Abraham's Son, Chapter 13

INT. INSIDE AMTRAK CAR - NIGHT

ABRAHAM enters train at Penn Station and takes a seat. Train leaves on way to Washington. 

INT. INSIDE UNION STATION, WASHINGTON - NIGHT

ABRAHAM exits train and enters station. ROBERT and ABRAHAM see each other and come together. They embrace.

ROBERT: Welcome to Washington, ABRAHAM. How was the trip?

ABRAHAM: Great! Now I'm hungry. 

ROBERT: I can fix that. Let's go.

ABRAHAM, carrying a bag, and ROBERT walk out of crowded Union Station. 

INT. MASTRO'S STEAKHOUSE - NIGHT

ABRAHAM and ROBERT sit at a table at fashionable restaurant in Washington eating thick, juicy steaks. They talk, but we cannot hear them. 

INT. ROBERT'S SYNAGOGUE IN WASHINGTON - DAY

On Saturday morning, ROBERT and ABRAHAM participate in shabbos services at ROBERT's synagogue, which is crowded. 

EXT. VIETNAM MEMORIAL IN WASHINGTON - DAY

Later on Saturday, ABRAHAM and ROBERT are at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington. ABRAHAM looks for name of his brother who was killed in action in Vietnam. He finds the name, Joseph Shapiro. ABRAHAM stops and stares at the name for a minute with tears in his eyes. 

EXT. INSIDE LINCOLN MEMORIAL - DAY 

ABRAHAM and ROBERT look at the statue of Lincoln and then the two sides of the Memorial showing the two famous speeches he gave. 

EXT ON THE STEP IN FRONT OF LINCOLN MEMORIAL - DAY 

ABRAHAM and ROBERT are descending down from the Memorial.

ABRAHAM: ROBERT, let's sit here a minute. 

ROBERT: Okay. 

They sit down on the steps. 

ABRAHAM: This may sound like a stupid question, but are you happy, ROBERT? 

ROBERT: There are no stupid questions. A professor told me that once. Okay, let me think. (pause) You know, I don't really dwell on happiness. I keep busy, that's what I do. And I am busy, very busy. This is an unusual day off for me. Normally, I'm back in the office after shabbat services. 

ABRAHAM: The reason for my question is I feel there's a gap in my life. Not a woman gap, but...a child gap. I really miss not having a child. How are your children, ROBERT? 

ROBERT: They're all fine, grandkids, too. Don't see them much, but we keep in touch. That's a little weird at your age, you thinking about a child. What's your solution? 

ABRAHAM: Not sure, yet. But, it's become like an obsession. You think I'm mashugana?

ROBERT: (laughing) Who cares? Do what you want? Don't let anybody else tell you how to live your life. You only get one chance and then...and then. 

ABRAHAM: Thanks. 

ABRAHAM and ROBERT get up and start walking away from the Memorial. 

INT. GUEST ROOM AT ROBERT'S HOME - DAY 

ABRAHAM is changing his clothes in ROBERT's guest room when his cellphone rings. He answers it. 

ABRAHAM:  Hello. 

SANDY (O.S.): ABRAHAM, it's SANDY. You weren't at services this morning. I asked SYLVIA about it and she didn't seem concerned, but I worried. What's going on? 

ABRAHAM: Nothing. I'm fine. I'm in Washington...visiting my friend ROBERT.

SANDY (O.S.): What? You left town and didn't tell me. What is that?

ABRAHAM: I'm sorry. I guess I should have told you. 

SANDY (O.S.): You guess? 

ABRAHAM: I'm sorry. I'll...I'll...When I get back, I'll call you and we can do something. 

SANDY (O.S.): Don't take me for granted, ABRAHAM. I have other admirers, you know. 

ABRAHAM: I'm sure. 

SANDY (O.S.): I thought we were starting a relationship. That means two people thinking about each other. Not one person acting on his own. 

ABRAHAM: I...I'm not used to this...being with you as a couple, I mean. I apologize. 

SANDY (O.S.): I'm not sure I accept. I'll think about it. (pause) When will you call me? 

ABRAHAM: I'm not sure when I'll be getting back to New York. It's up in the air. 

SANDY (O.S.): I'm mad at you. 

SANDY hangs up. ABRAHAM is unsure what to do next, how to react to her. 

INT. UNION STATION - DAY 

ABRAHAM is leaving Washington by train Monday morning. He and ROBERT embrace. 

ABRAHAM: Thanks for everything. 

ROBERT: This has been great. I'm glad we're still friends, ABRAHAM. If there's anything you need from me, let me know. Okay? 

ABRAHAM: Okay. Gotta go. Bye. 

ABRAHAM walks through gate towards his train headed to New York. 

