October 10, 2008OMG...i have never done this before...
I have never really written anything in my life…some poems here and there…what I have written has been based on scientific fact not my truth. This story is true…some names have been changed…be brutally honest with me…I have no clue how long this story will be…but I felt the need as of late to write it out…
Fall semester 1996 I rolled out of bed dreading my English class; my English teacher was German and she had an unbelievably thick accent. I poured myself in to my favorite jeans and tee shirt slipped on my Birkenstocks threw on my backpack and I was off to class. Today was no different than any other day the air was crisp from the impending fall weather and campus was crowded with throngs college students still half asleep. “Why on earth did I sign up for an 8:00 am English class?” I wondered out loud someone actually nodded in agreement that heard my conversation with myself. I was half way to the classroom building and in my mind I didn’t understand why they couldn’t have come up with a more creative name for the largest building on campus. For Christ sakes the building next door was called P.O.T at least that was a creative acronym for Patterson office tower. I shuffled into the building hoping for a seat near the back so I could escape quickly to make my way to the chemistry physic’s building for a chemistry class that I actually enjoyed. As I pulled out my copy of “Catcher in the Rye” sighing since I had already read this book once in high school I had found myself complaining under my breath about not being challenged enough. As I glanced up at the professor waiting for her thick accent to roll off of her tongue and then much to my surprise the world stopped. Everything moved in slow motion as he walked into this class I swear the room was so quiet all I was able to hear was my breathing. He sauntered in the room without even taking notice to me which I was very accustomed to. He wore a Vandals shirt with long shorts with a chain on his wallet down to his knees. The jingle of this chain hypnotized me; even if I was able to speak to him I wouldn’t hear my words in my head, only the sound of that chain that suddenly sounded like church bells. I always made an effort think about my choice of words before I uttered one since I suffer from a disease where I have no control over my thoughts when speaking. The first thing that comes to mind is the first thing that comes out of my mouth so I just sat in silence as to avoid some awkward situation that I would never be able to recover from. Much to my surprise he sat in front of me I couldn’t decide if this was a blessing or a curse. After thinking about it for a moment I realized it was a blessing since he would be a nice distraction from class. The professor droned on about Holden Caulfield, her theories were no different from any other teacher that covered this novel; however I did find myself identifying with Holden. Caulfield is in a place where he doesn’t want to grow up and is finding the world in general to be “phony and superficial”. This is exactly where I was. I had made the decision to graduate early from high school to follow my boyfriend to college. I was under the impression that this would help our relationship that was clearly doomed from the start. I missed my friends from high school but after further examination they were indeed very superficial and I longed for more in my choice of friends. Somehow I convinced myself that these more mature relationships would be easier to find while at college even though the idea of growing up troubled me a great deal. As I continued to be lost in my thoughts I found myself tracing the back of his head with my eyes then I continued down his shoulders making my way down to the floor. His feet were crossed and he was wearing some beat up Vans I counted the criss crosses in the laces, then the holes for the laces and if I would have concentrated hard I enough I swear I could have counted all of his leg hair. “hey, HEY!” I heard through this fog of counting, it was him, he was talking to me. In my mind the only word I could hear was “shit” and it was echoing in my head. I squeaked out a “yes?” barely audible even to my own ears. He threw a question in my direction “does this get ANY better?” in my haze I responded with “um are you talking to me?” he chuckled “no I am talking to the guy behind you” I tried to laugh, one of those laughs were someone would think you were being clever, it was a poor attempt. “seriously does this class get any better?” I am scrambling for an answer “um the material or the accent?” he actually laughed at me “both, her accent is killing me and this book bores me to death.” I nodded in agreement noticing that I am all but twitching in my chair. I crossed my legs under me trying to seem interested in class only because if he talked to me again I thought I would pass out. I found myself counting again, the words on his shirt v-a-n-d-a-l-s, that is 7 letters; I am lost in my world of numbers. “hey what planet are you on? She is giving out an assignment.” My world of counting was shattered as he spoke to me again all I can manage was “oh”. Why on earth this professor insisted on having the assignments on her desk to pick up baffled me. This was a huge auditorium where you would have to walk 20 million stairs down to her desk and back up the stairs to leave the classroom. I had decided that she just liked to twist the knife as a final gesture of her boring class. While I am grabbing my bag, ready to schlep down those stairs, he steps out into the aisle and gestures me to go first. “thanks” I am not sure but I thought he said “no problem ladies first” or something to that effect. Now I was the one that felt under examination since I was walking in front of him and I wondered if he could sense I was counting everything on his body during the lecture. I quickly grab my assignment from the desk hoping to make a dash for the door without another moment of counting something on him. I was trying to be cool, glanced of my shoulder at him, to see if he was behind me then I tripped. “shit” was all I could say no quicker than the word was out of my mouth he was behind me, I could smell him it was intoxicating. “are you in a hurry or does this step have a personal vendetta against you?” I pull myself to my feet “no I am just a klutz by nature and I guess I am in a hurry for my next class”. He extends his hand “hi, I’m Jason and you would be?” his voice trailed off waiting for my answer “Lilly my name is lily queen of the clumsy” I was proud of myself for making a joke. The rest of the students were climbing the mountain of stairs toward the door and I am still fumbling with my book bag and papers. “Well lily I will see you on Wednesday 8:00 am sharp”. I made my way out of the overly large classroom buildings door I had to use all of my weight to push them open enough to slide out. I was on my way to the chem./phys building, as it was known on campus, for my next class. