Unfortunately, there is now another hand in the back controlling events…a hand that’s not family! I guess that’s why there has been little if any chatter from our corporate masters in recent months…they are busy nodding yes and trying to protect their phoney-baloney jobs!

That sound you hear is the quiet...right before the other shoe drops!

Big business…it’s so thrilling!!

Ralphie