The recent report confirmed what was generally believed. Football is dangerous. Brain damage was found in 99% of the professional players whose brains were studied post-mortem. Even providing for statistical variations, the results seem clear and are troubling. The NFL will, no doubt, take steps to address the problem -- changes to rules …
It wasn't exactly a scene from The Birds, but it was bad. We had a sense, but the full impact was not felt for days. We decided to go down to the beach one evening to try out the restaurant at TOBAY that is under new management. The write-up in the press made it seem worthwhile. So, after a walk on the Boardwalk at Jones Beach, we drove east along …
We packed a deck of cards, Scrabble and books for our long holiday weekend in the Berkshires. The weather app was predicting a likelihood of rain and we wanted to be prepared. The cards, Scrabble and books came home unused. With the exception of brief localized thunderstorms in late afternoon on two days, the weather was perfect. Maybe I read …
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 …