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Jason heading toward Kastle hall and my mind wondered what class he would be in there. “Clearly it must be a psychology class of some kind” I realized I was talking out loud again. “I have got to stop talking to myself otherwise people are going to think I am nuts!” I stopped to put my foot on a bench to fidget with my shoe and I felt a nudge that almost knocked me over. “What the hell….” My voice trailed off since I wasn’t used to someone nudging me let alone talking to me on campus. I looked down behind where my right foot was firmly planted on the ground and there was the beat of Van shoe that I could now recognize anywhere. “I saw you walking toward Kastle hall, what class do you have there”? I was shocked that I was able to utter a single word let alone a complete sentence. “Actually it is a cake class, psychology 102, it is for one of my electives I ran into a friend of mine and he told me class was cancelled today.” My mind is entering a fog again where I am having a hard time distinguishing from what I should say and what I am thinking. “That’s cool for you I am off to chemistry which I am already late for. Hey why did you come back this way when your class was cancelled?” he stammered for a moment “I noticed that your were fighting with your hippie shoe so I wanted to be of some assistance in case this bench as a vendetta like the stair in English”. C’mon lily think of something cleaver to say, think of something cute, for Christ sakes at least smile, my own mind was yelling at me telling me what to do in a situation that was clearly Greek to me. “Wow you are super funny” I said in my best sarcastic tone. At least sarcasm was familiar enough to me to use instead of trite flirting. My mind is having an argument with my body and I couldn’t help but think he could see the inner struggle. Every cell in my body was lusting for him and I have only known him a mere two hours my mind on the other hand is keeping me frozen in place. “I am so late for class I should go now” I mumbled and tried to walk toward the chem. /phys building. No sooner than my left foot hit the sidewalk I was stumbling again. He was snickering at my lack of coordination “remember it is left, right, left, right. I don’t think I can protect you from the sidewalk, I already have my hands full with the stairs and benches”. I glowered at him and muttered “see you on Wednesday Jason”. I was surprised at the way I flew up the three flights of stairs to my biology class; normally I would have tripped on something. I slid in the door as the professor was starting the lecture so I flung my bag down at my lab partner’s feet and threw myself on the stool. This was by far one of the nicest classrooms I spent time in. the far right wall was all windows lined with planter boxes of red geraniums’ that looked out on rose avenue the main road here on campus. There were 12 new lab stations in the back of the classroom and the rest of the room was scattered with the standard science tables. Science tables are boring by nature large and rectangular with solid black tops even at my height when sitting on a stool I still couldn’t reach the floor with my feet. I found this to be annoying since I hate to have my feet hanging out in thin air since I could never resist the temptation to swing them around like a kid. This equally bugged my lab partner, King Pow, since it made our table shake. “Lily! Stop shaking the table or I will stab you with my pencil!” he hissed at me under his breath. King Pow is from Kuala Lumpur and the best lab partner I could have asked for. I don’t have to repeat myself over and over to him and he seems to understand things the same way I do. Sounds funny I know but we seem to have this unspoken scientific language that the rest of the class hates us for. In addition to this he is incredibly funny and intuitive so he knew something was “off” with me today. “hello! What on earth are you thinking about?” I was just impressed that he assumed I was on earth unlike Jason. After a moment I replied “K.P I just don’t know I met this guy” from this statement he shot me a look that I had never seen from him before “do I have to remind you about your boyfriend Daniel?” I didn’t need to be reminded of him; he was a staple in my life, whom I had followed to college. I turned down scholarships to several prestigious colleges choosing the state university where Daniel was accepted. This was a very good school but it doesn’t have the pedigree status as the schools I turned down. What is a pedigree worth when you have true love right? “Who is he?” this question cut through my mind since I really didn’t know WHO he was really. I decided to drop this topic as it was time to move to the lab stations “I don’t know K.P just I guy in English it isn’t a big deal, promise” he seemed to believe me for a moment then without hesitation added “just don’t blow anything up today since you seem to be distracted”. He did have a point when I am distracted in the lab it can have horrible consequences. Last semester we did have an “incident” that could have seriously harmed both of us. Bryan, the student at the station next to us accidently mixed nitric acid and halogenated organic solvents but we don’t know for sure, this was merely a theory of K.P and me. Bryan, who last used the waste bottle, reported that he saw some brown fumes coming from the waste bottle when he added his methylene chloride. Bryan then capped the bottle and walked away. A minute or two later it exploded. The explosion blew glass shrapnel across the laboratory. Students