Dr. Jeniffer Simon, a caring and experienced urologist, Geissinger Medical Center, State College PA showed me on her computer this image–a cancerous tumor surrounding my right kidney, referring me to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. “Unless you have surgery quickly, you will be dead in 10 years.” The date: April 5, 2013, […]
Joanna_Marries
Joanna paid homage to her grandmother on her wedding day
When Joanna and Jade married, Joanna inserted into the service a remembrance of my mother, her beloved grandmother, Dr. Miriam P. Schmerler who died Monday, September 6, 2010. The ceremony was performed by Jackie Trotter Dove and Sarah Stein. After I gave Joanna away, I sat next to her mother Diana as we had rehearsed the […]
Today I am 66 years old
I am 66 years old today. I was listening to a George Strait song at midnight Troubadour. Troubadour is a song in which an older and wiser George Strait sings: “I still feel 25 most of the time./ I still raise a little cain with the boys./ Honky Tonks and pretty women, But Lord I’m […]
My motto for October 2013
“Tension gets in the way of mastery.” —Paul Katz, cellist
Wedding Toast
Remarks prepared for delivery later today: Good afternoon celebrants. Before presenting a toast to Joanna, my daughter, and Jade, my freshly minted son-in-law, I will first provide context for the toast—context for the joy I feel as father of the bride; joy all of us feel for witnessing this overt commitment to love. Kierkegaard was […]
Peacocks at Joanna’s Wedding
Mebane, North Carolina, Friday October 4, 2013, 4:45 AM, the day of Joanna’s rehearsal dinner at Merry Hill Farm where the wedding will take place with peacocks and the rest of us in attendance. The wedding invitation says that Merry Hill Farm is located in Mebane, NC, which strictly speaking is not true. Yes, […]
“Carolina in my mind” plus Mebane: Wedding site
Of course, it is impossible to think of North Carolina without hearing James Taylor singing: “Carolina in my mind.” ++++ When I lived in New York City, the song lyric reverberating through the skyscrapers was, “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.” ++++ North Carolina, as you can see from the […]
What I am wearing when I give away Joanna on October 5th
State College, PA, Sunday, September 29, 2013, 4:11 p.m. I have just returned from Harper’s Fine Clothing and Sportswear for men in downtown State College. Johnathan Preston, one of the store’s savvy salesmen, took the following photograph of me before I left the store: In this posting, I begin to describe what I plan to […]