What I Did On My Winter Vacation By Helen Binder

18 And Out

For years I have told my boys, 18 and out. I then added that you
have an 18 year lease and then you are on month to month.
Again it is something that I do not remember my father saying.
I must have listened though, since I was away at Michigan State
when I was 17, then on to San Francisco, married, never to live
at home again.

As for my two sons, both were away at school when they were
18. For four years plus, Matthew taking a little longer and Seth traveling
and working in Israel and Germany after college. Then they both came
home. I have told some that the only mistake I made was that I forgot
to change the locks or these days the code to the garage.

I had always thought that if we had the children close together, we
would have more time for the two of us to spend together after the
children moved away.

So one would assume from this story that I am not happy that my
children are living at home. The truth is just the opposite. Over the
last few years with my mother in the hospital 4 months plus and my
father in the hospital a few times, they have both been invaluable.
Giving of their time unselfishly to care for one or both of them.
For this I am eternally grateful.

Not being one to express this sentiment on

This Weeks Very Short Story: Chapter 29

I have always wanted to get an attic fan (now referred to as whole house fan) for my home in California. In California it might be 90 degrees and 70 degrees at night. It would cool the house down in no time and save on air conditioning. Growing up in Michigan before we had air conditioning, it could be 90 degrees outside and 90 percent humidity during the day and the same at night. Our attic fan would suck the air and anything else up into the attic. It even pulled doors closed. There is nothing like hot humid air blowing over us. It did beat no air blowing though.... 

I lived in San Francisco in 1976. I remember seeing the Dirty Harry original movie again at that time. The apartment I lived in overlooked into Kezar Stadium. There is a scene where Harry shoots the bad guy in the leg in the middle of the stadium. It was then that I realize that the movie was filmed right out my window. 

This Weeks Very Short Story: Chapter 28

Over one year ago we went to my youngest son’s wedding. After the wedding in Pittsburgh, we decided to vacation in New York City. We stayed in Times Square. Not realizing when we booked it that we would be there the night of the Presidential Election of 2016. I was out in Times Square until 3:30am that night. I was expecting a big party atmosphere with the name of the winner flashing on the big screen. None of that happened. What did happen was that the big screens changed during the night from election results back to ads for Broadway plays. The TV news company that set up in Times Square went dark, they never went live to the crowd. I have likened it to a funeral, except I think people are happier at a funeral. 

During the winter when I was in high school, I remember going to Kensington Park to go tobogganing. Many a good time was had doing this. The Kensington toboggan runs were great. I loved guiding the toboggan down the run and purposely making it turn over at the end of the run. 

To keep warm when we went tobogganing or ice skating, most would go get some hot chocolate. I still don’t drink hot drinks including coffee, tea and hot chocolate. Then there was me with my Coke. I would have a cup of chicken soup, if there was a vending machine that had it. In high school, I do remember one friend bringing some Southern Comfort. 

I remember in high school going to sleep having not solved a math equation and then waking up in the middle of the night or morning with the answer. I know, I was weird. Occasionally, it even happens with patient problems. 

We were coming home from dinner out after work and a day of local fires here in California. It was cold and the winds were still blowing. As my wife ran into the house complaining of the cold, I asked her; how is it going to be when we move back to Michigan? Her answer without hesitation was, I probably will be wearing warmer clothes. 

This Weeks Very Short Story: Chapter 27

I don’ like hospital, can’t remember when I did. I think this goes back to the time my grandfather’ spend at Sinai Hospital before he passed. I was very young. Even today when I have to work in the hospital, I usually get in and out as quick as possible. 

In those days when my grandfather was in the hospital, they did not let children upstairs. I remember running around and probably misbehaving in the lobby at Sinai Hospital with my brother and two cousins. I am sure were told many times to behave by the adult that was supposed to be watching us. 

I remember when my grandfather passed. I remember them telling me about it. I did not understand. I remember that they gave me an ice cream cone. I remember it melting as I was crying as I walked down the street on Ithaca. I was seven. 

