April 30, 1930

On Wednesday, April 30, 1930 (93 years ago), my parents, Margaret Karch and Harry Lasky wed in Oswego, New York.  Is Wednesday a typical day to get married?  

They honeymooned in Bermuda.  

191 days (27 weeks) after their wedding, on November 7, 1930, my mother delivered a stillborn female child at the Oswego Hospital.  Was it a premature birth?

After graduating from the Oswego Normal School (now the State University of New York at Oswego), my mother signed on to teach for a year in the Niagara Falls, NY school system.  Based on my memory of having seen that contractual agreement, it would have ended in June 1930.  My mother presumably ended the agreement two months early to get married.  Why?

My parents met in 1925 when my mother was eighteen years-old.  My father was twenty-three or twenty-four. 

My parents met when my father was taking room and board at my mother's family's home as he had recently moved to Oswego for work.  My grandparents provided the kosher environment which my father wanted.

My mother confessed to me that she fell in love with my father at first sight, but it took him five years to agree to marry her.  In the mean time, he confessed to me that he dated other women.  

My late brother Ted told me that my mother's sister (Aunt Frances, who died in 2004) told him my mother was pregnant "when she walked down the aisle."  How did she know that?

Neither of my parents ever mentioned the stillborn birth to me. 

What ever is the truth about April 30, 1930, it is important to note that my parents remained happily married for more than fifty-one years until my father's death on September 17, 1981.  They always called each other "sweet."  A good memory of mine.

         

Abraham's Son, Chapter 16

 INT. ABRAHAM'S KITCHEN - DAY

It is next morning and ABRAHAM and SARA eat pancakes and drink coffee.  She wears same clothes she came wearing night before and he is in his pajamas.

SARA:  These pancakes are pretty good...maybe better than Blue Bay.

ABRAHAM:  And you're eating them with real maple syrup, not that fake stuff they have at most places...so, when can you know if you're pregnant?

SARA:  In two weeks, I'll get one of those test kits at the Duane Reade.  Then, I'll know.  I'll be back on Thursday the week after next...for dinner.  Okay?  And you can make your lasagna again.  This time I'll eat it.

ABRAHAM nods his approval.

SARA:  Gotta go.  Thanks for breakfast...and last night was great...glad we did it.  

ABRAHAM:  Me, too.  See you in two weeks.  Take care of yourself.

SARA rises from table, goes to door and leaves.  ABRAHAM remains at table eating.

EXT. IN FRONT OF ABRAHAM'S HOUSE - DAY

As SARA leaves, SANDY arrives at ABRAHAM's house.

SARA:  Good morning.

SANDY:  What?  Who are you?  

SARA:  You must be SANDY.  I'm SARA.  He's told me a lot about you.

SANDY:  Did you sleep with him?

SARA:  Can't tell a lie.

SANDY:  You whore.  I should slap your face.

SARA:  I wouldn't try that.  You'd regret it...A better idea would be to go in and talk to ABRAHAM.  He's got hot pancakes and coffee.

SANDY:  I will do no such thing.  I'm leaving.

SANDY heads back toward her car parked in front of house.

SARA:  If you're gonna leave, then give me a ride to my job.  I waitress at the Blue Bay Diner.  I'll even treat you to breakfast.  And we can talk about your boyfriend.

SANDY listens incredulously.

Pat Summerall

Pat Summerall was born in Lake City, Florida on May 10, 1930.  He played football, basketball, baseball and tennis at his local high school, Columbia.

Summerall attended the University of Arkansas where he played football for three years.  Besides playing tight end on offense and defensive end, he was also the team's place kicker for field goals and extra points.

After being drafted by the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), Summerall played five years for the Chicago (now Arizona) Cardinals and four years for the New York football Giants.  He was primarily known for his placekicking ability.  Summerall used the straight ahead approach instead of the soccer style which everybody currently uses and has used for many years.

After the 1961 season, Summerall retired from football and moved into a very successful broadcasting career.  He became an analyst for NFL games, a position he held for forty years.  

The highlight of Summerall's football career occurred on December 14, 1958 at Yankee Stadium.  It was the regular season finale against the Cleveland Browns.  The Giants trailed the Eastern Conference's first place Browns by one game and needed a victory to force a one-game playoff to determine who would play the Baltimore (now Indianapolis) Colts in the NFL championship game (pre-Super Bowl).

As the game was winding down, the score was tied at 10-10.  Such a final result (there was no overtime during the regular season) would benefit the Browns.  They would be Eastern Conference champion.  

The Giants were able to edge into Cleveland's territory.  On fourth down, with swirling winds and snow falling, Summerall went out on the field to attempt a 49 yard field goal to give the Giants the win and force a playoff game against the Browns the following Sunday.