on the other side of the laboratory were hit with glass fragments others were hitting the floor in fear. It was me that handed him the wrong waste bottle. I was upset over a fight with Daniel which was another staple in our relationship. I was just going through the motions in this lab my hands were moving and mixing chemicals, eyes looking at slides from a vacant mind. Why was I pondering my relationship with Daniel in class NOW? Our relationship was always on the edge of a break up in fact we frequently did only to make up once again neither of us willing to give up. The class was finally coming to a close I rose to grab my book bag to leave and stumbled over the stool. King Pow couldn’t help but laugh at me at least I knew it was in good nature, he calls me a little car wreck. As I am filing out of the classroom with the rest of the class and the stale air of the chemistry physics building hit me like a wall. I have actually grown accustomed to this smell but today it was worse than usual. King Pow was running after me as I was scrambling for the front doors for some air “Lily! Why are you running? is something chasing you” I tried to ignore him but I had to chuckle. Once outside the fresh air was a relief I inhaled as if I was breathing for the first time. As King Pow made his way out of the building I was lowering myself onto the sidewalk waiting for Daniel. “what the hell is wrong with you today?”I just mumbled “I thought we had covered this already King Pow” I could tell he was getting annoyed with me so he just said bye and continued on his way. I always waited for Daniel at the corner of Rose Street and Sunset Avenue before I went to eat lunch. On Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays Daniel didn’t start class until 12:30 so I was half way done with my day before he even rolled out of bed. I know I look like an idiot sitting on the sidewalk Indian style drawing on my shoes but I really didn’t care if fact I had really become a fixture there three days a week. I could see Daniel trotting up Sunset Avenue and I didn’t even feel like moving to greet him. “what the hell is wrong with me?” I muttered out loud again I was pissed at myself for trying to analyze my relationship during chemistry now I am pissed at Daniel and I haven’t even talked to him yet! I sat there until he was inches from where my toes where stretched out on the pavement I finally raised my hand in a gesture to have him help me up. He kissed me, not an earth shattering kiss, not a kiss of undying love, just a greeting kiss, just a hello involving lips. “hey lily babe I’ve missed you today. My day is just not great until I see my girl” I am trying to swallow the lump of vomit in my throat before I respond to his statement. “yeah yeah Daniel” I was getting tired of this game of charades. We had been together for five years now and our relationship was not moving forward just ever so slightly backwards every day. I wanted more out relationship but yet we still talked about or wedding and how many kids we were going to have. I could feel the vomit coming back as I grabbed his hand and walked with him to the journalism building. It was a short walk, just around the corner from the chemistry physic’s building then I would continue on my way to the K-lair deli for lunch. I was pretty sure he was talking to me about something I was just ignoring him since I felt the urge to pick a fight with him. Sooner than later we were kissing our bye’s and I was on my way to lunch. I am a creature of habit so every Monday I have broccoli soup at the K-lair, sit on the corner for Daniel and now I was wondering if Jason would be added to my expected Monday activities.
Posted on 10/10/2008 12:21 PM Comments (2)
September 17, 2008Electricity is cool...I have not been ignoring you…we have not had power at my home since Friday night due to a horrible wind storm. We still have about 200,000 people without power, many roads are still shut down and driving anywhere is a pain since most of the traffic lights are still out. Our power came back on last night at 4:00 am when everything turned on blaring… Helen – I just now got your emails and btw I plan on reading all of your latest fan fic as a book…all back to back so let me know when the final chapter is. Blaqk pearl – I am going to read your fan fics like a book too…I will keep my eyes open for them. Jac – we need to talk soon! Djscribbles – I got your emails today…lack of power dear…any plans for Saturday night? Lori – miss you bunches hope you are doing great! I have a book recommendation for you that I think you would LLLLOOOOVVVEEE… Since we have not had power I have been reading the Twilight saga by candle light and I am hopelessly addicted. I mean seriously; I am NOT a fiction fan and I am NOT a fan of vampire stories. To be honest my reading materials tend to lean toward the scientific, human behavior, and pharmaceutical. I haven’t been able to stop reading this stuff since college. The most I have read of fiction has been by Sandra Boynton, Cars books by Disney and anything with Thomas the train…all for adin…actually I thought I might have lost the ability to read an adult novel
Posted on 09/17/2008 6:49 AM Comments (2)
August 24, 2008drinking is bad...
In order to tolerate this environment I HAD to drink quickly to be numb to the ridiculous behavior that I am witnessing. 2 martinis’ later I was feeling a little more relaxed and I brought my camera with me…I am never without my camera due to the fact that you will never know what you may encounter. These are some photos from the evening…and I WILL NEVER GO BACK THERE AGAIN!!!!!
Tonya, Beth and Allison
this is a HORRIBLE picture of Lisa (on the left) and leslie...trying to avoid the camera...yes lisa had a few drinks when this was taken...
NO i have no idea who these people are and why they are dancing with a bunny and a chipmunk
this bar encouraged women to dance on the tables...
no they meant to wear this..i asked...they didn't lose their clothes like i thought
another example of why you should NOT drink in excess
this is the "uniforms" the employee's wore... so this was the night out...nope there is not a picture of me since I had the camera the whole time...but i did take a HORRIBLE video of myself after i downed my martini...kids don't drink I m 31 years old...
