It is the first Sunday of December 1941 and the house is full of guests enjoying a festive occasion. Live Mexican music is playing, while Patricia and others circulate with food and drinks. Ben and Rita play hosts. Miguel arrives with his girlfriend, Raquel, and his friend, Eduardo.
Later, Ben greets the last arrival, an elderly neighbor, by the front door. His expression is somber.
"I'm afraid I have bad news," he says to Ben in Spanish. "Your country's been attacked. I'm so sorry."
"What did you say? "
The neighbor tried to make himself understood.
"Listen to the radio. The radio." Then he walks away.
Ben goes to the large radio in the living room and asks the people near him to lower their voices so he can hear the broadcast in Spanish.
"The latest reports are of wide-spread damage, death, and destruction at American military installations including Pearl Harbor on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu in the Pacific Ocean. This will undoubtedly mean war between the United States and Japan. I repeat, early this morning, naval air forces of the Empire of Japan attacked the U.S. Territory of Hawaii. We will be getting more reports soon. Please stay tuned to this station."
Ben is shocked, angry, and frustrated. A crowd of people, including Rita, gather to listen to the broadcast.
"I'm very sorry, Ben. Is there anything I can do?"
"I don't think so. I can't believe it. I'll call my brother. He'll know more."
"Let me know what you find out. I won't be far away."
As Rita leaves to attend to her guests, who are also drifting away from the radio, she keeps an eye on her husband. His country was attacked and he's far away. He's feeling impotent and wants revenge. If there were a Japanese there, he would have wanted to hit him. How dare they do this. His throat is dry. Ben heads to the kitchen for a drink of water. As he approaches, he overhears a conversation between Eduardo and another man.
"It's about time somebody bloodied the nose of the Americans," says Eduardo.
The other guest turns white as he notices Ben nearby. Ben enters the kitchen and confronts a surprised Eduardo.
Ben asks, "What did you say?"
"It wasn't important."
"Something about Americans and a bloody nose?"
Ben is in the mood to pick a fight. Eduardo regains his composure.
"Look, you must understand that, over the years, the United States has treated Mexico with some measure of disrespect. You invaded us and stole half our country. Even after that, you, I mean your country has dealt with Mexico shamefully. So, you can surely understand why some Mexicans may not shed a tear at this unfortunate loss of yours, I mean your country's, in Hawaii."
"I see. This has been very educational. However, I think it would be better if we discussed this further...outside."
"You're joking."
Ben leans forward so that he can whisper into Eduardo's ear.
"If you don't start walking out the back door with me, I'm going to tell everyone here that you are a coward and a son of a bitch."
He glares at Eduardo. At first, Eduardo shows no expression. Then, it changes to one of a happy opportunity to give an American his comeuppance. Also, he can show Rita she married the wrong man.
"After you," said Eduardo.
"No, after you," responded Ben.
"Whatever you want."
The two head out the back door. Rita is the only witness to their leaving, staying behind in the house at a discreet distance. She hadn't heard their conversation in the kitchen. However, based on the expression on her face, she wonders what had happened. Was this about the attack? Did Eduardo call Ben a gringo? Better yet, was this about her? She did have that one date with Eduardo. Perhaps he was still interested, even if he was a pompous, egotistical fool. Maybe Ben found out and is jealous. Two men fighting over her, how very exhilarating. On the other hand, she hopes Ben doesn't get hurt. But, if he did, she could play nurse.
Out in the yard, well away from the house, from where Rita is watching, the two men have some privacy. They take off their ties and jackets and roll up their sleeves.
"I suggest we fight only with our fists, in a gentlemanly way of course, Marquis of Queensberry, if you know what I mean," said Eduardo.
"I agree with you completely."
Eduardo is a little shorter than Ben, but is younger and in better physical condition. He had some experience boxing at school. He wants to feel out his opponent before giving him a well-deserved beating.
Ben, on the other hand, hasn't had a fist fight since junior high school. However, he's full of rage and wants to hit something very hard and very soon.
