Story Time

The West Harrison Library sits on the corner of Madison Street and Underhill Avenue in a section of Harrison, NY, called East White Plains, or Silver Lake, or The Lake. The library was small, no bigger than the row of two-family houses that lined Madison Street on either side. Behind the library, Underhill merges with Lake Street, the main road into White Plains. Lake Street was lined with shops, restaurants and a firehouse on one side, and Silver Lake Park on the other.

My parents had moved from Colden Avenue in the Bronx to Madison Street in Silver Lake when I was about three. We lived on the second floor of a two-family house, in a three-bedroom apartment. While my earliest memories are of the apartment on Colden Avenue, it was on Madison that my life began to take shape.

And it was in the library that my life would change.

The West Harrison Library had a program for small children called "Story Time". Librarians would read children's books as we sat around the room and listened. I remember the smell of the room -- that library smell of used books and cleaning fluids. I also remember leaving the library one day with another boy about the same age as I was. My mother was talking with his mother, so we, naturally, began talking. His name was also Eric and he lived a few blocks away.

It started on that walk and would continue to this day. From the adventures of children's imaginations in a library to the adventures of a lifetime, Eric and I have continued our friendship that we started that day.

We went over each other's houses for play dates. Our mothers, along with four other neighborhood moms, created a "nursery school" where we went to each others houses and played and did arts and crafts. We had dinner with each other's families and learned how different our families were, and how much the same. We slept over in each other's rooms -- playing scary records in his room and playing a lost-at-sea game in mine. We competed against each other in every way possible -- who can do a handstand the longest, who can build a taller tower with blocks, who can hold their breath longer -- yet always seemed to keep it a friendly rivalry.

As we grew older, our lives took different courses. First, my parents would move again, this time into White Plains. We went to different schools. Eric became an athlete, playing football and wrestling in high school and lacrosse in college. I studied martial arts in high school but chose the wilder side by the time I was seventeen.

Still, we remained friends and saw each other from time-to-time. When we graduated college we discovered the outdoors together and have gone on countless trips together. We were each other's best man at our weddings. It is with Eric's family that I make wine. It is with my family that he shares the Fourth of July.

It's been almost thirty-three years since I met Eric. Ask anyone who sees the two of us together, though, and they will tell your that we bring out the little boy in each of us. We still find ways to compete. We still play games.

And what was once just a seed planted at Story Time has grown into a giant oak of a friendship.

For The Future

I had lunch recently with someone who was discussing his life experiences. He has been thinking about writing his memoir but, in his own words, he struggles as a writer. He has no idea how to string the little stories of his life together into a cohesive book.

He had even purchased software that will allow him to speak his experiences into the computer, rather than writing them down.

I told him to tell his stories anyway. It makes no difference whether or not it gets published, or even gets on the internet. The stories of his life can be passed on to his grandson, who is Jonathan's age. And beyond that.

Stories are our legacy.

We have all seen, read, or at least heard of Roots by Alex Haley. Was this not a collection of family stories handed down from generation to generation? We owe this to our family's future to share our lives with them.

My father has been fortunate enough to have the stories of his life published in a memoir. Time will tell if my stories ever get published. Meanwhile, I think I'll share some in the blog from time-to-time -- stories that shaped who I am. Some will be life-altering events, some (as I have already done with my 9/11 story) will put me in context with historical events that occurred in my lifetime.

Someday my son and his children, and his children's children, will want to learn about me. I owe it to them to share my life with them.

The World, And Other Things

It's been a couple of weeks, so I thought I would give my views on the world's current status.

Thank you, Connecticut Democrats, for choosing Ned Lamont over Joe Lieberman. Mr. Lieberman has proven himself to have no solution. He is, therefore, part of the problem. He must go.

Americans are still dying in Iraq. And while our military's attention has been forced to focus its attention there (rather than where they should be), al Qaeda has grown another plot. And this one was scary. I know, I've been flying recently.

And to those who think this is some American victory because it was thwarted I have two things to say to you: 1) we dodged a bullet -- we didn't win anything, and 2) the British did all the work.

It's my understanding that the plot was Pakistani-based. Isn't that where Osama currently has safe haven? We know where he is, but we haven't gone in there to get him?

And while we're at it, what use is this ceasefire in Lebanon? All it really is when you think about it is the minute rest between rounds of a boxing match. Israel will be forced to defend itself until the Arab world wakes up and realizes Israel is not going anywhere. And the rest of us need to remember that it isn't just the innocent Arabs dying. Innocent Israelis have been killed as well. Israel started none of the wars against its Arab neighbors. It only won all of them.

If we had chosen not to shift our attention to Iraq and instead pressed into the tribe-run northeastern Pakistan, where our enemies grow and thrive, perhaps we wouldn't need British intelligence to save our bumbling hides.

God save the Queen.

Oh, and Disneyland is great, by the way. My son rode Space Mountain with me. Incredible.

And San Diego is a great city. La Jolla, Pacific Beach, Old Town, and all of it. And the Zoo and Sea World too!! Everyone should visit there for a little while, kick back with a fish taco and watch the surfers ride the waves in La Jolla.