Posted on 08/24/2008 6:15 PM Comments (1)
August 10, 2008survey stolen from killingxxlights :)
Posted on 08/10/2008 8:16 AM Comments (2)
July 24, 2008the Old 97's - I'm a sucker for a man with a guitar!I have been an Old 97’s fan for many years now they are one of my all time favorites. I have always loved music that is lyrically driven and that is what the Old 97’s are all about. Their name, The old 97’s, is in reference to an old Johnny Cash song “wreck of the old 97”. They hail from Texas and are lumped into the “alt country” genre but they are so much more than that. Their lyrics will haunt you and tear at your heart strings at moments even in some of their happier/catchy tunes like “Timebomb”. The band was formed by front man Rhett Miller in 1993 “Hitchhike to Rhome” was released in 1994 followed by “Wreck your life” in 1995 which confirmed their roots in the alt country world of music. When they switched record labels in 1997 they released one of my favorite records “Too far to care”. I can honestly say there is not one song on this album that I cannot listen to over and over. the Old 97's are equally blessed with a HOT lead singer/guitarist and the ability to sound just as good, if not better, live than on cd. enjoy the following clip of "Big Brown Eyes" one of my personal favorites.
Another great album, well to me they are all great, is “Satellite Rides”. My all time favorite song on this album is “Designs on You”. To me this is a story of love between two people in the most inopportune times in life…I think this has happened to some of us one time in our life at some time. Here is “designs on you” enjoy! Don’t let the funny story in the beginning distract you from a beautiful song!
If you feel like taking a chance on a new band…the type of band that makes you want to sit out on your porch with a tall glass of lemonade. The Old 97’s are for you. ok the lemonade part is rather corny I know, I listen to them whenever I can which tends to be when I am chasing Adin all over the house! Adin digs the Old 97’s he goes into his “smooth moves” dance… Rhett Miller has also had a successful solo career with the albums “Instigator” and “Believer”. I love Rhett Miller when he is in raw form…all acoustic, wild hair flying, and his crazy little stories. His solo works bring this out best. When he was on tour with Tori Amos in 2003 Adam and I had the privilege of seeing him live and getting the chance to meet him. He and his wife and been recently married as Adam and I were. Being the idiot I am all I was able to say was “I like your wedding band. My husband’s band is titanium” from then on Adam did all the talking. He did thank us for coming to the show and give me a hug… THIS is why I should never meet anyone of moderate fame. The Old 97’s are perfect summer music and their latest album “Blame it on Gravity” is almost addictive. “Dance with me” and “Color of a lonely heart is blue” are my personal favorites. Here is a clip of Rhett Miller performing “Dance with Me” solo/acoustic…love it love it love it! He is so animated when he performs.
Dance with me, into the ocean
Posted on 07/24/2008 6:56 PM Comments (0)
July 1, 2008labor of loveToday is Adin’s second birthday and to be honest this past year has been exhausting! He has taught me so much not only about being a mother but about myself. Patience is something I never had until he was born now I swear sometimes it is the only thing I have that keeps me going. The lessons we have learned, the joys we have experienced, the little irritations and the honest and true feeling of pure and honest love are beyond anything I have known before now. This past year he has learned to walk, talk, make up his own mind, develop his own sense of style, how to manipulate me, melt the heart of anyone he comes into contact with and just be…Adin. Two years ago today, this moment, I was praying for a miracle. I had already been in labor for 36 hours and didn’t know IF I had the strength to continue. This little boy was trying to make his entrance into this world and change me forever. He finally did at 10:01 pm…51 hours after making it to the hospital. July 29th was a great day I was getting a lot of last things in order. I picked up adin’s bookshelf at Lowe’s and another gallon of his pale blue paint for his walls. I picked up my new pair of glasses which I was in great need of. My due date WAS August 5th and for some reason everyone that day let me know that they thought I wasn’t going to make it that far...HA! I thought they were so wrong. I did some laundry at home washed some of the cute little clothes I picked up for my son…I sat down to eat something before I made my way to the airport to pick up my husband from a business trip. I felt a little POP “eh” I said to myself “it is nothing”. I finished my dinner and drove the 6 miles to the airport. By the time I arrived I knew I didn’t feel to good I pulled over in the waiting area, where you are no longer allowed to park, and asked the police man on duty to take pity on the almost 8 month pregnant woman…right then, right there Adin decided to begin his entrance into this world…Adam’s plane was 40 minutes late and all the time I was sitting in the car freaking out since my water broke… (Kids take this as a lesson) July 30th was spent in the hospital…I couldn’t even get out of bed since I had gone into premature labor. The Nicu (neonatal intensive care unit) were making plans for when my baby would arrive, early. I had gone 14 hours without eating since they didn’t know if I would need a c-section…I was starving and a total bitch by now. Visitors were coming and going, my cell wouldn’t stop ringing…everyone was waiting for Adin…but nothing was happening except for contractions. July 1st is when things really started moving along. I finally went into full blown labor sometime after mid night. I went a good 12 hours or so without an epidural only to have it wear off 5 hours before Adin was born…pure agony. But he was worth every single moment of pain. Now as the second year is almost over…the story of Adin’s birth is still with me as I am sure it will be for the rest of my life…but it pales in the comparison of the past year. He is now my little boy no longer that little baby that depended on me for EVERYTHING. Sure I am still needed now for diaper changes, hugs and kisses and to play with but it is different now. He can TELL me what he wants or get it himself. He can pick out his own outfits, play with whatever toy he wants and has his own dislikes and things he likes. He is his own little person and I feel truly honored to be his mother.