They approach each other with fists raised. At the backdoor, Rita's heart is racing with excitement and fear. Eduardo moves around a bit trying to confuse Ben, while looking for an opening. Ben stands still waiting to counter Eduardo's first forward move. Finally, Eduardo throws a light left jab at Ben's face. Ben reacts with speed and ferocity. With his right forearm, he chops Eduardo's left fist downward, throwing him off balance. Then, Ben shoots his left fist straight at Eduardo's face with all the power he can muster, catching him below his right eye. Eduardo feels a great deal of pain and makes an involuntary "ugh" sound. As quickly as he can, Ben follows this up with a wicked right cross directly at Eduardo's aristocratic nose. He puts all his leverage behind this punch. Eduardo's eyes close and he falls flat on his back, half-conscious. The prone Eduardo moans, and best of all for Ben, blood begins to flow from his nostrils. Ben bends down over his fallen adversary.
"Can you hear me?"
There's no response, so Ben grabs the front of Eduardo's shirt to pull his bruised face closer to his own.
"Eduardo, can you hear me?" Ben raised his voice a bit. Eduardo moans. "I want you to get out of here as soon as you can and never come back. Understand?"
Ben drops him back to the ground with a thud. He picks up his tie and jacket and heads toward the back door, full of pride and some measure of revenge for those at Pearl Harbor. As he reaches the back door, Rita steps out with a big smile on her face.
"You saw that?" asks Ben.
"I want to make love to you right now, my hero."
"Look, I'm sorry this happened, but..."
"Don't say another word, my champion."
They walk arm in arm back into the house, leaving Eduardo to enjoy the fresh air a little while longer.
Sunday, August 27, 2017
Sunday, August 20, 2017
Slavery
On August 20, 1619, 398 years ago today, twenty black Africans were brought ashore from a Dutch ship that had landed in what is today Hampton, Virginia. They were the first slaves brought to the British colonies in North America. Unfortunately, they would not be the last.
It is estimated that, between 1619 and 1808, when the African slave trade was abolished, 388,000 black Africans were brought as slaves to what is today the USA. By comparison, from 1500 (when the Portuguese first came to Brazil) to 1888 (when slavery was abolished there), it is estimated that four million slaves were imported from Africa to Brazil. One reason for the difference is that Brazil is closer to West Africa where the bulk of the slaves came from.
By 1860, the slave population in the United States had grown to 4.4 million, as a result of "natural increase." Slaves in the US were treated as valuable assets, where as in Brazil, they were more easily replaced and thus, almost worked to death.
Why slavery? The early land owners in the British colonies needed laborers. Many so-called "indentured servants" came from Britain to fill this need. The land owners had paid for their passage across the Atlantic and they thus were legally obligated to work off their debt before they were freed. But this wasn't enough. The black Africans were the better answer. There was no debt that would eventually be paid off. They were permanent.
Slavery is an ancient custom among human beings. You can find it in the Bible. Today, it is hard to fathom that people could own people, like owning a horse or a cow. In the early days of British North America, all of the colonies permitted slavery. Eventually, in the early 19th Century, the northern states eliminated slavery, while for the more agrarian southern states, it was an integral part of their economy and culture. Many southern slave-owners felt that, "slaves were happy, content, and well cared-for; being a slave was better than being a worker in a northern factory."
After the invention of the cotton gin in 1793, cotton became the main export of the southern states and of the USA as well. 90% of the cotton used in British textile mills came from the USA's southern states. Ships built in the northern states carried the cotton to Great Britain. Banks in New York financed the cotton industry. "Cotton is king" meant that it was the biggest American industry, an industry that was dependent on slavery.
In the first half of the 19th Century, slavery became a bone of contention between the southern slave states and the northern "free" states. Slave owners wanted the right to take their slaves to the new territories in the west. Northerners did not want to send escaped slaves back to their masters in the south. Some (Abolitionists) wanted slavery ended entirely. The dispute came to a head with the election of 1860. Abraham Lincoln, a man personally opposed to slavery and who believed that the USA could not remain half-free, half-slave, was elected as the sixteenth president without receiving a single vote in the south.
On December 20, 1860, South Carolina adopted an ordinance seceding from the United States of America. It believed it had joined the USA (ratified the US Constitution on May 23, 1788) as a sovereign state and that it had the sovereign right to leave the USA when it so desired. Some believe that the Civil War was a war about the southern states wanting separation from the northern states, similar to the Revolutionary War (1776-1783) where the American colonies wanted separation from Great Britain. However, it was really about the desire to preserve, protect and defend the institution of slavery.
The South Carolina secession ordinance states that, "an increasing hostility on the part of non-slave holding States to the institution of slavery, has led to a disregard of their obligations (under the US Constitution)." In the Confederate Constitution, Article 1, Section 9, Clause 4 states that, "No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed."
