Dear Mr. President . . .

Last night, I watched the President address Congress. I must admit, it was a nice sight after so many years, to see Nancy Pelosi, Democrat from my own state, Joe Biden, Democratic Vice President and President Obama in the center of my widescreen TV. Afterward, I sat down and wrote two letters to the President and one comment on his agenda. I checked out the new website, whitehouse.gov, requested a birthday greeting for my soon to be 89 year old mother, and invited the First Family to the University of Maryland Opera Studio production of Eugene Onegin. This morning I awoke worried that I write to the President so often, the Secret Service may show up at my doorstep to make sure I'm not a stalker. I also worried that my daughter would be upset at my inviting the President to her school's opera, but it's local and she was about the same age as his youngest daughter when she started to become interested in opera. And it's more likely than not that the President will never see my emails.
It's been a productive week here, considering the fact I haven't felt that great in more than a week. I've been working on bills, shopping on the internet, writing and reading and trying to get ready for Lent. Hard to believe today is Ash Wednesday. Josh and I planned out a nice dinner designed to boost my red blood cells -- filet mignon, steamed zucchini or broccoli and baked potato. And there is a bit of a contest connected to it. If my counts improve based on my diet, my cousin Pam has promised to gain weight!!! Pam has been a real blessing the past few months. She calls regularly and her calls always cheer me up. Today we were trying to come up with the names of all the siblings who came to the US with our parents. I always have to write it down and I always believed there were 6 brothers an 6 sisters. Now I'm not so sure. I definitely don't know the birth order except that Jenny and Dave are the oldest and Isaac is the youngest. If I post it here, maybe some of my cousins can help with the birth order. (By the way, our grandparents had the octo-mama beat by 1 child. There were 15 children born to the family and 12 came to the US. Isaac, the youngest went back to Europe with my grandfather and did not return until he was discovered in a refugee camp after WWII.)
Dave, Murray, Bob aka Adolph, Aaron, Isaac, Jenny, Laura, Hilda, Loretta aka Sarah, Frieda, Mary, Frank!!!We forgot Frank this morning - probably because Pam and I are both too young to have known him. But I do remember the two Franks who came after him. His son, who was in utero at the time of his death and his grandson who is one of the taller cousins and became known as Big Little Frank due to his (1)Height and (2) Age.
I'm trying to learn more about my family. I don't know why I waited over 50 years to make my curiosity known. I guess I'm afraid that my mother is never going to get around to labeling the photos in all her albums and I will never know who those folks are, dressed in black with wigs and long beards. Mom can't even remember all of their names. She does remember that of all the people who walked out of Russia in the 1920's with my grandfather, she is the only one left. I have a cousin I never met who is a neurosurgeon in New York. His mother Betty made the trip to Poland and eventually to the US. His name is Jeff Gutin. I know that he has twins and was on staff at UCSF for a time. I met his mother at a family wedding in 1980 in the Midwest and kept in touch with her by mail for many years. That is my mother's half of the family.
My father was one of 15 children. From what I could tell, I think his mother had diabetes, probably gestational at first. He used to have nightmares that his mother was buried alive because she took ill on a Friday and was buried before sundown. As a child, he had seen her sleep for long periods and then wake up and go one with her life. Life was hard back then. I'm not sure it's any easier now. Three children did not survive childhood. I don't know how long they lived or what their names were. Overall, I think I had a loving family. I have a lot of good memories of family. Often, my cousins were also my friends. Nutley, NJ was not a very friendly place in my youth. It was a "closed society" when I moved there in the third grade. Relationships had been forged in nursery school and it was tough to break in. With so many cousins, there was a precedent set for playing together and exchanging the clothes we had outgrown. My brother was close in age to Bernie and Ronnie Lewis. I remember stories of Bernie doing something wrong and my brother David getting the blame. At my brother's funeral, Ronnie talked about getting dating tips from David. My sister was close to several cousins - Beth, Nora, Rona and Paula. I am sandwiched between my cousins Lloyd and Pam and we all went to the same grammar, junior high and high school. Of course Nutley only has ONE junior high school and one high school. I can remember my surprise when I moved to California and discovered that a town could have as many as 5 high schools.
My mother was pregnant at the same time as some of my cousins because she married at 18 and my father was 8 years her senior. My oldest nephew is only 2 years younger than my younger sister and never called her Aunt. Getting to know my family may be a huge undertaking, but I want to know more of the stories and the family history.

So -- if you are related to me in any way, post to the blog. tell me some of your favorite family stories. What do you remember from your childhood? Funny stories are particularly appreciated.

Also -a question for those of you who might know. Yesterday I received a notice that my bio would be included in Who's Who in Health and Medicine. There is no charge for the bio to be included, but of course if you want the book, it is a mere $276. I've always thought this was a "fake" honor meant to sell books. Who else would buy a $276 book of bios beside your parents? I've always ignored these things when they came in the mail. I suppose they put your bio in the book anyway, but I may be wrong. Does anyone know what the story is with this organization? My kids were in the high school edition of the book based on their GPA and service to their school. I can't remember if I purchased the books then or not. I do remember being less cynical about the books back then.