Nothing like a dame?

We saw the newly released film, “Tea with the Dames,” that apparently also goes by the name “Nothing Like a Dame.” That latter name hearkens back to the song written for the musical “South Pacific” by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, “There is Nothing Like a Dame.” But as I see it, that is about as far as the similarity goes.

“Tea with the Dames” is a documentary in which four British stage and screen stars and apparently longtime friends, Dame Maggie Smith (83 years old), Dame Judi Dench (83 years old), Dame Eileen Atkins (84 years old), and Dame Joan Plowright (88 years old), drink tea and chat about their lives and careers interspersed with clips from some of their legendary roles. I cannot claim familiarity with much of their work. But two things struck me in a very positive way about these four women. The first is how amazingly articulate and witty they are even well into their 80s. They may be a bit hard on themselves when memories are unclear, but they are all doing quite well indeed. And the second is how they are all aging naturally, not giving in to the temptation to allow plastic surgeons to attempt to maintain their younger looking faces. Actors such as Jane Fonda and Goldie Hawn come to mind as examples of just how unattractive this can be.

Have a great weekend!

Love,

Rebecca

Me or I?

On our drive back to New York after a wonderful weekend in Sharon, including celebrating Noah’s 2^nd birthday, we were listening to an interview with Adam Cohen, son of the late singer/songwriter/poet Leonard Cohen. We had seen Adam perform at the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal (Montreal International Jazz Festival) in the summer of 2015 (see blog post from July 9^th). Like his father, he is a highly articulate and prolific poet and songwriter. So why did he, not once but twice, say “my mother moved my sister and I to (another city)”? Why is there such an intense aversion to using the word “me”? I just cringe when I hear this, particularly from the mouth of someone who otherwise has such an impressive command of the English language.

This got us to thinking about how much we had enjoyed that trip to Montreal. In fact, here is what I wrote at the time:

All good things must come to an end so on Sunday morning we headed back to New York on another gloriously sunny day. All I can say is that Barry has already checked out the dates for the 2016 festival!

Neither 2016 nor the subsequent few years happened, but we have now made some tentative plans to attend the jazz festival next summer, which happens to fall during the week of our 46^th wedding anniversary.

Sunday was a “Julia day.” We took her to the Providence Children’s Museum, when they opened at 9 a.m., planning to spend a couple of hours. It turned out to be a good thing that we brought along plenty of snacks and drinks and even a sandwich for Julia, because an hour after we arrived two of her friends came with their families, and we ended up spending nearly five hours there.

Have a great week!

Love,

Rebecca

The beginning of a great career?

Joshua just called to share some exciting news: he and his friend Dror were elected as co-presidents of the Ninth Grade Class at the Maimonides School! It was a tough election: there were eight other pairs of candidates in the running. As his grandparents, it is tempting to say that this success is a direct result of his keen intelligence, his winning personality, and his good looks. But, realistically, it appears that it was primarily the promise made by the two young men to have the school provide free ice cream to all the ninth graders that carried the day.

Did you catch Jeopardy on Tuesday evening? The final answer was:

Of the 23 lawgivers depicted on marble portraits over doors in the U.S. House chamber, he’s the only one in the Bible.

The question?

Who was Moses?

After posting this, it occurred to me that I should have included a picture of that marble portrait, and here it is:

Love,

Rebecca

Two documentary films

We managed to squeeze in time to see two documentary films over the past week or so: “Love, Gilda,” and “Moynihan.”

“Love, Gilda” is a touching portrait of the late comedian and actress Gilda Radner, who died of ovarian cancer at the age of only forty-three. The documentary includes particularly memorable scenes of characters she created during her five years as one of the original “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” troupe on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live (SNL)” from 1975 – 1980: Roseanne Roseannadanna, Emily Litella, and Baba Wawa come first to mind.

Her Stage IV cancer was diagnosed in 1986, almost a year after her first symptoms had appeared. After aggressive treatment with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, and a relatively brief period of remission, her cancer returned in December of 1988, and she died in May of 1989.

Watching clips of some of the work she did after her years on SNL, it is clear that SNL had been the best vehicle for her talents, but we will unfortunately never know the full range of her capabilities. All in all, it is a sad tale of someone who brought so many laughs to so many people for too short a time.

We saw “Moynihan” at the recently refurbished Film Forum, which reopened on August 1^st following a $5 million renovation, including new chairs and more leg room throughout and an additional (fourth) theater. The location is definitely not convenient but we have always enjoyed FF and had been anxious to get back there after the three-month renovation period.

