My Prayer, Part 2

Remember I said that my Dad would say my night-time prayers from my little childhood prayer book until I was no longer a child?  On my 12th birthday (when other girls were having expensive Bat Mitzvahs) my Dad gifted me with a more adult prayer book to serve as a guide through my life.  I also have this Bible, dated 1919, a family heirloom. 

Who covers these precious gifts with sticky contact paper in a flocked olive green (disgusting) and a tiger print (totally inappropriate)??  You guessed it, little Evelyn. 

The Jewish calendar (thank you Dignity Memorial Chapels) hanging  in the mud room will be replaced next month so I used this opportunity to recycle the absolutely gorgeous artwork into new book covers for these two treasures.  I must admit I feel great about showing my books the respect they deserve and also by figuring out a way to still see the Year 5772 calendar's artwork!

 

The Long and Winding Road

Another birthday is less than a month away, oh dear.  I use this milestone to reflect on my life and assess if it's heading in the right direction.  Sort of like that "right direction, wrong direction" question pollsters ask the voting populace. 

Well, I'm officially "old".  And retired.  But I don't feel old.  I know I look older but I still like what I see in the mirror.  I don't know everything, but I'm certainly wiser than I've ever been.  I think I'm strong but I know that losing loved ones would flatten me. I look around and I am happy with my home, my closet, my bank account, the places I've been to, the things I've done, my stuff, and the people in my life.

But the world still holds so many interesting things and I want to be around for many more birthdays to see what's next!

;-)

Save A Lot

This morning I visited the local Save-A-Lot, a no frills grocery store where you can buy no-name brands of the basic essentials and bag them yourself (in your own bags of course). 

I shop there at least twice a month and stock up on things like spaghetti, instant rice, brats, biscuits in cans, cheese, eggs, stir fry veggies, stuff like that.   Their pasta sauce is the best, as good as Prego any day.  I can't get everything there but I can make a good dent in providing our provisions at rock bottom prices.

I love Save-A-Lot and not just for the 10, 20 or 30% I save there.  I love it because it provides a great service to the working folks of our city whose grocery budget needs to stretch mightily to provide food for a family. 

Today there was Cuban lady in front of me in line.  She needed to take out at least ten items so that her debit card would cover her purchases.  I waited patiently.  Out in the parking lot, while we loaded our groceries in our respective cars, she said she was disabled and not working right now and didn't Save-A-Lot have the best prices?  I agreed and added their quality was terrific too.

Thanks Save-A-Lot! 

Sex and the Single Girl

Helen Gurley Brown, longtime editor of Cosmopolitan magazine, died today at age 90.  She may be the person most responsible for the great "Sexual Revolution" of the 1960s which us young, hormone-infused Baby Boomers embraced with a passion (pun intended).

In 1962 HGB published Sex and the Single Girl.  In 1962 I was twelve so I definitely qualified as a single girl.  Naturally I was eager to read and embrace this opus, the new direction for all the single ladies. 

Funny, the messages I remember from the book were not about having sex - her "radical, new ideas" about sex would be considered older-than-old-fashioned today.  But they also included such gems as "buy cheap shampoo in big bottles because all shampoo is basically the same" and "nearly every glamorous, wealthy, successful career woman you might envy now started out as some kind of schlepp".  That last one gave me the chutzpah to date the best looking boys and apply for (and get!) jobs I was barely qualified for.

Rest in Peace HGB.

Big Guys

I watched "Three Days To Open" with Bobby Flay on the Food Network yesterday.  They were trying to open a Chicago Sausage stand in Berwyn called "Big Guys". 

I adore Chicago hot dogs and have a special weakness for Maxwell Street Polish sausage and actually, sausage in general.  And this place promised to be as authentic Chicago and blue collar as I could have hoped for. 

But even as I salivated over the caramelized onions, kraut and Bobby Flay inspired toppings on those extra juicy high-calorie sausages, I marveled at the chutzpah it took to invest one's life savings and the investments of friends and family, take out a big bank loan and try to come up with a quality product at a reasonable price.  A lot has been said lately about the "job creators" and the "small businesses" and the "risk takers".  I say, Hats Off to them. 

The American Dream is alive and well in Berwyn, Illinois, USA.

Minnie Mars

Schools are named for people, a great honor, unless they are named for their boring locations like Maine Township East (Scott's Alma Mater).  My schools were named for exciting personalities like Minnie Mars Jamieson (1870-1928) and Stephen Tyng Mather (1867-1930).  

Minnie was a Chicago teacher and Principal of the Budlong School for twenty-three years.  The Principal of MMJ when I attended?  Miss Hyancinth Drechny (who could forget that name?)

Stephen T. Mather promoted Borax (the mineral) and through his interests in nature and friendships with influential people, procured a sweet patronage job and became the first Director of the National Park Service.

Perhaps we could take a page from all those sports arenas that sell naming rights for Big Bucks? 