Summerall made the kick and became a sports legend.  The Giants beat the Browns the following weekend (10-0), but lost to the Colts in the first NFL championship overtime game two weeks later (23-17).

Pat Summerall died in Dallas, Texas on April 16, 2013 (ten years ago).  

    

JESSI

 In July 1962, I spent two weeks at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York.  It was the summer before my senior year at Oswego High School (OHS).  I was there to participate in the Junior Engineers and Scientists Summer Institute (JESSI).  Perhaps this program was a reaction to Sputnik (1957).  

What was a future accountant doing there with engineers and scientists?  

My parents were filling my head with the point of view that a liberal arts education (like my brother Joel got at Dartmouth College) was wasteful.   Better to invest your time to study something that would lead directly to a job or a career (like my brother Paul did studying civil engineering at Penn).  

Not using my imagination, I decided that I, too, would study engineering at Penn, if I was accepted.

Another benefit of spending two weeks at Clarkson was to experience the freedom of being away from my mother, a preview of what would happen the following year when I would begin my college education.  At almost seventeen years-of-age, I was so ready to leave home.

We were housed in Clarkson dormitories and my roommate was a very likeable sort.  We got along great.  He was also from a small town in New York State.

Monday through Friday, we had introductory classes in various engineering and science courses taught by Clarkson professors.  I remember one such who walked to the blackboard, turning his back to the class, and wrote on it for the entirety of the class.  No communication, eye to eye.  Great teaching technique! 

On the weekend, we could walk into downtown Potsdam and look around.  Not much to see.  A little smaller than Oswego.  

Met a JESSI classmate in town from Rhode Island.  He bragged about his fake ID (no photos then) and his plan to seduce a local girl who would not be able to trace him in case she wanted to (or needed to).  You meet all kinds.  

In the fall, I studied Chemistry at OHS and lost my appetite for engineering.  After I was accepted at Penn, I saw they had a business curriculum and switched to it.  From there I was required to take a year of accounting and the rest of my professional life is history.

In a Lonely Place

 In a Lonely Place is a 1950 film noir drama which starred Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame.  Dix (Bogart) is a struggling Hollywood screenwriter, while Laurel (Grahame) is a neighbor of his who lives on the opposite side of the courtyard of their apartment complex.

One night, Dix invites a hat-check girl at a nightclub he was at to come home with him to help him with a screenplay he may write.  When they arrive at his apartment complex, they pass Laurel.  

At the end of the evening, Dix puts the hat-check girl in a taxi to take her home.  The next morning, he is questioned by the police as the hat-check girl was found murdered.  

However, Laurel provides an alibi for Dix as she saw the hat-check girl leave his apartment.  Afterwards, the two of them strike up a conversation where an attraction is evident.  

Dix and Laurel fall in love, but she becomes worried as she learns of his violent behavior.  She starts to believe that Dix may have murdered the hat-check girl.  

Dix asks Laurel to marry him.  She accepts, but only because she is afraid of his reaction if she turns him down.  

Later, Dix tries to strangle her when he sees that she has taken off her engagement ring.  He eventually calms down before ending her life.  

Just then, Dix receives a phone call from the police reporting that the hat-check girl's boyfriend confessed to her murder.  However, it is too late to salvage Dix's relationship with Laurel.

There is one amusing scene when Dix is preparing for the two of them to eat a grapefruit for breakfast.  He straightens out the curved grapefruit knife unaware of its purpose.  

I first noticed the beautiful actress Gloria Grahame in the 1946 classic film It Was a Wonderful Life.  She plays Violet, a friend of George Bailey's (James Stewart).

In one memorable scene, Violet walks past George, Bert the cop (Ward Bond) and Ernie the taxi driver (Frank Faylen) in a very flirtatious manner.  A pedestrian is almost hit by a car as he was staring at Violet.  Bert then says, "I think I'll go home and see what the wife's doing."

Gloria Grahame was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1947 film Crossfire.  She lost out to Celeste Holm in Gentlemen's Agreement.  However, Grahame won the award with the 1952 film, The Bad and The Beautiful.

Sadly, Grahame died of cancer in 1981 at the age of fifty-seven.  That was the same year that Natalie Wood (at 43), Richard Boone (at 63), William Holden (at 63), Melvin Douglas (at 80) and my father also died (at 80).

            

Abraham's Son, Chapter 15

 INT. ABRAHAM'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

ABRAHAM opens bedroom door and he and SARA enter.  He turns on light.

SARA:  Nice.  Bigger than mine.  

ABRAHAM:  Why don't I put on fresh sheets.

SARA:  Good idea.

ABRAHAM finds fresh sheets and pillow cases and together he and SARA put them on mattress and pillows.  Then he puts blanket down at foot of bed.