EXT. PARK NEAR ABRAHAM'S HOME - DAY 

ABRAHAM, still on vacation from work, sits in park on bench, reading newspaper on Tuesday. He eventually sees a father, 40ish, with a young son doing various activities in park's playground. ABRAHAM puts down newspaper and stares at father and son. 

INT. INSIDE ICE CREAM STORE - DAY 

On Wednesday, ABRAHAM is at ice cream store having a root beer float, sitting at a table. A young father with his son enters store and catches ABRAHAM's attention. He forgets his drink and follows the twosome while they choose what the want until they eventually leave store.

LBJ

Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) became the 36th president of the United States on November 22, 1963 when then President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.  A former United States Senator from Texas, he was elected Vice President in November 1960.

Under LBJ's leadership, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became the law of the land.  It outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.  It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in schools and public accommodations, and employment discrimination.

To me, the most important aspect of the Act relates to discrimination related to public accommodations.  Before the law, owners of businesses open to the public could legally not serve certain customers based upon their race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.  

I remember a scene from the film Gentlemen's Agreement (1947) in which a man claiming to be Jewish was denied access to a hotel and the film Giant (1956) in which a Mexican-American family was denied access to a restaurant.

Future governor of the State of Georgia, Lester Maddox, opened the Pickrick Restaurant in Atlanta in 1947.  It did not serve Black people.  After the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became law, Maddox closed his restaurant rather than serve them.  

US Senator Barry Goldwater (from Arizona) opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  While stating that he personally would not discriminate against anyone based upon their race, color, religion, sex, and national origin, he believed a business owner should have the right to do so.  I was very disappointed in Goldwater, a man I supported in his run for president in 1964 against LBJ.

When LBJ became president, there were 16,000 US troops in South Vietnam assisting that country's government in their struggle against communist insurgents.  By the end of his presidency in 1969, that number had risen to half a million in an effort to defeat Vietnamese communists.  

LBJ's military advisors convinced him the war was winnable if he had enough troops on the ground.  As more and more Americans became war casualties, LBJ became more and more unpopular and his political capital waned.   

On March 31, 1968 (a Sunday), I was sitting in my car in Flushing, Queens, New York City listening to an address to the nation by LBJ.  I was shocked, as was the rest of the American people (including the media) when he said,  "I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President."

On January 22, 1973 (50 years ago today), LBJ died of a heart attack at his ranch in Texas.  He was 64 years old.

The Cosmos

In the summer of 1966, I was home on vacation before my final year of college.  On July 30th, I was curious to watch on TV the final game of that year's World Cup broadcast live from London.  

It was my first experience with what we call soccer.  England won its first and only championship, defeating West Germany 4-2 in overtime.

I did not realize that Brazil, the team that had won the previous two World Cups (1958 and 1962), had been eliminated in the group stage by losing to both Hungary and Portugal.  However, it went on to win the World Cup again in 1970.  

Those Brazilian teams were led by Edson Arantes de Nascimento (known by the nickname Pelé), considered the greatest soccer player of all time.  After retiring from his Brazilian club team (Santos) in 1974, Pelé brought his soccer talent to the United States in 1975 by signing to play with the fledgling New York Cosmos.

On June 15, 1975, Pelé made his New York Cosmos debut in a Father’s Day friendly game against the Dallas Tornado (which ended in a 2-2 tie) played at Downing Stadium (built during the Depression as a WPA project) on Randalls Island located between Queens and Manhattan.  

21,278 lucky souls (including my ex-wife Bonita and me) can truly claim to have witnessed the match live, setting an attendance record that would be broken several times over the next three years for the Cosmos. 

Ten million viewers were watching on CBS, shattering the record for a United States audience for soccer on TV, plus countless other viewers in another twelve countries watching a live match played in the United States for the first time.

I remember two things about that game.  One was Pelé's bicycle kick and the other was the awful traffic jam we suffered while trying to exit the Downing Stadium parking lot.

When the New York Cosmos moved into the magnificent new Giants Stadium in New Jersey in 1977, it looked as though they, and soccer, had finally arrived in the USA. Before then the Cosmos rarely attracted crowds larger than 15,000.  In the 1977 season, they averaged more than twice that figure and three times surpassed 60,000.

The sudden change could be credited to one man: the incomparable Pelé, who had come out of retirement three years earlier, at age 34, to join the Cosmos and try to turbocharge soccer’s popularity in the United States. 

Pelé led the Cosmos to the 1977 Soccer Bowl, in his third and final season with the club.  Pelé finished his official playing career on the 28th of August 1977, by leading the New York Cosmos to their second Soccer Bowl title with a 2–1 win over the Seattle Sounders at the Civic Stadium in Portland, Oregon.

