Rocky. Not the movie, the dog. As you may know we have new next door neighbors and they have a dog. When I started to get nuts last Friday, the day they moved in, Wanda calmed me down. She told me to give it some time. She told me the dog would probably get used to us. She told me to be patient. It's now 12:15 and I have started this four times. All I can hear is this dog howling. No one is home, Rocky is in the yard and I need some ear plugs. God, I love cats.
Saturday we were doing some work around the house. We had an animated movie on the Disney Family Channel. It was a "we need some noise" movie. Something we have seen, that's cute and if we miss part it's OK. One of the commercials was a "But Wait, There's More" things. I stopped to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing. Maybe I needed one of what they were selling in order to see better? Plastic tape for an inexpensive and quick eyelid lift.
Are you kidding me? Do people really buy this stuff? I sure hope no one reading my blog would ever subject themselves to something like this. If you do, even if you would, please stop reading me. You can not partake in this blog if you would put scotch tape on your body to "look" better. By the way, they had a "you must be eighteen to call" post script to order these things.
A few years ago we were on a cruise during the World Series. Our good friends, Debbie and Jeff are from the east coast. Debbie is a big sports fan and follows the Philadelphia Phillie's. I have written about this before, a played named Shane Victorino. When I first heard his name I didn't hear a given name. I didn't know if it was Vic Torino or Victor Reno, it was neither.
The other evening we got "The Godfather" from Netflix. We were not able to watch it because the disk was damaged but that's another story. I have seen the movie, as well as the second, many times. I know who all the characters are, Wanda does not, but she is learning. I tried to explain who Luca Brazzi was. Wanda kept asking, is it, Luca Brazzi, Luke Abrazzi, or Lou Kabrazzi. Whatever the name, he now "sleeps with the fishes."
A favorite of mine from the old days is, Pia Zadora, not, P. Isadora.
Many of the folks that read this blog link here from Face Book. I haven't seen the movie about the beginnings of the social web site. I have been posting on it for a couple of years. I am constantly amazed at some of the connections and information on the site. A few days ago I got a message from someone I knew when I was fourteen. We probably haven't talked since, so forty eight years, give or take a few. During our initial exchange of notes and pictures we discovered a couple of her friends were also people I knew very well.
I have been "talking" with long lost, really misplaced, family members on Face Book. I keep up with the news about both our daughters and grandson. Occasionally I even see remarks from Wanda's ex husband. I never see anything from my bad spouse since she doesn't, thank goodness, use a computer. I'm sure she probably thinks computers aren't safe."
Wanda and I started hanging out together in 1987. We both had been married and we both had one daughter. Jennifer and Rebecca became "our" daughters. Jenn is older by ten years. They are both married, Jenn and her husband Eric have one son, Nicholas. Although Jennifer is my step-daughter, I consider her a daughter and also Nick, a grandson.
Last week I got a Face Book request from Rebecca. She listed me as her father on the friend page and needed my confirmation. I then realized I could list Nick as a grandson and the girls husbands as my son in laws, except I couldn't. I couldn't find a "step" or an "in law" category and they need one. How many people do you know that do not have some sort of "satellite" family?
My mothers maiden name was Meltzer. Her fathers name was Charles, he was born in 1885. He was married to Sophie Moran and they had five children, two sons and three daughters. I never knew my grandfather or any of his siblings. I did know Sophie very well as she lived a long and fruitful life. I I remember a couple of her siblings. There is very little, if any, family documentation around, which is a shame. The few memories people do have will eventually fade away, with them.
In "the old days" the Meltzers, like many emigrant family lived close and had a "family club." They would meet monthly and I usually looked forward to those Sunday evenings with my cousins. One of the drawbacks to those Sunday evenings was my Great Uncle Abe. I think he was my grandmothers brother. This man scared the Hell out of me just sitting still. Eventually I would hear the dreaded "Go give Uncle Abe a kiss."
Uncle Abe, or his dentures, maybe both, smelled funny. He looked one hundred and ten years old. He wore thick glasses and had cataracts (Sophie thought that was a car as she couldn't pronounce Cadillac). He had white wispy hair and I swear I remember one of those ear horns. He always had a cane at the ready and a wheelchair near. "Go give Uncle Abe a kiss?" Talk about traumatizing a little kid. I was afraid of the old man. I was sure he was going to fall out of the chair pinning me under him. Even a minute like that would have seemed like an eternity. Eventually I would pluck up the courage and do it. I would darn near run up to and way from him giving his cheek a very quick busing as I sped by.
I also remember my Great Aunt Annie. She was my grandmothers sister. Annie lived just down the street and we would visit often. Her house had the same funny smell as Uncle Abe. Maybe there was an "Old Jewish People Smell" soap or perfume that they both used? She had lace doily things on all the furniture arms and a rug that would hurt your feet should you walk on it barefoot, the pattern and materiel better suited for a post civil war carpet baggers grip. Annie had a glass bowl full of hard candy. Always multi colored ovals filled with a sickeningly sweat jam like substance and flat colored stripe ribbons. I think the same candy was there from 1952 to 1960. Eventually it fused together, should you pick up a piece the entire bowl would lift up.
Sophie also had a brother, Henry. I liked him a lot. He seemed like an interesting guy that had many things to talk about. All the years I was around this periphery of the family I never knew what he did for a living. I'm not sure if anyone did. There was always a secretive hush hush around making money. It would not shock me to discover Henry, and a few others, made a lot of money during Prohibition. Detroit was just across the river from Canada, a short drive over the bridge. They sometimes talked about the car with the hollow back seat and trips to Windsor.
Somehow I was under the impression Henry was a "faith healer" of sorts. When I was little I was so afraid I wasn't going to grow much. Both my father and grandfather were only 5'6". I remember a family gathering when Henry put his hands around mine and had me chant an "I will grow" mantra. They put a pencil mark on the door jamb so I could chart my progress. I guess I should have chanted louder.
Often I think about the days of the "Family Club." Of how close my mother, her sisters and brothers and cousins were. They all lived a short drive or maybe a short walk from one another. I spent lots of time with several of my cousins, both boys and girls. Our moms and dads would pick up a phone and talk, they could always count on each other should they need help.
Today, in 2011 the Meltzer family is spread all over the country. A "Family Club" would take place on Skype or Net Meeting or AOL. We text message and tweet and update status on Face Book. I think the way we communicate has changed for the better. It's sure a lot easier. Now we just need to remember to do it.
No comments:
Post a Comment