24 month pictures will be posted when he wakes up!!
Posted on 07/01/2008 4:43 AM Comments (1)
June 26, 2008adin: before and after photos!BEFORE KOOL-AID
RESULT OF KOOL-AID
after kool-aid
eating... thinking about thowing food...
after food was thrown...
before the zoo...well first stop at the zoo
during the zoo trip
after the zoo..
right before first bite of banana at breakfast
after playing
hope you enjoyed...now for a cute pic of adin and his beloved "mooby"
eating with his turtles
Posted on 06/26/2008 8:45 PM Comments (1)
June 15, 2008Cobra Starship story....Tuesday evening, as I was washing dishes, I glanced at the calendar…wow Cobra Starship is playing here on Thursday….hrmmm… Within minutes I suggested to my nephew Trent that I take him to his first concert. I cannot tell you how happy he was… he has only been listening to the Viva La Cobra album every day since I bought it for him. My next thought was to bring my friend Leslie’s daughter sierra with us since she is 11 years old also. Then I was having a bit of anxiety…”what the hell am I thinking taking two 11 year olds to a concert!!!!” eh everything will be fine. This is a rundown of the evening… While waiting in line I had a PETA person approach me to sign a petition to support pig’s rights or whatever. First of all I don’t eat pork…Second most of you know how I feel about PETA…so she got my spill about “if you support the terrorist cell you support terrorists” lecture…and proceeded to tell her how PETA effects my life….I thought Trent and Sierra were going to die of embarrassment. They were rendered silent as was the poor little 17 year old girl wearing a shirt with a barking pig on it...yeah I don’t know about that. I was nice but I got my point across. I managed to score some cool seats for them on top of the speakers to the right of the stage. As to embarrass Trent and Sierra further I had them make a sign that said “this is our first concert! We love Cobra Starship” I will be damned if Gabe Saporta saw it and READ IT… let me explain… At some point during the evening Trent and Sierra became my “kids”. It was getting a little old explaining that Trent was my nephew and Sierra was my best friends’ kid. So when the next 15 year old girl told me what a cool mom I was I didn’t bother to yell over the music from the opening band…that I wasn’t their mom so I just nodded. One of these girls was sitting on the speakers with Trent and Sierra thought they were twins…next thing I know Alex, the bassist, leans over to put his head around the speakers and yells “hi twins!”… So Gabe reads the sign…he yells to me.. “this is YOUR first concert?” Alex replies “no Gabe the twins”…. So yes, at this point I am now the mother of 11 year old twins taking them to their first concert…everyone thinks it is great…what the hell am I going to do??? The show comes to an end…we are first in line to meet the group. Alex was the first to greet my “kids” and proceeded to tell me how cool it was that I brought them…”um (showing a picture of Adin on my cell) this is my son, Adin…Trent is my nep…” Alex…”WOW he is cute! Does he like us too?” followed by much laughter…Trent jumps up with “actually he really does like Cobra Starship!!!” So we all meet the band, all the members look at my picture of Adin and agree that he is the “cutest little fan” sign our autographs and let us take pictures. Someone in the band commented that they liked my cherry tattoos…Gabe reminded Trent and Sierra that they have a cool mom. Trent took my picture with Gabe and I look like a huge ball of sweat and stringy hair…so I will not post this picture. Gabe gave me his water bottle by accident so as I was trying to give it back…and finally give a short “hey really he is my nephew”…he looked me dead in the eyes and said “thanks for bringing your kids to the show”...I kept the water bottle and let him tend to his other fans...geeze i am an idiot.