Pelé died in Sao Paulo, Brazil on the 29th of December 2022, at the age of 82, as a result of colon cancer.

Fourteen Points

In August 1914, what was known as the Great War (now World War I) began, mostly in Europe.  In April 1917, the United States, under President Woodrow Wilson, entered the Great War on the side of the French, British and Russians against Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy.   

On January 8, 1918 (105 years ago) Wilson made a speech (known as the Fourteen Points) outlining what he believed would be a strategy for ending the Great War and creating a lasting peace for the world.  He set out specific goals he wanted to achieve. 

If the United States soldiers were going to risk their lives, Wilson wanted to establish exactly what they were fighting for. Through this speech, he became the only leader of the countries fighting in the Great War to publicly outline his country's war goals.

Summary of the Fourteen Points:

1. No more secret agreements between countries. Diplomacy shall be open to the world.
2. International seas shall be free to navigate during peace and war.
3. There shall be free trade between the countries who accept the peace.
4. There shall be a worldwide reduction in weapons and armies by all countries.
5. Colonial claims over land and regions will be fair.
6. Russia will be allowed to determine its own form of government. All German troops will leave Russian soil.
7. German troops will evacuate Belgium and Belgium will be an independent country.
8. France will regain all territory including the disputed land of Alsace-Lorraine.
9. The borders of Italy will be established such that all Italians will be within the country of Italy.
10. Austria-Hungary will be allowed to continue to be an independent country.
11. The Central Powers will evacuate Serbia, Montenegro, and Romania leaving them as independent countries.
12. The Turkish people of the Ottoman Empire will have their own country. Other nationalities under the Ottoman rule will also have security.
13. Poland shall be an independent country.
14. A League of Nations will be formed that protects the independence of all countries no matter how big or small.

A League of Nations was formed but without the United States participation, which caused it to be weak.  The United States Senate blocked its participation by failing to ratify the treaty establishing the League.

The promise of the Fourteen Points helped to bring the Germans to peace talks at the end of the Great War in November 1918. However, the actual results of the Treaty of Versailles (ending the war) were much harsher against Germany than the Fourteen Points. 

The treaty included a "Guilt Clause" blaming Germany for the war as well as a huge reparation sum that Germany owed the Allies. These differences were insisted upon by the French because their economy was largely destroyed by the Germans during the war.

In my opinion, the Treaty of Versailles crippled Germany and led directly to the rise of the Third Reich and World War II.

In his speech, Wilson said regarding Germany, "We do not wish to injure her or to block in any way her legitimate influence or power."  He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919 for his efforts to establish peace in Europe and the whole world.

The Professionals

 One weekend late in 1966, I visited my brother and sister-in-law, Joel and Judy, in Flushing, Queens.  I was fixed up on a blind date.  It was decided we would first go to the movies to see a new release, The Professionals which had an amazing cast:  Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Woody Strode, Ralph Bellamy, Jack Palance and Claudia Cardinale.

After the movie, which I enjoyed very much, I asked my date if she knew a place where we could go and talk.  She took me to a bar with very loud music where we could talk only when the band was on a break.  Never saw her again.  

Regarding the film, in the early 20th Century, a wealthy American named Grant (Bellamy) hires a team of professionals: Fardan (Marvin), Dolworth (Lancaster), Ehrengard (Ryan) and Sharp (Strode).  Their job (for $10,000 each) is to travel into Mexico and rescue Grant's wife Maria (Cardinale) who has allegedly been kidnapped by a bandit named Raza (Palance).

After travelling to Raza's camp and sneaking into the bedroom where Maria is being kept(?), Fardan and Dolworth discover they'd "been had."  Maria wasn't kidnapped, but had escaped from an arranged marriage to return to her lover.  

But instead of abandoning their mission, Fardan wants to finish the job as promised.  The four professionals take Maria by force and attempt to deliver her back to her husband in America.  

Along the way the four have to defend themselves from Raza and his army of men and one woman.  In fierce fighting, Raza is wounded (but not abandoned) and all his followers are killed.

At the conclusion, the four professionals deliver Maria to Grant.  She however prefers the company of Raza.  Grant orders one of his men to kill a defenseless Raza.  Dolworth stops this.  Fardan then allows Maria to take Raza in a horse drawn wagon back into Mexico.  

Grant angrily turns to Fardan and says "You bastard!" to which he retorts: "Yes, sir, in my case an accident of birth. But you, sir, you are a self-made man." The professionals ride behind the fleeing wagon.

In essence, the Raza's army of supporters were killed for nothing.  They were trying to prevent the professionals from taking Maria back to Grant.  They failed.  But in the end, the professionals allowed Maria and Raza to escape Grant and return together to Mexico.  What a waste!