A 6 AM Call and a Sad Farewell

Every so often, reality hits you with the bluntness of a hammer on a fragile sheet of glass, smashing your dreams and illusions of safety into a millions shards. That happened this morning at 6 a.m. when my friend, Karen, whom I have known since I first moved here, called to tell me her husband Jeff just died.

This wasn’t totally unexpected. Jeff suffered intermittent infections and complications from diabetes. He was hospitalized several times over the past few months. Yesterday, in the morning, the ambulance rushed him to the hospital and he was placed in ICU. Dan and I spoke to Karen several times during the day and planned to go up to Baltimore to visit. Last night, Karen called to let us know Jeff was transferred to hospice. We told Karen we would come up today after work to see both of them. We knew the situation was dire. But his death came much faster than we all thought. Doesn’t it always?

Dan and I met Karen and Jeff eighteen years ago, when I first moved from Jacksonville, Florida to Northern Virginia. Dan moved here about a year before me to start a new job, while I stayed behind to sell our house.

While Dan was living in Southern Maryland and working at Camp Springs, his old college roommate, Daryl, brought him to meet his cousins Delores and Joe. They were Karen’s parents. Her father, Joe, had just been diagnosed with what would turn out to be a deadly melanoma. But at that point, he was a bluff, hearty man, who loved a good laugh, a beer with friends, and his Fighting Irish. He was a Notre Dame graduate. In fact, at his funeral, they played the Notre Dame fight song to honor him. Since that all happened while I was still in Jacksonville, I never met Joe, but I sure heard a lot about him, most of it funny and endearing. He was missed.

About two weeks after I moved here from Florida, the new widow, Delores, invited Dan and me, along with Daryl, to her home for a cookout. That’s where I first met her daughter, Karen, and Karen’s husband Jeff. That’s also when Dan and Jeff discovered their bitter rivalry - Jeff was from Pittsburgh and a Steelers fan, Dan a Browns fan from Cleveland. Naturally, we became fast friends.

For Delores’ first Christmas as a widow, Daryl, Dan, and I bought her a Christmas tree, set it up, and decorated it for her. In return, she cooked us all a lasagna dinner, with scrumptious deserts. Karen, Jeff, Delores’ sister Frannie, and her daughter all came and helped to decorate Delores' lovely house. A Christmas tradition was born and every December, on the first Saturday, we all descended on Delores with a tree. It became the first party of our holiday season for years.

As so many customs do in our fast and disposable society, the Christmas tradition faded, for various reasons, about five years ago when Delores moved from her private home into a high-rise condo and stopped putting up a tree. But we stayed in touch, and Dan and I helped Karen plot a surprise for Jeff’s 55th birthday last September. At a baseball game in Baltimore, during the seventh inning stretch, Jeff’s name, with the words, “Happy 55th Birthday,” flashed on the scoreboard so that a few thousand of his most intimate friends would know he was getting old. “I’ll get you guys for this,” he promised, as we all laughed at our cleverness at having surprised him - or “gotten him good.”

Secretly, he was pleased to be remembered so publicly. Karen told us that later.

Tonight, Dan and I will go up to Baltimore for the difficult but necessary task of comforting a new widow, saying farewell to an old friend, and remembering and telling each other our stories about Jeff. Through our stories, we keep our loved ones alive and always with us.

Meanwhile, I will be out of pocket for a few days sorting fresh grief.

Bomb Explodes on New York's Upper East Side

This news report sent chills up my spine. An explosion rocked an Upper East Side neighborhood in New York City at 3:25 a.m. A small, low order bomb was left on a bench in front of a Starbucks on 92nd Street and Third Avenue. When it went off, it shook the neighborhood and could be heard for blocks away.

That was once my neighborhood. To be sure, I lived there so many years ago that it was before there even was a Starbucks in Seattle, let alone any in New York City or anyplace on the East Coast. Still, I maintain an emotional attachment to New York - both the City and the Upstate area, where I grew up in a suburb just outside of New York City.

According to CNN, this is only one in a series of bombs that have gone off over a number of years, targeting Time Square, and the British and Mexican embassies. The police don't know whether there is a connection and they are still investigating.

Chag Pesach Samech

And also Happy Easter to all my friends and readers. I will be down in Fort Lauderdale celebrating Passover with my 96 year old father.

I wish everybody a peaceful happy holiday. And I'll be back next Monday!