Posted on 06/15/2008 6:17 PM Comments (4)
June 5, 2008Jewish perspective of GodLet me start out by saying that I BELIEVE IN GOD. As a Jewish woman and mother my religion is the core of who I am. I have respect for those that are of different religions and even those that do not believe in God. We Jews do not rely solely on physical evidence for our beliefs. We conclude that there exists ‘something we cannot penetrate’ in much the same way Einstein did. We rely on a vast amount of evidence indicating God’s existence. But even with all that evidence, God’s existence cannot be conclusively proven. Nor do we require physical proof. I have a science background; chemistry, biology, physics, and pharmacology. I believe in science but I believe the presence of God cannot be proven by science. I am writing this due to the recent journal by a buzznet member. It was taken/used from I believe... “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins. I have not read this book but I will now. From what I have gathered from book reviews his first theory is that a creator is bound to be more complex, and hence improbable, than this; and second, that to explain the improbable in terms of the more improbable is no explanation at all. Neither of these is among the “laws of probability,” as he suggests. Maybe I am mistaken on the source...not sure. So with that being said. Here is my Jewish perspective of GOD Many Jews recite daily the Thirteen Principles of Faith, based on the commentary of Maimonides to Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:1. The first four principles are: 1. I believe with complete faith that the Creator, blessed be His name, is the Creator and Guide of all the created beings, and that He alone has made, does make, and will make all things. 2. I believe with complete faith that the Creator, blessed be His name, is One and Alone; that there is no oneness in any way like Him; and that He alone is our God – was, is, and will be. 3. I believe with complete faith that the Creator, blessed be His name, is incorporeal; that He is free from all anthropomorphic properties; and that He has no likeness at all. 4. I believe with complete faith that the Creator, blessed be His name, is the first and the last. Complete Faith? Without Proof? How can you do that? Prove the existence of God? In truth we must analyze the question before we attempt an answer. What is considered a proof? How does one prove that anything exists? Take, for example, a blind man. Does color exist for the blind man? He cannot see color yet it still exists. That fact is established by others who can see. The blind man believes and trusts that his fellow men can see that color does exist although it is beyond his personal experience. For a further example, take electricity. When we turn on a light can we see electricity? The answer is no, we see only its effect. Take gravity. When an object falls we cannot see, hear, feel, taste or smell gravity – we see only its effect. All agree that gravity is an undisputed fact of nature – since we see its effect. Scientists today are still baffled as to exactly what is the “stuff” of gravity. In short, the proof of existence of any matter does not necessarily mean that we have to sense it in any way. It exists because we see its effect or, as in the case of the blind man, we believe others who can see it. God, we believe, does not have a body or form of body. He is everywhere and creates time and space. By definition, we cannot transcribe any physical description to God. By definition, man cannot actually see God. In order, therefore, to prove the existence of God we must rely either on seeing His effect ourselves, or on others who have seen His effect (like the blind man). Proving the existence of God may be done in two ways. First, by examining whether anyone has actually witnessed something Divine or, secondly, by extrapolating proof of existence from His effect. To express it slightly differently, by tradition or by metaphysical proof. Also to examine proof of existence by studying Jewish history and the fulfillment of prophecy. In a court of law the strongest proof that something happened or existed is a witness statement. Seeing is believing. You cannot compare something seen to something heard. Any historical fact is proven by those who witnessed and recorded the event. It follows that the more witnesses to that event, the more bona fide the fact. One of the most celebrated holidays in the Jewish calendar is Passover. On Seder night Jews all over the world gather in family groups to recall the Exodus from Egypt. The evening is full of ritual and the Haggadah is our guide. One thing common to all is the eating of matzah – the bread of affliction. The Zohar (an early Kabbalistic work) calls matzah the bread of faith. It reminds us that the Jews ate matzah upon leaving Egypt. Although customs may differ, the basic story of the Exodus remains the same. Jews from Bombay, Birmingham or Belarus all tell the same story. Ask any Jew how many plagues there were in Egypt and his answer would be 10. If anyone suggested there were 11, he would immediately be contradicted, not just by the historical detail, as presented in the Torah, but primarily because of the yearly re-enactment of the Ten Plagues at the Seder. We have a custom of spilling some of the wine at the mention of each plague. We would have remembered if there were 11 plagues. No, there were 10. All agree, however, that the Jews left Egypt and, forty-nine days later, stood before Mount Sinai and heard the Ten Commandments from God. This is known, not just because a book (the Torah) tells us so, but simply by tradition – by the fact that generation after generation of Jews have transmitted this story, and that it is based on the actual experience of an entire nation. It therefore remains an undisputed historical fact. The Jews who left Egypt witnessed the Ten Plagues, the Exodus, and revelation at Sinai, and transmitted these events down the generations. Throughout Jewish history there were never less than approximately a million Jews who transmitted this tradition, and the basic story remained the same even when the Jews were dispersed and scattered to the four corners of the earth. At Sinai, 600,000 men between the ages of 20 and 60, plus women and children (and men under the age of 20 and over the age of 60) – a total of approximately three million people – heard the Ten Commandments from God Himself. This event, recorded in the Torah, is, at the same time, a witnessed event of history and therefore an undisputed historical fact. To discredit it is highly unscientific. One of the Principles of Jewish faith is that God grants prophecy to man. When a prophet foretells the future, and everything he predicts takes place with amazing accuracy, we can be sure that this was the word of God. Nowhere else is this so remarkably demonstrated than in the Five Books of Moses. There are three passages in particular in which Moshe tells the Children of Israel what will happen to them in the future. Leviticus Ch.26 “And I will scatter you among the nations.” – The first exile to Babylon. “And I will bring the land into desolation.” – The ruination of the Land of Israel. “And I will