Judy Gomberg puts a funny, heartfelt and humorous spin on being a boomer. She beautifully captures the songs of our lives as our memories grow longer, deeper and stronger.
Just do it now, is our motto as we are reflecting back on the year just lived.
Some days our get up and go is pro forma. Our time to make the donuts occurs in a knee jerk fashion. Some days our knee just jerks. Our Bubby Chicken, for those in the know, phrased the difficult times with “just look away mamala.”
Oh Bubby we believe now more then ever that your schmaltz, more than just a pinch of salt and sugar laden food added wisdom to your 95 years.
You didn’t exercise, but you never sat down. You worked the majority of your life and when you stopped formally working you worked at whatever you did. As you gathered your loved ones around the table, your emotional nutrition sustained us and your cooking created memories that still linger on. We talk about your baking as treasures.
Next week my old friend Linda from 5th grade is giving me a baking lesson. She is handing down a brownie recipe from her mother. L’dor V’dor.
After school when we would hang at her house her mother would treat us to her baked goods and a tall glass of milk. I remember sharing stories with you about how Linda welcomed me into her group of friends. You taught me the expression “gutte neshema.” She was my first one.
How lucky my sisters and cousins were to have Our Bubby Chicken. So at this time of year, as we look forward to a New Year, pray for forgiveness and remember our ancestors, why not exhume your Grandma, Grammy or Bubby memories. Hanging with her babies and watching them grow into themselves was her Pilates, her group therapy and our legacy. So Bub, here’s to our days gone by. We carry you in our hearts and tapping into your Sechel gives us reasons to believe, especially when we lose our way.
When we played musical chairs and the music stopped, you pulled over one extra chair so we all stayed in the game. And by the way we now spend more time “looking the other way” as we pull over one more chair. May your neshama have an Aliyah, Bub. B’H.
A chip with a schtickl of cheese, a dollop of sour cream onion dip, yes please. Come sip a glass of an 8 ounce pour, a vodka chilled, an olive filled.
A flat bread a.k.a. bread and cheese -is quite a popular fad. Topped with a variety of veggies and herbs could be good- what could be bad?
So when shifting gears in a community unknown, there is an overwhelming push not to feel alone.
We sign up for some courses, grab a burger at the bar. Fitting into a groove and playing a card game couldn’t be too far.
We sign up for Pilates, practice long and straight with our eye on the ball.
A real who knew as we are waiting -for that “come join us for a dinner “call.
We need a fourth for canasta, our mj game needs one more.
We grab our card and mojo and dash quickly out the door.
A brand new group of people, a daunting part of life.
With popularity throughout a lifetime and now another slice.
So we set the alarm for 7:00. Grab our gear to play 9 holes.
They need a 5th for mah jongg, our calling could be close.
As we recalibrate priorities and add grateful to the mix.
Woke up and smelled the coffee, refilled our bag of tricks.
Flipped our myopic vision. A game is just a game. Yet all in all it’s social. Acceptance leads the way. We hope to be included cause we are here to stay.
On the days before the Jewish New Year your presence in our lives feels even more pronounced. We sit still for a moment and reasonably try to evaluate where we could try harder, embrace change and clean up shop.
We hold on to the lessons that have propelled us into a place with more acceptance and the understanding that our journey is just that. The people in our path who are deceptive are there to help us understand wrong from right. The benevolent, kind and valued “constants” offer us endearments.
One of your long term themes is for patience. We go along at our own pace and hope that our recognition of who needs a leg up grows more keen with time. Our gut is really our mind speaking through our heart. Don’t underestimate a vibe, a sideways look. Eye rolls speak volumes.
When we are pushed to the limit you leave us with the decision to hold tight or compromise and restructure. When we slip up and waiver we look over our shoulder for the feathers, or dimes you drop along our path.
We feel less alone.
There are days we wonder when it’s our turn again for you to come back our way. It’s often during our toughest moments.
And so we wake up early, make the coffee. We look ahead to the “Days of Judgment.” We leave our “judgments” in the recycle bin and know, as long as we work together our backs will be covered. G’mar Chatima Tova.
We’ll make our way around the cardroom. Sit down for a game of play. In light of so many new faces, we won’t let apprehension get in our way. How bout grabbing a coffee, meet at the Bistro for lunch?