Slavery is an abomination. I can no longer watch Gone With The Wind.
It is estimated that, between 1619 and 1808, when the African slave trade was abolished, 388,000 black Africans were brought as slaves to what is today the USA. By comparison, from 1500 (when the Portuguese first came to Brazil) to 1888 (when slavery was abolished there), it is estimated that four million slaves were imported from Africa to Brazil. One reason for the difference is that Brazil is closer to West Africa where the bulk of the slaves came from.
By 1860, the slave population in the United States had grown to 4.4 million, as a result of "natural increase." Slaves in the US were treated as valuable assets, where as in Brazil, they were more easily replaced and thus, almost worked to death.
Why slavery? The early land owners in the British colonies needed laborers. Many so-called "indentured servants" came from Britain to fill this need. The land owners had paid for their passage across the Atlantic and they thus were legally obligated to work off their debt before they were freed. But this wasn't enough. The black Africans were the better answer. There was no debt that would eventually be paid off. They were permanent.
Slavery is an ancient custom among human beings. You can find it in the Bible. Today, it is hard to fathom that people could own people, like owning a horse or a cow. In the early days of British North America, all of the colonies permitted slavery. Eventually, in the early 19th Century, the northern states eliminated slavery, while for the more agrarian southern states, it was an integral part of their economy and culture. Many southern slave-owners felt that, "slaves were happy, content, and well cared-for; being a slave was better than being a worker in a northern factory."
After the invention of the cotton gin in 1793, cotton became the main export of the southern states and of the USA as well. 90% of the cotton used in British textile mills came from the USA's southern states. Ships built in the northern states carried the cotton to Great Britain. Banks in New York financed the cotton industry. "Cotton is king" meant that it was the biggest American industry, an industry that was dependent on slavery.
In the first half of the 19th Century, slavery became a bone of contention between the southern slave states and the northern "free" states. Slave owners wanted the right to take their slaves to the new territories in the west. Northerners did not want to send escaped slaves back to their masters in the south. Some (Abolitionists) wanted slavery ended entirely. The dispute came to a head with the election of 1860. Abraham Lincoln, a man personally opposed to slavery and who believed that the USA could not remain half-free, half-slave, was elected as the sixteenth president without receiving a single vote in the south.
On December 20, 1860, South Carolina adopted an ordinance seceding from the United States of America. It believed it had joined the USA (ratified the US Constitution on May 23, 1788) as a sovereign state and that it had the sovereign right to leave the USA when it so desired. Some believe that the Civil War was a war about the southern states wanting separation from the northern states, similar to the Revolutionary War (1776-1783) where the American colonies wanted separation from Great Britain. However, it was really about the desire to preserve, protect and defend the institution of slavery.
The South Carolina secession ordinance states that, "an increasing hostility on the part of non-slave holding States to the institution of slavery, has led to a disregard of their obligations (under the US Constitution)." In the Confederate Constitution, Article 1, Section 9, Clause 4 states that, "No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed."
Slavery is an abomination. I can no longer watch Gone With The Wind.
Sunday, August 13, 2017
James Cagney
During my childhood, which coincided with the early days of television (the 1950s), I watched a lot of old movies, which filled a lot of time slots in the new medium. Even though I saw these adult movies on the little screen through the eyes of a child, I came to appreciate them and the actors as well. One of my favorites was James Cagney.
Cagney was born in New York City (Manhattan) in 1899. At the age of twenty, he successfully auditioned as a dancer in a musical theatrical production. So started his career in show business. In 1930, he made his first film, Sinners' Holiday. He made his last in 1981, Ragtime, coming out of a twenty-year retirement.
Two of his early pictures that I saw on television, Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) and City For Conquest (1940), made a big impression on a youthful me.
Angels with Dirty Faces co-starred Pat O'Brien, Ann Sheridan, Humphrey Bogart, and Leo Gorcey/Huntz Hall from the so-called "Dead End" Kids. It is the story of Rocky Sullivan (Cagney), an ex-convict, who returns to his old neighborhood and his old criminal ways in New York. He befriends some local teenagers who look up to him.
Eventually, Rocky murders his crooked business partner (Bogart) who was trying to cheat him. Rocky is caught, convicted and sentenced to die in the electric chair. His old friend, now a Catholic priest (O'Brien), pleads with Rocky to act a coward on the day of his execution. This would convince his gang of teenager supporters to reject Rocky and follow a path away from criminality. Rocky says he can't do that. He can never be a coward, even as an act.