bring your sanctuaries into desolation.” – The destruction of the First Temple. “And I will not smell the savor of your sweet odors.” – The cessation of sacrifice in the first Temple. “Then shall the land be paid her Sabbaths.” – The duration of the first exile – 70 years – was commensurate with the number of Sabbatical years, which were not previously correctly observed. “And you shall eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.” – A prophecy fulfilled, as described by Jeremiah in the book of Lamentations (2:20), at the destruction of the first Temple. Deuteronomy Ch.28 “And you shall be plucked off the land.” – the second exile. “Your sons and daughters shall be given unto another nation … and you shall serve your enemy … in famine and thirst.” – before the exile. “The Lord will bring upon you a nation from afar, from the end of the earth.” – a reference to Rome. “... who will swoop down like an eagle.” – a reference to the Roman legions whose standard bearers carried the sign of an eagle. “And it will lay siege to all your gates, until your high and fortified walls … are toppled.” – the land is conquered, there is siege, and the walls fall. “The stranger that is in your midst shall mount up above you higher and higher.” – a reference to Herod. “You shall betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her.” – a Roman decree. “And G–d shall scatter you among all the peoples from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth.” – the Jew is exiled to all four corners of the earth. “And among these nations you shall have no repose, and there shall be no rest for the sole of your foot … and you shall fear night and day.” – the situation of Jews in exile. “Your life shall hang in doubt before you.” – no financial security. “And as for them who are left of you, I will send a faintness into their hearts … and you shall have no power to stand before your enemies.” – the Jews are easily subdued. “Each day’s curse will surpass that of the day before.” – events will happen so rapidly, the Jew will hardly be able to recover from one incident before another calamity befalls him. “You will be beset by illnesses and plagues not even mentioned in the Torah.” – the many sufferings of exile. “You shall serve gods … wood and stone there.” – a reference to the fact that, throughout their long exile, the Jew will be subjected to the god of wood – the cross – burnt at the stake with forced conversions; and to the god of stone of Mecca and Medina. “I will draw out the sword after you … and you shall perish among the nations and the land of your enemies will devour you.” (see Leviticus 26:33,38) – decrees of forced conversion and pogroms. “And you shall be left few in number among the nations whither God shall lead you away.” – in fact it is quite amazing that, particularly during the Dark Ages, the Jew did not disappear totally. “And you shall become an astonishment.” – the Jews will become a topic of discussion for all. “... a proverb and a byword.” – the wandering Jew shall be the symbol of suffering and persecution. “And they shall be upon you for a sign and for a wonder.” – the badges we were often forced to wear identified us as the Jew. In graphic detail Moses prophesies the destruction of the destruction of the second Temple and the following exile with amazing accuracy. He was talking about events that took place 1,500 years after he passed on. How could he possibly have known? And yet the Jew still survives – and thrives. “For I am God, I do not change, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed.” (Malachi 3:6) – the eternity of the Jewish people. “Only if the sun, moon and stars disappear, the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation.” (Jeremiah 31:35) One can ask, How was it possible for Moses to know that, over eight hundred years after the Jews entered the Land of Israel under Joshua, the Babylonians would come and destroy the first Temple and exile the people for 70 years? How did he know about the cessation of offerings and the eating of the flesh? Only cognitive dissonance will allow the skeptic to deny that this was prophecy from the true God; the living God who creates, sustains and directs the course of the world. The Talmud refers to Jews as “Believers, children of Believers”. It is almost as if belief in God is hereditary. In truth, however, innate belief stems from the very core of the Jewish soul. Job describes the soul as a “part of the Divine”. The simple faith of a Jew comes from that which he feels the very source of his soul – his very essence. That essence may often become oblique through the insensitivities and indulgences of the body. However, the quintessential point remains forever intact and, on those very special occasions when the soul shines forth, the Jew feels his true source, his very essence When we look at Jewish history, we see a history where the Jewish people have defied the laws of nature and the laws of history. We have survived and impacted this world though we have been thrown out of our land not once, but twice! We have impacted the world perhaps more than any other people in history -- the concepts of the value of human life, universal education, justice and equality, the importance of and goal of world peace (as opposed to glorifying war), the importance of a strong stable family as a basis for a moral foundation for society, individual and national responsibility for the world -- though we were beaten, killed and exiled from one nation to the other. Though few in number and spread to the four corners of the earth, we survived as a people, never assimilating into anonymity. Even our land, the Land of Israel, defied the laws of nature, only fertile when the Jewish people inhabited it. Coincidence? Good luck? A roll of the dice? Perhaps --except that each and every phenomena was prophesied and predicted in the Torah hundreds and thousands of years before the events. Does it make you think that perhaps something is going on here? That perhaps there is a special relationship between the Almighty and the Jewish people? The Almighty, the Jewish people and the Torah are intertwined. In the past 3,300 years there have been effort after effort --from within as well as from without -- to redefine and redirect our people. Each and every one has failed. We may conclude from the very existence of life and the complexity of the universe that it must have been designed and sustained by a Master Creator. It was our patriarch Abraham who, through such logical deduction, came to the monotheistic conclusion – the belief in one God; one unified force that creates a most diverse universe. Abraham converted half of civilization in his days to this belief and he transmitted that belief to his offspring. Seven generations later his children stood as a nation at Sinai where they received the Torah directly from God. The undisputed historical fact of the Exodus from Egypt and the stand at Sinai, coupled with the necessity for a master designer and architect of the cosmos, “prove” the existence of God. This is just my PERSPECTIVE as a JEW.
Posted on 06/05/2008 7:04 PM Comments (2)
June 3, 2008Adin's 2nd Birthday gift ideas...these are the pics that would not load on my poll..