The season has early beginnings, our timeline unfolds with a crunch.
Have you met a woman named Nancy? She likes mah jongg with 13 tiles. As you walk from golf to the locker room, her presence leads with a Smile.
We are sigining up again for the class in Memoir Writing. One of the hidden secrets at Broken Sound. We met a group with similar interests. It really was quite profound.
With so many rules on the golf course and lessons to hone our new skill. Determined to get this game going, they say make of it what you will.
So like meeting people in the cardroom, we won’t let trepidation get in the way. We’re packing for winter like summer.
Soon we’ll be on our way.
Here’s to meeting up again for season two. With mojo and anticipation. Call it a veritable who knew.
We’ll mix in some hope with a wish. See you at the new restaurant on Yamato. G-d speed and sealed with a kiss.
When the leaves were orange and the living was easy. What does the tooth fairy do with all the teeth? Why do the people in the front of the picture appear so much larger than the people toward the back? Out of the mouths…when life was so mellow.
We bought our first pair of silk stockings which were to be held up by a stretchy pink and white striped garter belt. We felt so mature. Remembering the days of Ozzie and Harriet, Susan Lucci, Soupy Sales and Wally and The Beav. We really do only have “One Life to Live.”
We re-dialed, after our friends line was busy the first time and screeched with excitement, Conrad Birdie style, over our anticipated coed- girl/boy party that evening in Daren Scott’s basement. We will always miss Daren. 🥲
After we sat under a hot dryer with beer can sized rollers in our hair we brushed away the fumes from our eyes left by Aqua Spray. The decision to curl our hair rather than iron it straight was a good one, our hair came out just right.
Getting ready “Was” the excitement. Our new madras blouse and alpaca sweater hung prominently in the front of our closet right above our shiny, new cordovan colored weejuns. Bright, new Penny, dated 1969 heads up in place.
A touch of revlon blush, a glimmer of “coffee bean” lipstick proceeded a spritz of Shalimar and we were on our way.
With dejavu on our breath we can still recall euphorically how it felt when we unbuttoned the wooden clasps that kept our new Pea Coat in tact.
The boys gathered on one side of the room, as the girls sifted through the 45’s on the other. At this point there was no bottle to spin in sight. Would the Angels sing tonight as our soldier boys danced under the Blue Moon? Wah a Watusi. It’s the dance made for a romance.
The specialty years of pre-teening encapsulated so many of our trial and error moments. Being in a click helped dissipate the error parts, we were all in it together. We still are- our piece of Good Luck.
We made room for our daydreams laced with Johnny Mathis lyrics and we did get Misty.
Our Barbie and Ken’s were repositioned and left to fetch for themselves in the back row of our minds. In the “still of the night” we hold tight to the precious memories that Perry Como knew were those “Magic Moments.” Make it a fun Thursday.
Finding Nina No Rhyme-All Reason. Landlubbers, drindl skirts and bell bottoms. Tennis sweaters, weejun penny loafers and madras blouses. Typewriters, wax dipped monogram letter seals and loose leaf notebooks. Bon Bons- jujubes, chuckles and double bubble. Chocolate yoo hoo’s, dairy queen sundaes and red licorice strings. Dave Clark Five, Connie Francis and Charlotte Russe . Dobie Gillis, pink erasers, papagallos. Loden pea-coats vinyl jackets, mary jane patent leathers, and white shoe polish for ked sneakers. Apple Brown Betty in Swanson tv dinners, buitoni ravioli in the can and potato sticks. Sewing class, emenee toy trumpets and the morning show “Just for Fun.” The Mikado, Pirates of Penzance and Flower Drum Song. Won-ton soup, chopped suey and egg foo young. Peanut Butter and Jelly on Ritz Crackers with Campbells tomato soup. Spaldings, Jacks and 45’s. Army, Navy Stores, Kresge’s Dept. Store and Alexanders. Mohair sweaters, shift dresses, mini and maxi skirts, baby doll dresses, colored tights- stirrup pants. Science projects on Oak Tag, pencil sharpeners and No. 8 pencils. Revlon Rum Raisin lipstick and Mary Quant make-up. Shalimar, Joy, Ambush, jade east, english leather and Old Spice. Po-ke-no, parchessi and Simon. Bonanza, Gunsmoke and Wagon Train. Make it a throw back Monday.
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