It might just solve our problems in funding quality education ;-)

My Prayer

When I was a little girl my father would say my night-time prayers with me. I had this little prayer book (it's dated 1954 when I was 4 or 5) and it's filled with Jewish prayers for children and pretty illustrations. This ritual continued until I reached that inevitable point when I was no longer a child, at least on the outside.

I still pray. I ask God to bestow my loved ones with health and long life. I ask Him to bless the Children of Israel, the State of Israel, all sick people and all humankind.  I thank God for my many, many blessings, my wonderful life and our health.

Thank you Dad for teaching me to pray.

Ladies Who Lunch

Left to right, me, Jen, Marj, Julie

What a wonderful expression!  I pictured a different time (the 50s) and a different place (Chicago on Michigan Avenue) and a different restaurant (one with white tablecloths) and us wearing different clothes (knit suits, nylons, hats, high heels and clutching small purses).

But no, here we are, at Bo Kamper's Sports Grill, ladies I met 15 years ago, all of us happily retired now.  The fun part of my fantasy is still there and I do so enjoy catching up with the girls every few weeks or months (depending on our highly busy schedules!)

Thanks Ladies!

2059

Friend-of-Friend Gil sent me an email with "Headlines from 2059", meant to be humorous of course.  Check them out at the bottom, in italics.

I have to say, some do not seem totally outside the realm of some kind of possibility.  Of all of them, here are ten I think we'll see (OK so I probably won't be around for my 110th birthday but maybe someone else will see them).

1.  Spanish WILL be recognized as the USA's second language for legal purposes, at least in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Florida.

2.  Whites WILL be a very small minority and racial lines will be so blurred that "race" as a concept will be almost non-existent.

3.  Another Bush and/or Clinton WILL run for President.

4.  Smoking tobacco will be in the same category as smoking marijuana today - done in secrecy.

5.  Yes indeed, postal delivery will be only a few times a week.

6.  Taxes WILL go up.

7.  Americans WILL be fatter.

8.  Castro WILL live to 112.

9.  Diet and exercise will still be the only way to lose weight.

10. Floridians will still have trouble voting ;-)

From Gil:

Ozone created by electric cars now killing millions in the seventh largest country in the world, Mexifornia, formerly known as California .

White minorities still trying to have English recognized as Mexifornia's third language.

Spotted Owl plague threatens northwestern United States crops and livestock.

Baby conceived naturally! Scientists stumped.

Couple petitions court to reinstate heterosexual marriage.

Iran still closed off; physicists estimate it will take at least 10 more years before radioactivity decreases to safe levels.

France pleads for global help after being taken over by Jamaica . No other country comes forward to help the beleaguered nation!

Castro finally dies at age 112; Cuban cigars can now be imported legally, but President Chelsea Clinton has banned all smoking.

George Z. Bush says he will run for President in 2060.  

Postal Service raises price of first class stamp to $17.89 and reduces mail delivery to Wednesdays only.

85-year $75.8 billion study: Diet and exercise is the key to weight loss.

Average weight of Americans drops to 250 lbs.

Global cooling blamed for citrus crop failure for third consecutive year in Mexifornia and Floruba. 

Abortion clinics now available in every High School in United States .    

Senate still blocking drilling in ANWR even though gas is selling for 4532 Pesos per liter and gas stations are only open on Tuesdays and Fridays. 

Supreme Court rules punishment of criminals violates their civil rights.

Average height of NBA players is now nine feet seven inches with  only 3 illegitimate children.  

New federal law requires that all nail clippers, screwdrivers, fly swatters and rolled-up newspapers must be registered by January 2060. 

IRS sets lowest tax rate at 75 percent.

Floruba voters still having trouble with voting machines.

Kids Today

You KNOW you are OLD when you start saying (or thinking) "Kids Today have so much more than We had when We were kids".  This is quickly followed with a litany of "I remember when I was young..."

I see the grand-god-kids and my friends' children or grandchildren with elaborate backyard playgrounds and homes overflowing with toys and age-appropriate electronics in every room.  

I remember when I was young:

If I wanted to get somewhere I had three choices: my bike, walking or the CTA bus.  Mom never learned to drive so getting chauffeured around was never an option.

If I wanted to swing or slide there was the nearby park. 

No cable or DVDs but I did have Howdy-Doody, Romper Room, Garfield Goose, Kukla, Fran & Ollie and, of course, the Mickey Mouse Club.

My toys? A hula hoop (I was pretty good at it), ice skates (Greenbriar Park in winter), my Lena-the-Cleaner doll (complete with mini Spic-and-Span), jump ropes (I could even double-dutch), strap on roller skates and books (Trixie Belden!  I had them all).  I also had an extensive paper doll collection, a 45 rpm record player, and Barbie & Ken.  And I had my pet, a turtle named Letty (actually a series of Letty's).

Ah, to be a kid in the 50's and 60's!