When the funeral came for my grandfather happened, they dressed us up in our dress clothes. I remember going to the funeral. They did not let us go in. It did not mean anything to me at the time. Years later when I was working in Los Angeles and my father asked me to go to the funeral of one of his cousins. It was in a part of Los Angeles, that I did not know. I got my maps together and eventually made it to the funeral. It was outside. My aunt, actually cousin whose brother had passed, said to me that she was glad that I came, but if the funeral was inside, they would not have let me inside. 

Years later after my experience with funerals, I had a patient who was a Rabbi. One time I remembered about the funerals and asked him why I wouldn’t I be allow in. This was something no one had ever explained to me. Well, it turns out we are Kohan according to our Jewish history and that is what they do. They keep the Kohanim in a separate room during the funeral. Most funerals that I have attended since that time have not made that distinction and everyone sits together. 

This Weeks Very Short Story: Chapter 26

At Lincoln Jr. High School, they started with language class in 7^th grade. I took Spanish as a language. When we moved and I attended Clinton Jr. High School, they didn’t start language class until 8^th grade. What were they to do about this as they used the same books that I already finished in 7^th grade? I ended up being put in a 9^th grade class. In that class was my later to become sister-in-law. 

I took Spanish class in 7^th, 8^th, 9^th, 10^th, 11^th and 12^th grade. Taking Spanish in Michigan in those days was interesting because the only people you could speak Spanish with were the few teachers in the school and some waiters at a Spanish restaurant (El Nibble Nook) that we went to on a field trip. 

One of my Spanish teachers in high school was this very cute short woman. She drove a Volkswagen hatchback that we referred to as a pregnant roller skate. I don’t remember how it happened, but we ended up going to a rally at Wayne State University. The speaker was Ralph Nader. I am not sure if this about the environment and cars or was an antiwar rally. There was another male friend that also went. Unlike the stories that you hear about students and teachers today, the only thing that happened was in my imagination. 

At Lincoln Jr. High School, they didn’t have Shop class until 8^th grade. I left after 7^th grade and at Clinton Jr. High School; they started Shop class in 7^th grade. I did not want to take a class with 7^th graders. I not sure I remember why. I never did take Shop class, maybe I should have taken Home-Ec. 

When it came to naming my second son, it was a limited choice as there were not many people to name after that had not been used by other family members. He ended up being named after one of my aunts and my mother’s father.

I have only one wish that if I am ever blessed to have grandchildren, that they are not named after me.

I remember the mimeograph paper smell. I couldn’t wait for the teacher to pass out the freshly printed paper. This was the original crack. Don't try to tell me you didn't sniff it. 

This Weeks Very Short Story: Chapter 25

When I was 12 and 13, I went to a Jewish Community Center Day Camp Safari. We would go to different places everyday by bus. Some places like the zoo and Boblo island, anywhere that we could go and return in one day. At the end of the day, if we had time and we behaved we would get to go to Dairy Queen. They would give us about 50 cents to a dollar to spend on anything we wanted. Some of us started buying the largest ice cream for that money, maybe a quart. They soon changed the rule to: you could only buy what you could eat as I guess some didn’t finish what they bought. I’m betting I finished mine. 

At Boblo Island Amusement Park with Camp Safari campers, we had a great time. My favorite was the bumper cars. My last ride that day was to go on a ride; I think was called the Himalaya? It was a ride that started out slow, getting faster as it was going around in circles clockwise with hills and valleys while playing loud music. Half way through the ride they would ask if you wanted to go backwards, of course you had no choice. Well you got it, motion sickness. Not the best when you have to take a boat ride home. The only positive thing was the attention from a number of the girls on the ride home. 

At Paul L. Best elementary school, I started to play the drums. I even marched in the Memorial Day Parade in Ferndale. I even remember taking a class in music theory at Ferndale High School. Ferndale High School had a great marching band. After seventh grade at Lincoln Jr. High School, we moved to the other side of Oak Park. I attended Clinton Jr. High School. The band teacher and I did not hit it off. This is as close as I ever came to telling a teacher what I thought he should do. That was the end of my playing career. 