However, when Rocky is finally walking down the corridor from his cell on death row to the electric chair, he loses his cocky ways and appears an abject coward. The result is as the priest had hoped.
Was Rocky a coward or was it an act? I was curious about this question when I read Cagney's autobiography. In it, he explained that he left it up to each viewer to decide the answer for themselves. It was a great bit of acting on the part of Cagney, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, but lost to Spencer Tracy in Boys Town. He won his Academy Award for Best Actor in the 1942 film, Yankee Doodle Dandy.
City for Conquest co-starred Ann Sheridan (again), Arthur Kennedy, Anthony Quinn, Donald Crisp, and Elia Kazan (who became a legendary director - see blog post, A Contender).
It is the story of a young couple, Danny (Cagney) and Peggy (Sheridan), who grow up as childhood sweethearts in New York. However, while Danny yearns for a simple life ("I just want to be happy" - I love that line), Peggy wants to see her name in lights on Broadway.
To fulfill her ambition, Peggy starts a career as a professional dancer, teaming up with another dancer named Murray (Quinn). Embittered that she has rejected him and the life he would have preferred, Danny embarks on his own career as a professional boxer, partially to support his brother's ambition to be a composer.
Eventually, Danny is blinded in the ring (while fighting for the championship) and winds up selling newspapers on the streets of his hometown. Peggy's dancing career ends badly, but she reunites with Danny at his newsstand. He had just listened on the radio to his brother (Kennedy) conducting his first symphony, City for Conquest, dedicated to Danny and the city they all love, New York.
Cagney was born in New York City (Manhattan) in 1899. At the age of twenty, he successfully auditioned as a dancer in a musical theatrical production. So started his career in show business. In 1930, he made his first film, Sinners' Holiday. He made his last in 1981, Ragtime, coming out of a twenty-year retirement.
Two of his early pictures that I saw on television, Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) and City For Conquest (1940), made a big impression on a youthful me.
Angels with Dirty Faces co-starred Pat O'Brien, Ann Sheridan, Humphrey Bogart, and Leo Gorcey/Huntz Hall from the so-called "Dead End" Kids. It is the story of Rocky Sullivan (Cagney), an ex-convict, who returns to his old neighborhood and his old criminal ways in New York. He befriends some local teenagers who look up to him.
Eventually, Rocky murders his crooked business partner (Bogart) who was trying to cheat him. Rocky is caught, convicted and sentenced to die in the electric chair. His old friend, now a Catholic priest (O'Brien), pleads with Rocky to act a coward on the day of his execution. This would convince his gang of teenager supporters to reject Rocky and follow a path away from criminality. Rocky says he can't do that. He can never be a coward, even as an act.
However, when Rocky is finally walking down the corridor from his cell on death row to the electric chair, he loses his cocky ways and appears an abject coward. The result is as the priest had hoped.
Was Rocky a coward or was it an act? I was curious about this question when I read Cagney's autobiography. In it, he explained that he left it up to each viewer to decide the answer for themselves. It was a great bit of acting on the part of Cagney, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, but lost to Spencer Tracy in Boys Town. He won his Academy Award for Best Actor in the 1942 film, Yankee Doodle Dandy.
City for Conquest co-starred Ann Sheridan (again), Arthur Kennedy, Anthony Quinn, Donald Crisp, and Elia Kazan (who became a legendary director - see blog post, A Contender).
It is the story of a young couple, Danny (Cagney) and Peggy (Sheridan), who grow up as childhood sweethearts in New York. However, while Danny yearns for a simple life ("I just want to be happy" - I love that line), Peggy wants to see her name in lights on Broadway.
To fulfill her ambition, Peggy starts a career as a professional dancer, teaming up with another dancer named Murray (Quinn). Embittered that she has rejected him and the life he would have preferred, Danny embarks on his own career as a professional boxer, partially to support his brother's ambition to be a composer.
Eventually, Danny is blinded in the ring (while fighting for the championship) and winds up selling newspapers on the streets of his hometown. Peggy's dancing career ends badly, but she reunites with Danny at his newsstand. He had just listened on the radio to his brother (Kennedy) conducting his first symphony, City for Conquest, dedicated to Danny and the city they all love, New York.
