My last visit to Israel was in the Spring of 2018. I was traveling as part of a professional tour of aging services throughout Israel. Although the trip had many memorable experiences, a random encounter with a stranger at Ben Gurion Airport outside of Tel Aviv prior to my departure was the most memorable. As I was walking to my departure gate to return to Newark, NJ, after the 10-day trip, I noticed a middle-aged gentleman standing by a table with what appeared to be gift packages on display with a banner in Hebrew above the table and a picture [...]

In July, my daughter, Liza, accepted an offer to begin a Ph.D. program in canine cognitive behavior at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Upon her acceptance, we began to immediately map out how she would get to Lubbock from Brooklyn and take her car. There was an important catch—she was going to Lubbock with two bulldogs. That meant it was difficult to fly due to the bulldogs' breathing issues. After much contemplation, it was agreed I would drive the 1,735 miles from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, to Lubbock, Texas, with my daughter and the bulldogs in tow. We set out on the evening [...]

Recently, my wife, son, and I traveled to lower Manhattan for a birthday party for a seven-year-old that was to be held outside of a bar/restaurant in the Chelsea neighborhood. This was not an ordinary seven-year-old birthday party. It was a birthday party for our daughters’ seven-year-old female bulldog named Ellie, who they adopted one year ago from a local rescue. My initial thought was, “why would I want to spend two hours outside in early February in New York City for a seven-year-old bulldog’s party?” The birthday party was part of a larger Sunday weekly meet-up group for New [...]

What a great few weeks it has been for Philadelphia sports fans. Baseball was and will always be the number one sport for me. I mentioned to my wife Sunday, October 23rd, 2022, was one of the top three days for sports in my life. The first was in October 1993, watching the Phillies win the 1993 National League Pennant while sitting next to my dad in the 700 level of old Veterans Stadium. My dad died a few years later. Celebrating and hugging each other in that old cement bowl known as Veterans Stadium is still vividly etched in my mind. [...]

My grandmother, Fannie Weiss, died in 1999 as the result of end-stage Alzheimer's Disease. Towards the end of her life, she was unable to recognize family and friends. I remember her fondly for her love of Yiddish humor, dancing, and singing and her fondness for taking every Sweet’N Low packet home with her from each and every diner in Northeast Philadelphia. She loved to show off her grandchildren to her friends and take us to her community pool. She was always there for me, as well as her other grandchildren, when needed. Yet, when she needed me the most, at [...]