ABRAHAM:  That's good.  I guess now we can get started.  (pause)  You know, this is very awkward for me.  I've made love to my wife and other women, but not like this.  This is different.

SARA:  Okay.  I think I need to take over here.  I've done this with guys I didn't even like.  I like you, ABRAHAM.  I like you a lot.  And I wanna help you do this.  First, take off your shoes and socks.

ABRAHAM sits on bed and removes his shoes and socks.  At same time, SARA flips off her shoes.  

SARA:  Okay, kill the light.

ABRAHAM turns off light, but there is enough light coming in through the window.

SARA:  We need music.

ABRAHAM:  The radio over there on my dresser.

SARA sees the radio, turns it on and finds some romantic music.

SARA:  You like that?

ABRAHAM:  Yeah!  That's nice.

SARA slowly starts doing a striptease.  She removes her skirt revealing her panties.  She has ABRAHAM's full attention.  She then takes off her blouse revealing her bra.

SARA:  You wanna take off your shirt or do you need help?

ABRAHAM takes off his shirt revealing his naked chest.  

SARA:  You don't look so bad for an old guy.  

SARA unhooks her bra and then playfully removes it revealing her breasts.

ABRAHAM:  You are beautiful, SARA.  

SARA approaches ABRAHAM and presses her body against his.  She kisses him gently on his lips.  He responds in kind.  

SARA:  Need help with your pants?

ABRAHAM:  No.  I can do that.

He removes his pants.  They are now down to their underpants and panties.

SARA:  Let's get in bed.

ABRAHAM and SARA lie down in bed, side by side, holding each other and kissing each other.  Each of them gradually start becoming more passionate.  Finally, they both remove their final garments and touch each other freely.  After some minutes of foreplay, ABRAHAM gets on top of SARA in the missionary position.  SARA wraps her legs around him.  He penetrates her and starts moving back and forth.  They moan.  Finally, there is a climax.  They both relax.  He remains on top of her.

ABRAHAM:  Am I too heavy?

SARA shakes her head no and kisses him on his lips.  She then pauses and breaks into a broad smile.

SARA:  Boy, you ain't over the hill.

They both laugh.

ABRAHAM:  Thank you for...

SARA:  Thank you?  Thank you.  That was fun.  How 'bout we do it again...in a few minutes.

ABRAHAM rolls over next to SARA.

ABRAHAM:  I'm an old man.  Once a night is all I'm good for.

SARA:  No problem.  (pause)  Let me put my head on your chest for a while and then I'll be on my way home.

ABRAHAM:  No, no, no, no.  Spend the night here with me.  And then I'll make you pancakes and coffee in the morning.  Please.

SARA:  Thanks.  You know, this'll be a first.  I've fucked a few guys, but never spent a whole night with one.

ABRAHAM:  We made love, SARA.  Don't forget.

SARA puts her head on ABRAHAM's chest and soon falls asleep.  ABRAHAM thinks about his future child.

Las Vegas

One morning in the summer of 1972, my ex-wife Bonita and I got up from a motel in Gallup, New Mexico and headed west in our green Fiat 124 Sport Coupe towards Kingman, Arizona.  We never got there.

Once we drove across the state line, the fruit we had bought in Gallup was confiscated by Arizona authorities.  We forgot all about that when we stopped to see the magnificent Grand Canyon.  It took my breathe away.

As we continued heading west, Bonita noted on our road map that we weren't that far away from Las Vegas, Nevada.  So, we decided to spend the night there instead of Kingman.

We had dinner and enjoyed the show at Circus, Circus.  Then we entered a casino and I bet $1 (in cash) on a spin of a roulette wheel.  I lost and we left.  We found a cheap motel for our final night before arriving in California the next day.

Las Vegas was founded in 1905 as a small town that was a stopover for trains travelling between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, Utah.  The construction of the nearby Hoover Dam, started in 1931, brought thousands of workers into Las Vegas.  

Gambling was outlawed in Nevada but there were well-established  underground casinos in operation there.  Realizing that gambling would be profitable for local business, the Nevada state legislature legalized gambling at the local level also in 1931. 

Las Vegas was poised to begin its rise as the gaming capital of the world. The county were it is located (Clark) issued its first gambling license on March 19, 1931 (92 years ago). 

Tommy Hull was a business man who was granted the first license. He built El Rancho (hotel plus casino) in the area that came to be known as the Vegas Strip. 

Tommy Hull’s success brought many other business men to Las Vegas and many hotel casinos were built. The most famous of which, the Flamingo, was built by the famous mobster Bugsy Seigel.

In the 1970s the trend of turning hotel casinos into mega resorts brought more good fortunes for the city. Las Vegas was transformed from a gambling city into a family vacation spot because these resorts provided all sorts of entertainment aside from gambling.

However, to me, Las Vegas is "been there, done that."  Not interested in a return trip.