Sunday, August 6, 2017
Syracuse
Seventy-two years ago today, my mother, Margaret Lasky, was lounging around the Hotel Syracuse on East Onondaga Street in Syracuse, New York, which is 40 miles (64 kilometers) southeast of Oswego, where I grew up. She was there waiting for me. The following day I was ready and she took a cab or an ambulance to the Syracuse Memorial Hospital where I was born. Thus, I have this peculiar history of having a hometown different from the place of my birth. For the reason, check out my blog post, My Sister.
Over the years, this confusion has manifested itself. The biggest example was when my daughter, Rachel, was born and her mother (Bonita) was asked by a birth record official at the Long Island Jewish Hospital "where was Rachel's father born." She said Oswego, which was accepted without question. When I later saw Rachel's birth certificate, I went to have it corrected. I, the father, had to prove the authenticity of the correction, which I did.
Syracuse, New York, named after the city on the east coast of Sicily, reached its population zenith in 1950 with 221,000 residents. Sixty years later, its population dropped to 145,000, a 34% reduction. Growing up in Oswego (population then of 20,000) as I did, Syracuse seemed to be a "big city." I returned many times.
My earliest recollection of trips to Syracuse were with my mother on clothes shopping expeditions, mostly for her, sometimes for me. I would go with her to Flah's and Addis's where I would hide in clothes racks and play with my toys. As a little boy, I remember being the only male in an elevator full of females heavily perfumed. The mixture was almost too much.
Before and after such shopping, my mother and I would hang out at that same Hotel Syracuse with its many comfortable chairs and couches. There was a nice restaurant and a coffee shop in the lower level, plus a barber shop and a men's room which required a dime to use the toilets. I especially remember a news stand which had a whole lot of sports magazines. Sometimes my mother would give me a quarter with which I could buy one. Some of them, sixty years later, are in a box in Bonita's apartment in New York City.
In the 1950's, my father had season tickets to the Syracuse Nationals (or Nats) basketball games. Our seats at the Onondaga County War Memorial were on the court level. The Nats were led by the legendary Dolph Schayes, famous for his two hand set shot. They were one of eight teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA) when it was much less significant than today. In 1955, the Nats were NBA champions, defeating the Fort Wayne (today Detroit) Pistons in seven games. In 1963, the team moved to Philadelphia to become the 76ers. Coincidentally, I also moved to Philadelphia that same year to study at the University of Pennsylvania.
Annually, the New York State Fair is held in Syracuse and my mother would take me there. I especially liked the farm animals. Once, I saw one of my favorite boxers, Carmen Basilio, who was at the fair signing autographs. They weren't free, so I didn't get one.
I remember my older brother, Paul, taking me to my first professional baseball game to see the minor league Syracuse Chiefs and their star player, Bobby Bowman.
The City of Syracuse is well known for Syracuse University, a well-respected institution of higher learning. I probably would have considered studying there if I hadn't wanted to be far from my parents. As a child, I was a big fan of their football team. I remember listening to Bill O'Donnell on the radio as he would describe the action on the field many Saturday afternoons in the fall. Jim Brown, a star running back for the Orangemen, was an early hero of mine, until he joined the Cleveland Browns of the NFL, the rival of my New York Giants.
In 1957, as a 12 year-old, I scrapped together enough money to buy a ticket to the Penn State game. I was going to take public transportation, but my father got his assistant at work, Joe Cutro, to take me and bring me home. In 1959, Syracuse University won the National Championship with the help of Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis. I saw him in person score three touchdowns against Pittsburgh in 1961.
I'll never forget the hours I spent in Syracuse one Saturday evening/Sunday morning in December of 1962 on my way to New York City with my friend, Frank Ruggio. See my blog post, Weekend in New York.
In the summer of 1965, my father gave me a job with his company, Mobile Warehousing, located in Syracuse. It was a distribution center for Nestle products produced at their plant in nearby Fulton, New York and shipped to stores throughout central New York State. My main job was to drive the two of us to and from work. While there, he gave me various tasks. The one I remember most was walking behind mountains of pallets full of candy bars looking for rodents. I found only one dead one the whole summer.
After an absence of many years, I returned to Syracuse in 1999 with both my children to see the Orange football team lose to Rachel's alma mater, the University of Michigan, led by Tom Brady, who turned 40 years-old this past week.
When my son, Bret, was in high school, I took him to Syracuse University for its summer basketball program. On another occasion, we went for a tour of the Syracuse campus as he was considering applying there.