This Weeks Very Short Story: Chapter 24

I was out shopping and the sales person had an English sounding accent. I said to him that I hear that you are not from around here, probably from Chicago. He says yes, south side. I told him that he is probably from where my daughter in law was from. Then I thought again and said Australia because I was not sure. He said no, real far from there. I asked him where he was from, and he said Manchester, England. I told him that is where my daughter in law is from. 

On Sunday July 23, 1967, my parents gathered up all three children into the car for a ride to Belle Isle in Detroit for a day of fun. It was closed that day as we would later find out to put prisoners from the rioting. I never have been back there. 

Behind our house on Greenbriar in Oak Park was an easement between the homes and West Side Drive In. This was not far from the Detroit Artillery Armory used by the Michigan National Guard. During the riots of 1967, they would patrol behind our house. I guess we felt safer. 

I hate live TV shows that we watch on the west coast that have been previously recorded like Saturday Night Live. Even more I hate shows recorded live in California that we can only watch as previously recorded. Imagine if they tried that with the Super Bowl. 

When I go to pay for my car wash at this one place, they have been charging me less than the stated charge and it is not on a day that there is a discount. Well I finally looked at the receipt; senior discount. I didn’t even know to ask for one. 

This Weeks Very Short Story: Chapter 23

In 1972 my choice was to get a car and go to Wayne State University or go Michigan State University, no car. The car I wanted was a small Toyota. A girl in my high school class got one. I don’t know where she went to college. So there we were; my mother and I going to look at a Toyota just outside of Detroit in 1972. 

I did not get that Toyota in 1972. It wasn’t until 1981 when I finished all my schooling and we were living in California. I finally got my Toyota, a 1981 Toyota Tercel, 5 speed, rack and pinion steering. It was great for driving over Laurel Canyon daily to work. 

A few years after I got my Toyota Tercel, I went back to the same dealer and wanted to get a Toyota Cressida, the top of their line. They sort of laughed me off the lot, not wanting to deal with me. I then went to Nissan and bought their top of the line, a Maxima. I have owned 3 Nissan’s, still have one. Automotive salesmen take note. 

It wasn’t until 2015, that I even looked at a Toyota product. FINALLY after 35 years, I bought one. No disrespect this time. 

Not to say that we did not have much when we were growing up but sometimes the large box that a washing machine or refrigerator came in was as much fun to play with as getting a present. 

When I was 13, I got my first radio that had AM and FM. I even think it had shortwave, though I don’t think that I listened to it. Having FM eventually opened up a new world to me, album oriented rock and alternative rock radio. Stations like WABX, CJOM out of Canada and WRIF baby. Many a night would I fall asleep listening to what we now refer as classic rock. 

Sometime during high school, I went to a bingo to raise money for the Jewish War Veterans group that my parents belonged to. This was a time when it was illegal to hold a bingo, but they let charitable group do this. Well that night, they had a fill the whole card bingo and win a stereo… complete with AM/FM, turntable, speakers. Well, I won it. I left right after winning. That night I couldn’t sleep, kept getting up to look at the stereo unit to see if it was real. 

This Weeks Very Short Story: Chapter 22

I never really talked to my son’s about girls, dating, marriage. My younger son, Seth had been going out with a young lady for some time and I noticed that she had been running in a number of races, 5K, 10K, etc. So I sent a text to him stating that Allison had been running a number of races and that he should catch her before she runs away. I did not expect and did not get one right away. Sometime later, he said do you remember that text that you sent me. I played like I did not and then said yes. His only comment was that was the idea. Well he officially caught her. 

My first roommate in the Fraternity house was not a Fraternity member. He happened to be a saved Christian. He had this car with a large engine. One day as we were driving down some of the small streets in East Lansing he decides to show me how fast his car can go. As I sat glued to the back of my seat, I told him that I understand that he knows where he is going after this life, but I am not in any hurry to find out. 