L'Shanah Tova

It means Happy New Year, or Happy Rosh Hashanah. This is a bit early as the holiday doesn't actually begin until sundown Monday, September 29. By then I will be in Florida to spend the High Holy Days with my 95 year old father, who remains in good health. To be honest, I'm looking forward to time away from blogs, pundits, and politics. Although to be even more honest, South Floridians, especially senior citizens, are highly politicized, mostly Democratic, and very vocal. So, there will be political discussions. Still, I'm looking forward to listening to my dad's friends brag about their grandchildren (and great grandchildren), passing around the pictures, and complaining about the hot weather.

I'm leaving tomorrow, early in the morning, and have a lot to wrap up today; so this is it for a while - at least until next Friday or Saturday. Until then, be good, be kind and be safe!

And may there be some agreement on a rational plan to stanch the financial crisis.

Do Not Read This Blog!

At least until next Thursday. Easiest way to drive the number of hits down on an active blog: Admit you're going on vacation for a few days.

Seriously, it's just polite to let regular readers know that I won't be around until next Thursday or Friday (at least, on the Internet). By the time you read this, I'll be winging my way to steamy South Florida for a visit with my dad and to see some old friends - all of whom were at my wedding 25 years ago. Yes, it's also to celebrate my Silver Anniversary back at the scene of the crime. God, is it really 25 years?

Oh, and all those friends were in the Young Democrats with Dan and me. Dan was president of the Broward Club and both of us, at different times, were voted Broward YD of the Year. So, catching up on local South Florida politics, where some things never change, will be fun.

Stay cool and see you back on the Net soon.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun!

Well, I made it to Hampton Roads and checked into our hotel. We came early because Dan had some state AFL-CIO meetings to attend this afternoon. Meanwhile I went in search of the hotel's business center to catch up on email and the blogs. Since I don't have a laptop, I usually have to rely on the kindness of hotel business centers like this one.

Blogging will be light this weekend. I won't be live blogging the convention. Frankly, there will be too much going on and I don't want to be behind a computer, missing all the action. I know lots of people from other parts of the state and want to catch up on gossip with them. And I want to have fun and party a little bit.

Next week, though, I'll write my endorsement of Gerry Connolly, who just won a hard fought primary in the 11th CD. In my last post, I know my congratulations to him got a little lost in my praise for his recent opponent, Leslie Byrne. It was indeed a hard loss. But I want to say unequivocally, Congratulations Gerry Connolly!

As just promised, next week, I'll make that support formal and in the coming weeks, I'll have more to say about why people in the 11th should vote for him rather than Republican newcomer, Keith Fimian. I also plan to work for Connolly and the rest of the Democratic ticket in the fall.

For now, I'm off to unpack, look for some friends, and find a bar. Because, girls just want to have in Hampton Roads :)

Just Some Housekeeping

Leslie Byrne has her new website up. H/t to Ben Tribbett who's already posted her bio on NLS. It's no secret to those who regularly read the blogs that both of us are big supporters of Leslie Byrne. I'm also putting her site on my blogroll.

In addition, I put up a new site called Virginia Commitment. Here's a description from their site of who they are and their purpose.

Virginia’s Commitment is a coalition of concerned citizens, homeowners, landowners, consumers and business people which seeks 21st century approaches to promote Virginia’s growth and prosperity.

Dominion Power wants to build a new 81-mile-long transmission corridor in Virginia. They say it’s all about Northern Virginia’s need for electricity. The truth is quite different. If built, Dominion Power’s power line will be bad for ratepayers, bad for the environment and bad for Virginia. We are in favor of a new approach to Virginia’s growing need for reliable energy

Worth checking out. I'll be doing some more housekeeping over the weekend, taking off the websites of those whose campaigns are over, both winners and losers. I'll be replacing campaign websites with official websites that senators, delegates or other officials may have as those become available.

No real blogging tomorrow as I'll be out celebrating my birthday. I'll be back over the weekend.

Thought for Columbus Day: Mistreat Not the Stranger, For You Were Strangers in Egypt

The Bible is clear. According to Exodus 22:21: "You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." And Exodus 23:9 reinforces this: “Also you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the heart of a stranger because you were strangers in the land of Egypt."

And those strangers were Israelites fleeing famine, fleeing war, and fleeing oppression. The same things our European ancestors were fleeing when they came to America, whether as Pilgrims running from England in search of religious freedom, or Italians, Poles, and Germans seeking escape from poverty, and the Irish leaving a murderous potato famine that took so many lives through starvation. Or Jews fleeing religious persecution and seeking freedom to worship. All of us were strangers in the land. And all of us should be cautioned not to oppress the stranger in our land today.

