Since I turned 80, I have become more reflective.
As this year’s holiday season approaches, I think back to my pre-bar mitzvah days as a member of the Junior Congregation at the Jackson Heights Jewish Center in Queens, New York. Each of us had defined roles in the High Holiday services. Mine was to act as the chazan, the cantor. Since I am descended from 12 generations of chazanim, who chanted the High Holiday prayers in Vilna, Lithuania, my role was clear. Unfortunately, my father broke the cantorial chain. My grandfather unfortunately passed while my father was still in high school. He had to go to work to support his mother and his siblings. I tried to continue the family tradition, but I was unsuccessful; my voice changed from an alto to a baritone while I was in junior high school, and my voice was never the same.
This holiday season, our family has a great deal to be thankful for. As a result of the insertion of a new heart valve and the addition of a pacemaker, my heart function is back to normal. In addition, I am now receiving a new time action version of carbidopa for my Parkinson’s, and my body has responded in a positive manner. I have regained many of the daily functions I had previously lost. My mood and outlook are more positive.
I thank the Lord for Susan, my wife, my loving partner for the past 44 years, for our son, daughter, four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. They all bring joy to our lives.
I wish all our friends and family a “Happy New Year,” one filled with joy, health and happiness. May they be written in the “Book of Life” and may God grant them peace and health in the new year.
Susan and I find joy in supporting two theater companies in Milwaukee and Scottsdale, Arizona, that provide developmentally disabled adults with an opportunity to experience and have a role in live theater productions.