One movie that I had a hard time watching was ‘Philadelphia’. Another movie, ‘Rent’, I just could not make it through. 

To make things much simpler in my life when it comes to what to celebrate or not, I have decided to follow this rule. IF they are serving food, celebrate it. This works for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chanukah, New Years, Birthdays, Anniversaries, Reunions and Everyday Life. 

A medical school classmate of mine retired and grew his beard. He became Santa Claus. Now when I think of Santa Claus, I think of him. I was thinking that when I retire, I would become Harry Hannukah, but I think my older son beat me to it. 

My father was a very progressive thinking man; he foresaw the migration of people out of Detroit into the suburbs. When he bought his first house, he looked to Oak Park; or was it just cheaper there. 

This Weeks Very Short Story: Chapter 21

Before Cup Holders: My mother had a 1960’s Dodge Lancer. I loved that car and dreamed that one day I would get to drive it. All it took was my mother driving with her cigarette in one hand and a coffee cup in another. We were stopped at a light and I think she was drinking the coffee and dropped an ash on her lap and then went to brush it off. Well, she popped the clutch, and we were jolted into the back of a large truck. The front of the car was ruined, it was the end of the dream. 

I like cilantro. My mother said it tasted like soap. Maybe I like it because of all the times my mouth was washed out with, that would have been Dial though. 

One night we decided to go out to see a movie and then dinner. We got to the movie. It was one of those new theatres with a good sound system. Immediately when the movie started I felt like I was part of the movie. It was a war movie. It was almost like I could feel the bullets flying by me, not just from the sound but I swear you could feel the breeze as they passed. I would look over to see if my wife was hit. By the time the move ended, we felt like we had been through the war. We had to walk around for awhile before we could even think of going out to dinner. The movie was Saving Private Ryan. 

It’s hard to believe that this Jewish boy was listening to Jethro Tull’s Agualung and the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar in 1971. A few of us even knew all the words to the songs, I can’t say that now. I guess that we needed balance in life in those days. 

In October of 2016, I was on the way to Michigan State for a college fraternity reunion I stopped and had breakfast at McDonalds. After eating I had to make a U-turn, a Michigan left. Upon turning I noticed a food truck, Gourmet Grill Cheese truck. I had seen this truck on facebook posted by someone I went to Hebrew school and attended the same high school with. So I pulled over into a gas station and asked if the person driving had the same last name of the person I knew. He did. We talked awhile; he was on his way to Cedar Pointe to work. I told him to say hello to his father. As I love grilled cheese, I only wish he was set up to work. Maybe next time I visit from California, I will run into him again. 

This Weeks Very Short Story: Chapter 20

One of my summer jobs during college was working in Pharmacy in Detroit. It only lasted only a short time. The owner was a family friend. He continued to work even after being robbed a number of times and he was shot when supposedly someone followed him back to Oak Park. Working at the counter in the Pharmacy, you got to know the local people and their preference of cigarettes and snuff amongst other things. One day I got a call and they told me not to come in, another robbery, one too many. They were going to close down the Pharmacy. It was the end of an era of local individual owned pharmacies. 

One summer while in college, I worked at Sinai Hospital in Detroit purging old x-rays. They did this to get money from the recovered silver. It was a night job from 11p.m. to 6 a.m. I worked with a group of people that all got hired at the same time. Once we got the swing of things and completed what was expected of us each day, we would slip off for a little sleeping time. I would sleep on the x-ray table. The x-ray tech would wake me before everyone showed up for work in the morning. 

Years ago, I was doing some per diem work in Torrance, CA. It was about 50 miles from my home. I worked there during a rainy season. Yes, it did rain in California. At that time I was driving a Volkswagen Jetta. If I left there before 3 p.m., I had a chance to get home quickly. This did not happen often. Leaving after 3 p.m., I would get on the 405 freeway and drive for a short while and then come to an almost dead stop. Sitting there in traffic, in the rain with the wiper blades going back and forth gave me claustrophobia such that one time I had to get off the road. I then got out of the car and just stood in the rain. That night I told my wife that I need to drive the van. 