Today, we just celebrated Columbus Day. Mostly, it's a day spent contemplating fall sales in the malls and shopping centers. It might be worth also remembering that Christopher Columbus set sale for a new world. One which quickly became a haven for those seeking relief from poverty and oppression. And those searching for freedom and a new way of life.

Spotter, from VB Dems, was kind enough to share with me this creedal statement, which was read in churches around the world for World Communion Day. It’s worth reprinting and contemplating at the end of Columbus Day.

Immigrant Creed

I believe in Almighty God, who guided the people in
exile and in exodus, the God of Joseph in Egypt and
Daniel in Babylon, the God of foreigners and
immigrants.

I believe in Jesus the Christ, a displaced Galilean,
who was born away from his people and his home, who
fled his country with his parents when his life was in
danger and, upon returning to his own country,
suffered the oppression of the tyrant Pontius Pilate,
the servant of a foreign power. He was then accused,
persecuted, beaten, and condemned to death unjustly.
But on the third day this scorned Jesus rose from the
dead not as a foreigner, but to offer us citizenship
in heaven.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the eternal immigrant
from God's kingdom among us, who speaks all languages,
lives in all countries, and can reunite all races.

I believe that the church is the secure home for the
foreigner and for all believers who constitute it, who
speak the same language, and have the same purpose.

I believe that the communion of saints begins when we
accept the diversity of the saints.

I believe in the forgiveness that makes us all equal,
and in the reconciliation that identifies us more than
race, language, or nationality.

I believe that the resurrection of God will unite us
as one people in whom all are distinct and all are
alike at the same time.

Beyond this world I believe in Life Eternal, in which
no one will be an immigrant but citizens of God's
kingdom that will never end.

Amen.

And Happy Columbus Day to all the children of immigrants, like me!

There Ain't No Cure for the Summer Time Blues

You know, the lazy woman’s way around actually writing a post is to throw up a picture. Unfortunately, I don’t take pictures so I have to rely on somebody to send them to me, usually a few days after an event. And so, I’ve got my July 4 picture today. It’s me, Dan and the Governor.


It was taken at the Northern Virginia Central Labor Council July 4th cookout at the CLC headquarters in Annandale.

Governor Tim Kaine made a brief stop to meet with labor folks and say a few words to them. Some of the other electeds and candidates whom I saw there included: Kris Amundsen, Creigh Deeds, Brian Moran, Dick Saslaw, Gerry Connolly, Dave Marsden, Cathy Hudgens, Janet Olezak, and Liz Griffin. There were many, many more people there and I hope those I missed accept my apologies, but I didn’t spend a whole lot of time working the crowd because a friend of mine was also there and it was her first time at a public event since her chemo ended. There are priorities and sitting and chatting with her was one of them. So, I spotted whomever I spotted and my profound apologies to those I missed.

If this event wasn’t announced anywhere, there’s also a reason for that. It was for labor people, the rank and file who don’t go to Jefferson Jackson dinners, don’t plunk down $200 a pop and don’t normally get to meet their elected officials or the candidates for whom they will vote. This was their chance to meet and greet dignitaries.

Anyway, there I am, muscling in on a picture with the president of the NoVa Central Labor Council. Seems like the poor guy can’t go anywhere without this crazy, female blogger hanger on horning in on the picture.

It’s hard for Dan. For years, he was the guy who took the pictures and hid behind the camera. He prided himself on being the background guy and he admitted that he hates having to be in the photos. But as president, he can’t hide behind the lens and be the mad flasher any more. Somebody else gets to do that.

Meanwhile, I’ve been wondering why I’m so lacking in any motivation to actually write. It’s not like I have writer’s block. I have the ideas. There are a million things I could write about, things I normally care passionately about. Anybody who reads a newspaper and scans the blogs could come up with plenty of topics to comment on. That’s not the problem.

I just don’t want to.

Then tonight riding home from a quick dinner at Glory Days, some jazz was playing on the car radio. Somebody was noodling a sax. Now saxophone music can be searingly hot, like when Clarence Clemmons plays it, or cool, sweet and mellow. It’s an amazingly versatile instrument. And in this particular set the music evoked a cool, tall gin and tonic on a steamy summer night. Three a.m. in lower Manhattan, just at closing time in the old Village Vanguard on MacDougal Street, in the fifties, just like an old time movie.

And I realized it was the heat, the summer, the ennui of the first heat wave of summer in an urban environment.

By the way, for the next six Mondays don’t count on me to write anything – I’ll be watching the ESPN mini-series “The Bronx is Burning” about the New York Yankees, Billy Martin, George Steinbrenner, and Reggie Jackson.

So, lift a glass for me until a cool spell comes through.