I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I probably could not have told you a lot about Daniel Patrick Moynihan before seeing this movie. He was certainly an interesting and impressive human being, whose career included cabinet or sub-cabinet positions under Presidents John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford, Ambassador to India; United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations; and four-term Democratic United States Senator from New York. A friend who read this post pointed out that missing from this list is that he was "a fantastically, unforgettably inspiring Harvard professor." He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on August 9, 2000. His ability to work "across the aisle" is especially heartwarming during these polarized times in which we now live. 

Have a good week!

Love,

Rebecca

Creative Challot

Dina and Julia had lots of fun today baking for Noah’s upcoming second birthday next Friday. I just could not resist sharing these pictures. Dina’s challot are always delicious – a perfect match for Julia’s smile.

Love,

Rebecca

A guaranteed smile

On the eve of the last of the fall Jewish holidays, we gathered for dinner at Dina and Aaron’s house, arriving a few minutes early to pose for informal family pictures in the yard. Aaron was able to set up a timer on his camera to allow all twelve of us to be in a few of the pictures. I have now posted three of them here on the blog. Enjoy!

We had a wonderful two days, sharing delicious food (including Barry’s famous pot roast for the carnivores in the group) and many laughs. To be honest, it was probably the best I have felt in what seems like far too long a time. Buoyed by the experience, we are hoping to return to our regular schedule of more frequent visits to Sharon.

One thing that will make this more feasible is that my medical oncologist, Dr. Iyer, who had only been seeing outpatients only on Fridays, is adding Wednesday mornings to that schedule. He told me this when I began to ask him about scheduling for Friday mornings after we change our clocks in a few weeks, making Sabbath start quite early. So, beginning with my next visit, I will be seeing him on Wednesdays, allowing us much more flexibility in our planning.

I have tried hard not to wander into politics on this blog. This has been a difficult week. I am still debating just what, if anything, I want to say. The current story will likely end in the next day or so, but regardless of our opinions on how it perhaps should have gone differently, we now need to be prepared to move forward with civility. It may just take a little time.

Meanwhile, have a great weekend.

Love,

Rebecca

MSKCC in the news

The following letter was widely distributed to patients at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center last week:

September 20, 2018

Dear MSK Patients,

It is an honor to introduce myself to you as Memorial Sloan Kettering’s acting Physician-in- Chief and Chief Medical Officer. In this role, I have the privilege of leading the thousands of doctors, nurses, advanced practice providers, and clinical staff that work tirelessly to provide you and your family members with the best possible care.

MSK has been my home for the past 33 years, when I began my career focused on patients with brain tumors and other neurological conditions related to cancer, and I have served as the Chair of the Department of Neurology since 1997. In that time, we have seen changes to our leadership, our facilities, and, most importantly, our cancer treatments. But one thing has never changed: our commitment to our patients.

On behalf of MSK’s staff, I am writing to reaffirm our mission for the past 130 years. We have a singular focus on ensuring each and every patient at MSK receives outstanding care, with compassion, respect, and integrity. Thank you for letting us be your partner in your health and well-being.

As always, we encourage you to connect with your clinical team regarding questions about your care. For questions that go beyond your personalized treatment, our Patient Representatives Department (212-639-7202) is available to assist with your concerns. Everyone at MSK is here to support you, and we remain devoted to serving you and your family.

Sincerely,

Lisa M. DeAngelis, MD
Acting Physician-in-Chief &
Chief Medical Officer
Memorial Hospital

Those of you who have been faithfully reading my blog these past six years will certainly recognize this name, as she is the oncologist who treated my Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma in 2012 and whom I continue to see in follow-up (next visit Tuesday, September 10^th 2019). You know me, I cannot pass up an opportunity to put in my own two cents, so I sent her the following note:

Dear Dr. DeAngelis,

Congratulations on your appointment as acting Physician-in- Chief and Chief Medical Officer. Barry and I could not have imagined a more qualified or compassionate physician to serve in this role.

From a purely selfish perspective, I only hope I will still be able to see you at my follow-up visits! 

Best regards,

Rebecca

Much to my surprise, within minutes after I sent that note I received the following response:

Thank you for reaching out and your kind words. I am absolutely going to keep practicing so I look forward to our future visits. 

Warmly, Lisa

So do I!!!

Love,

Rebecca