For years when I made my videos or writings, I have signed them…. A RAMS PRODUCTION. Robert, Arlene, Matthew, Seth. Now that the RAMS football team has moved back to Los Angeles, I can’t wait to get that cease and desist letter. Like they are going to notice. 

We went to see my parents at Riverside National Cemetery for the first time about a month ago. They had put up the headstone. It reminded me of a new subdivision being built and instead of houses it was headstones. Blocks and blocks of them, with no grass. They should have the lawn's put in by the time we visit next.

This Weeks Very Short Story: Chapter 19

I started wearing glasses when I was 3 years old. While still in elementary school, I learned to play the card game gin rummy with my next door neighbor. Somehow one time he let it slip that he knew what cards I had in my hand by looking at my glasses. 

I remember that first trip to the Castro district of San Francisco in 1977 to sign a rental agreement for an apartment. As young newlyweds we walked down the street hand in hand as though we had entered an episode of the twilight zone as the couples all looked different that we did. 

My parents had a poodle that they inherited from my grandmother.  Prince (my grandmother's choice of name) loved me and always showed me his teeth when I came close to him.  I think this started when I came home first and had to throw Prince out into the snow while I had to clean up the mess he made going through the garbage and spreading it though out the house.  Oh yeah, there was a little growl with that smile. 

I am not a pet lover, nor am I a pet hater.  In college, I was doing some research out of the Veterinary Center on a manx cat. I was invited to go necropsy room to take a section of a cat for research.  What I remember is going into the necropsy room and seeing a cow splayed open.  Next I saw a Lassie dog that had just been put down, I then walked out, never to go back.  I did do my research with specimens provided to me down in the basement of the veterinary center on the electron microscope alone.  

I went to college to major in Mathematics and minor in Accounting to become an accountant.  A Fraternity roommate of mine went to school to become a Veterinarian.  We both ended up doing research on an electron microscope in the basement of the Veterinary Center.  My friend had findings from his research and was able to get a paper published.  My research led nowhere.  I ended up going to Podiatry Medical School; my friend is now an accountant.  

For the second night of Passover, we went to a friend’s mother’s house for dinner. Her mother is 92. They had another friend’s mother there that was 98. All the other people there were older than me and my wife. I now realize that if we were doing a Seder, my wife and I would have been the children and my wife would have had to do the four questions. And no, we did not have to sit at the kids table. 

This Weeks Very Short Story: Chapter 18.5

As the youngest and the only remaining sibling of a larger family, my mother said she was the last of the Mohicans. Guess the tribe is all together now. 

There is a book call Tuesday’s with Morrie. We had Saturdays with Mom, especially after my father passed. Almost every Saturday, my wife and I would go to Moms. For the most part, it was never before 12 noon. For Mom, the day just didn’t begin until after 12 noon. We would take her to do her shopping, an experience in its self or pick it up ourselves when she wasn’t up to it. Sometimes we would take her to get her hair or nails done and out for a late lunch or dinner. There were occasional outings to a movie, Santa Barbara or Laguna Beach, less as time went on. It was always an adventure. Saturday’s will never be the same. 

I don’t read for enjoyment much. The reason is that if I sit that still for any amount of time its lights out. I don’t remember my father reading books very much until he retired and then he read constant. The result usually resulted in him taking a nap or a good night’s sleep. 

As part of a coed explorer scout group, we did a community service project in Oak Park, Michigan where we painted an old, at least two story wood sided house, Climbing up the ladder to scrape and paint the upper levels was fun, not to say helpful to the older couple that owned the house. I look back now and I am glad that I have a one story house. 

While living on Ithaca, the neighbor across the street had a motor speed boat made of wood. We got to help strip the wood and sand the bottom so the boat could be refinished to go back in the water. Our pay was some fresh cucumbers right off the vine. As the oldest, I did get to drive the boat years later up in the Georgean bay area of Ontario Canada where they had a cabin. I also got to shoot the 22 rifle and walk around with a pellet rifle and shoot things. This was the end of my Davy Crockett days. 