Ten years ago, Cristina and I flew into Hancock Airport outside of Syracuse on our way to visit Oswego. I used that airport many times during my college years flying between home and Philadelphia. I hope to return to that area of the country one day.
Over the years, this confusion has manifested itself. The biggest example was when my daughter, Rachel, was born and her mother (Bonita) was asked by a birth record official at the Long Island Jewish Hospital "where was Rachel's father born." She said Oswego, which was accepted without question. When I later saw Rachel's birth certificate, I went to have it corrected. I, the father, had to prove the authenticity of the correction, which I did.
Syracuse, New York, named after the city on the east coast of Sicily, reached its population zenith in 1950 with 221,000 residents. Sixty years later, its population dropped to 145,000, a 34% reduction. Growing up in Oswego (population then of 20,000) as I did, Syracuse seemed to be a "big city." I returned many times.
My earliest recollection of trips to Syracuse were with my mother on clothes shopping expeditions, mostly for her, sometimes for me. I would go with her to Flah's and Addis's where I would hide in clothes racks and play with my toys. As a little boy, I remember being the only male in an elevator full of females heavily perfumed. The mixture was almost too much.
Before and after such shopping, my mother and I would hang out at that same Hotel Syracuse with its many comfortable chairs and couches. There was a nice restaurant and a coffee shop in the lower level, plus a barber shop and a men's room which required a dime to use the toilets. I especially remember a news stand which had a whole lot of sports magazines. Sometimes my mother would give me a quarter with which I could buy one. Some of them, sixty years later, are in a box in Bonita's apartment in New York City.
In the 1950's, my father had season tickets to the Syracuse Nationals (or Nats) basketball games. Our seats at the Onondaga County War Memorial were on the court level. The Nats were led by the legendary Dolph Schayes, famous for his two hand set shot. They were one of eight teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA) when it was much less significant than today. In 1955, the Nats were NBA champions, defeating the Fort Wayne (today Detroit) Pistons in seven games. In 1963, the team moved to Philadelphia to become the 76ers. Coincidentally, I also moved to Philadelphia that same year to study at the University of Pennsylvania.
Annually, the New York State Fair is held in Syracuse and my mother would take me there. I especially liked the farm animals. Once, I saw one of my favorite boxers, Carmen Basilio, who was at the fair signing autographs. They weren't free, so I didn't get one.
I remember my older brother, Paul, taking me to my first professional baseball game to see the minor league Syracuse Chiefs and their star player, Bobby Bowman.
The City of Syracuse is well known for Syracuse University, a well-respected institution of higher learning. I probably would have considered studying there if I hadn't wanted to be far from my parents. As a child, I was a big fan of their football team. I remember listening to Bill O'Donnell on the radio as he would describe the action on the field many Saturday afternoons in the fall. Jim Brown, a star running back for the Orangemen, was an early hero of mine, until he joined the Cleveland Browns of the NFL, the rival of my New York Giants.
In 1957, as a 12 year-old, I scrapped together enough money to buy a ticket to the Penn State game. I was going to take public transportation, but my father got his assistant at work, Joe Cutro, to take me and bring me home. In 1959, Syracuse University won the National Championship with the help of Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis. I saw him in person score three touchdowns against Pittsburgh in 1961.
I'll never forget the hours I spent in Syracuse one Saturday evening/Sunday morning in December of 1962 on my way to New York City with my friend, Frank Ruggio. See my blog post, Weekend in New York.
In the summer of 1965, my father gave me a job with his company, Mobile Warehousing, located in Syracuse. It was a distribution center for Nestle products produced at their plant in nearby Fulton, New York and shipped to stores throughout central New York State. My main job was to drive the two of us to and from work. While there, he gave me various tasks. The one I remember most was walking behind mountains of pallets full of candy bars looking for rodents. I found only one dead one the whole summer.
After an absence of many years, I returned to Syracuse in 1999 with both my children to see the Orange football team lose to Rachel's alma mater, the University of Michigan, led by Tom Brady, who turned 40 years-old this past week.
When my son, Bret, was in high school, I took him to Syracuse University for its summer basketball program. On another occasion, we went for a tour of the Syracuse campus as he was considering applying there.
Ten years ago, Cristina and I flew into Hancock Airport outside of Syracuse on our way to visit Oswego. I used that airport many times during my college years flying between home and Philadelphia. I hope to return to that area of the country one day.
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