This Weeks Very Short Story: Chapter 18

The story I didn't want to write.

A mentor of mine always answered everything is fantastic, couldn't be better when asked how he was. He learned it from a mentor of his. He also learned that his mentor would say this even when everything was not all right. Well this may work in an office but I just can't keep that attitude tonight.

This evening my mother, Helen Binder​, passed away. It was one short last illness that took her life in addition to her many medical problems. Her mind was sharp to the end.

In the last few days many people stopped by to see her, including my son from Baltimore and his fiancée who had a short layover in Los Angeles on his way to Hawaii for a wedding. Mom loved it.

The night before last as I was leaving I said see you tomorrow as she was giving me two thumbs up, she said maybe not. It was difficult to sleep that night thinking that would be her last words.

Today toward the end of the day she kept talking about getting dressed and finding her shoes and purse and taking a trip. At times she felt like she was on a plane. She kept talking about Israel. I asked her who is there and she replied my son Matthew. I asked who else and she said my daughter in law Shaina. I told her to have a nice trip. Her reply was, OH Robert! Again as I was leaving I said see you tomorrow; she just gave me a face.

I am told by the nursing staff that she went peacefully. I hope she has a nice trip.  

This Weeks Very Short Story: Chapter 17

In December of 1978, I was doing a rotation in a hospital in Winfield Kansas. I lived and ate in the hospital. On December 30 I was watching the Gator Bowl where Clemson beat Ohio State. The hospital was quiet, they tried to get as many people home for the holidays. At the end of the game, Woody Hayes punched a student player from Clemson. The TV channel immediately went to the news and did not mention the punch. I was screaming, but there was no one around. I got on the phone and called San Francisco where my wife was to see if anyone there had seen what happened. Finally part way through the news, they mentioned the punch because of all the calls that they got from the viewers. Woody Hayes lost his job because of this. 

One of the hospitals that I applied to do my residency was in Flint Michigan. It was my worst interview. First I had to drive there from Oak Park, Michigan through a big snow storm. It only went downhill from there. There was a whole group of us that was there to be interviewed. During the interview, they asked questions that were rude and crude. I now understand that these questions were to see how you handled stress. The one question that bothered me was… have you cheated on your wife? (The correct answer is, why is your wife available?) It got worse after that. After the interview, we all got to sit in one room and wait until all of the interviews were done to see who was going to be called back for a second interview. They then had a Steve Harvey moment and read a list of who was to be coming back for the second interview; they read the list of who was to go home instead of reading the ones that were going to stay. I can now look back at this as a blessing. Why? If I had got the residency there, I may have stayed and could being living in Flint. 

Is it just me? I still keep people’s phone numbers on my cell phone that have passed away. I know that I can’t call them. Removing them would be like I would be forgetting them. 

This Weeks Very Short Story: Chapter 16

This Week's Very Short Story: Special Edition 
I have a friend that went to the University of Michigan. I went to Michigan State University. He still lives in Michigan. I live in California. We don't talk much. Years ago, I started calling him when Michgan State beat the University of Michigan in football. For years, I did not have to call him very often. Today my wife said, I guess you don't have call him and then this happened. (On the last play of the game, Michigan fumbled, MSU ran it in for a touchdown to win the game.) I called, he didn't answer his phone. 

In high school, my son worked at a music store. One day my son said that Jose Feliciano came into the music store. I asked my son, what kind of a car was he driving? Felix Navidad!

On my birthday, I took care of a group of 3 Board & Care homes in the morning. At the second house , there is a woman whom I have seen for many years. Usually I ask her to sing Bei Mir Bist Du Schon in Yiddish to me. For my birthday, I asked her to sing happy birthday to me. She sang a complete version. I told her that she was the first one to sing happy birthday to me on my birthday. She then fell back to sleep. I doubt that she would remember that I was even there. Not bad for 101 years old. 

As I was listening to the Rabbi read the Ketubah in Hebrew very slowly at my son’s wedding, I started to miss my father in law Moniek Margulies. He was a speed Hebrew reader. 

I was very calm and collected at the beginning of my son’s wedding even with the troubles we had with traveling to Israel. We had never met his bride to be or her parents. Then we got to meet her as she sat to meet people with her wedding dress on prior to the wedding. I then started to cry like a baby.

My cousin has red hair, so did his mother. When I was a child they told me that he was adopted. I found it hard to believe. 

On my father’s side of the family we referred to my aunt as Aunt Ethel. On my father’s sister side of the family they called her Aunt Rusty. I always assumed it was because of her red hair. It was not until later that I found out it was because of her gravelly voice. 

I don't buy lottery tickets, so I can't win. I do have a rule that if they buy tickets at work, then I go in. Why, you don't want to be the one left at work the next day. This happened to a doctor I knew, she did not go in and the office won the lottery. She is probably still working. 

This Weeks Very Short Story: Chapter 15

My younger son could get out of many things with a smile and twinkle in his eyes. One time this did not work was when he was staying with my parents in Las Vegas. He must have done something wrong and quickly found my mother’s hand on his bottom. After that day he always behaved around her. 

I remember at Lincoln Jr. High School in Ferndale Michigan that I and some other students were pushed out of gym class early. The punishment was to bend over and a swift swat of the gym teacher’s shoe on my back side. I can’t remember if this was real or a nightmare. 

When they finally built a built in pool at Oak Park High School, I went out for the swim team. I found out that practice started at 6 a.m. That was the beginning and ending of my swimming career. 

Not being an early morning person, in college I tried to get my class to start at 9 a.m. and preferably at 10 a.m. I think I only had one 8 o’clock in undergrad school. In medical school, they did not give us choices. 

During college at Michigan State University, I hated classes on Tuesday and Thursday’s. Those were days you went from early in the day to late, sometimes into the evening. They usually included chemistry labs, physics labs and biology labs. My last term as a senior my schedule was Monday, Wednesday and Friday…. Heaven. 

I don’t eat fish. I used to say that I only eat Jewish fish… gefilte fish, lox, smoked fish and herring. The only two other types of fish I used to eat were tuna which isn’t really a fish because it comes in a can and McDonalds’s fish sandwich which can’t necessarily be identified as fish. Now it just doesn’t happen very often. 

One time I went to Santa Cruz, California for the day with a medical school class mate. Somehow for dinner I let him order some type of Chinese food with fish. Well, I go real sick. Not sure if it was from the food or from my first time in the ocean or from the terrible sunburn that I got before I ate the Chinese food with fish. 

In San Francisco, we lived in three places in two years. The first place we had to move very quickly from. No, it wasn’t because we didn’t pay the rent. We just wanted to not live there when the police released the crazy neighbor the police had taken away. 

In high school, I would sleep with a hat on to keep my hair straight. My senior picture was taken with my hair as straight as possible. In my first year at college that all ended. 

Now that I look back at a picture of myself in college, I can now see why I had trouble convincing people that I was drug free. 

This Weeks Very Short Story: Chapter 14

In the early 1980’s, one of my guilty pleasures was getting my car washed. It wasn’t just getting my car washed. At the car wash, they had a guy who shined shoes. I would sit up on his throne, watch the cars get washed and the people waiting. I was on top of the world. It is very hard to do this these days with athletic shoes though. 

Growing up I always liked the Lincoln Town Car, the one with the suicide doors. Why you ask? Because, I equated owning one with being rich. There was someone I knew whose parents had 2 of these cars. Flash forward to the Lincoln dealership in Beverly Hills, CA. I was looking at a Town Car and my wife knowing the story, said go ahead and get it. Then within a few moments later, she said, when am I going to get my van? Well, she got her van, I never got a Lincoln. For the two weeks that I spent in Michigan for my 40^th high school reunion, I did rent a Lincoln Town Car. Even cruised it down Woodward Avenue during the Dream Cruise. Heaven. 

Recently it was reported in the news that an 8^th grade boy was charged with assault when he kissed an 8^th grade girl. She said it was unwelcomed. Well, I was a 10^th grade boy who still loves kissing that 8^th grade girl some 45 years later. I guess you know what my sentence was. 

When my younger son finally started college in Ohio, I was yelled at by my wife. How could you let him go so far away she cried out? Funny, I do remember that my wife was with us as we toured colleges in Michigan and Ohio. 

From the stories that I was told, my father in law Moniek Margulies, was given a bicycle and told to leave when they knew the German’s were coming in Poland. My translation is that he was faster than a speeding German. Thank God for that. 

From stories that I was told, my mother in law Riva Lipenholtz Margulies, was in the part of Poland where the Russian’s came and invited them to vacation in Siberia. Baruch HaShem. 

It may be hard for some to believe that to get my younger son to go try out and play baseball, we had to tell him that his friend Timmy was going to play. One season and he was hooked. I don’t think that Timmy played that many years. 

After the first year of T-ball, I knew that my younger son (around 6 years old) had some innate abilities. When I took him to hit ground balls to him, he started backhanding the ball. He was also able toss up a ball, all by himself and then hit it with a bat. Two things I am not sure my older son could do today. 

In high school, I went to a party with a friend of mine. He drove as I was not old enough to drive. We went to pick up his girlfriend and her friend. When we got there, I moved to the back seat and next to me then sat his girlfriend’s friend who was also her next door neighbor. I still let that girl sit next to me, sometimes even drive. That is how it all began. 

Many years ago I went to a Junior Detroit Red Wing’s game at the same place where the Red Wings played. A women a few rows in front of me, caught the puck with her head, blood everywhere. I have never been to a hockey game since. It is much safer to watch on TV anyway.   

This Weeks Very Short Story: Chapter 13

THIS WEEK’S VERY SHORT STORY: SLIGHTLY LONGER VERSION, SPECIAL EDITION

Back in 1982, friends of ours, David & Bonnie Pollack, saw a notice of a meeting for a group in formation of young Jewish couples, so we attended. This was the start of what would become a significant part of our lives for a number of years. The group would later become known as Kadimah B’nai B’rith Young Couples Group # 5224. 

Well, many years have passed since we last met. Some of us now have children that are older than when we first formed the group. Some of us are still in contact with a number of Kadimah members and consider them to be amongst our closest friends today.

Life has happened to all of us.

We have had the blessings of life that include having children, watching them grow up and move on; some of them have gotten married, some have given us grandchildren. Some of us are still working while others have retired.

There have also been changes in our so called Kadimah family. There have been divorces and there have been remarriages, even one marriage from previous divorced members.

There have also been the challenges of life. We have lost a number of members including one past president. Many of us have lost one or both of our parents. We have had children that have had difficulties with life. We have children that have gone through life changing events and there was one that’s life was ended tragically. There are also members themselves that are going through life changing events even now.

Through it all, I consider being a member of Kadimah one of the best things that we did. I am grateful for the time that we spent together. We met new people. We worked toward a common goal. We raised money for a good cause. Most important, we had fun doing it.

We had an above ground pool when we lived on Ithaca and Greenbriar. I was part fish, spending quite a bit of time under the water. 

I am driving with my mother and she points out a sign for the Neptune Society, so I ask her if she would like me to sign her up. I told her that my older son would not like it. She said that that doesn’t matter to her because she won’t be here anyway and I would have to deal with it. 

Around Bar Mitzvah time, I noticed that some guys got a manicure with clear polish in addition to getting a new suit. For years, I wanted to get one. Finally in the early 1980’s I was working in a building where there was a manicurist that I had become friendly with. I told her the story and she said come by and she would take of it. So I had the manicure, passed on the polish. I won’t necessarily be doing that again. I guess I can check that off the bucket list.