Posted on 06/03/2008 7:13 PM Comments (2)
June 1, 2008my friends and their cartoon alter egosMy friend Leslie was the inspiration of this journal…I call her Dory as in the fish from “Finding Nemo” that forgets EVERYTHING!!! She can’t help it…really but at least she has a good sense of humor about her memory loss issues!
next is my friend suzanne. she is Cinderella...Trust me she IS Cinderella
Johnna is the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland...
Paula otherwise known as adin's Memim...yes he gave her this name. i had to think about this one for a while and she is gonna kill me for comparing her to a car. She is Doc Hudson from "cars" doc is a no nonsense older car that doesn't take crap from anyone. Under his hood he is a spitfire and has many tricks to keep people guessing...she also has a little bit of Edna from the Incredibles
Siera - this is Leslie's daughter...I swear the Disney company spied on her daughter for inspiration of the character Violet from "The incredibles"
Keiron - this is Paula's husband. otherwise known as "Kay Kay" to Adin. Keiron is irish granted he has been in the states since the 1970's he has still retained a touch of his accent. Keiron is very intelligent, has a powerful and comanding voice...therefore he is Mufassa from the "Lion king".
My husband Adam was also hard to pin a character on. I finally decided on Don Leno from "Shark Tales". He is from Buffalo New york...but sometimes you would think he part of the mafia when he talks.
he also has a touch of Mr. Incredible in him.
if there was a character for me it would have to be Melman from "Madagascar"
Last but not least…ADIN the only character that would fit my son to a tee...would be Jack Jack from "The Incredibles" seriously watch this video...even if you don't know my son it will make you laugh
Posted on 06/01/2008 7:47 PM Comments (1)
May 28, 2008Sir Stanley's Cup - the finals...Tonight game 3 of the Stanley cup finals… the rookies – Pittsburgh Penguins The veterans – The Detroit Redwings… So far the penguins have lost the first 2 games and they need the best out of seven to win the cup. Sir Stanley’s Cup This is a slightly conflicting series for me. The penguins are my #2 team behind the buffalo Sabers. The penguins have the age of their team against them. Their top 3 players are under 23 years of years of age. The redwings have a long history of wins and their team is one of the most experienced in the NHL. 16 of Detroit’s players have won the Stanley cup at least once and a few of those players have even won the cup 3 times!!! Detroit for being the older team is shutting the penguins down right now. THIS cannot happen! In the past 2 games the Redwings have made at least 70 shots on goal with the Penguins only making about 40 something…
Sidney Crosby Marian Hossa Evgeni Malkin Marc-Andre Fleury BOTTOM LINE - Penguins have got to get the puck, they have got to make the shots, stop making stupid mistakes, be aware of tired defence men and subsitute them BEFORE they completly tire out. The Detroit Redwings line up not my favorite team but i do like a few of the players. i will say no more as not to jinx this game...
Dominik Hasek Chris Chelios -
Nicklas Lidstrom Henrik Zetterberg Chris Osgood Technically he is the backup goalie for Detroit currently he is kicking ass…which for the sake of Pittsburgh I hope he stops. With that being said Hasek has not played a single game in the playoffs and even several games before. Ha! Poo on you Hasek! Saber betrayer! That's all for now...Game 4 is Saturday 5/31...
Posted on 05/28/2008 4:43 PM Comments (0)
May 21, 2008almost 2 years of Mischief with adin...this is the latest installment of adin's...um..mischief...along with the past, almost 2 years of messes.
this is why i cannot take an eye off of him for a moment. this is also why i always have my camera with me.
Posted on 05/21/2008 9:44 AM Comments (1)
May 17, 2008New Tattoo'sjust so everyone knows...the Dallas Stars beat the Detroit Redwings...so they will be moving on to game six... so today I decided to go out and get a tattoo. this is no real surprise since I do have 14 tattoo's...these really don't count I guess since they were a fix/continuation of some old ones that I had. I posted the picture of the old tattoo's at the bottom... they were meant to be black and purple but the day after I had them done I flew to new mexico...flying + new tattoo = bad. it caused me to reject some of the color and then the very dry air in new mexico made it worse...the pic below of the old tattoo's are awful...but they were taken right after Adin was born so my feet were REALLY SWOLLEN!!! these are the new ones.
what do you think??? of the new ones...and the swollen feet were worth it!!!
Posted on 05/17/2008 7:54 PM Comments (4)
May 16, 2008Hockey! he shoots he scores!!! part 1here in our household...hockey rules. during hockey season we eat, sleep and breathe hockey. Adin takes ice skating lessons and he loves to watch the games...we are in the middle of the playoffs...the quest for the cup...Sir Stanley's cup... the one and only. the only cup that matters.
we are down to the final four teams: Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Redwings, Dallas Stars and Philadelphia Flyers. when you are a hockey you have your #1 team then a couple of teams that play second fiddle to your #1. then comes the teams you merly tolerate due to a player you like...then comes the teams you hate. our #1 team is the buffalo Sabers. the second string teams are; pittsburgh penguins, several canadian teams, and then the New York Rangers...our relationship with the rangers is a love/hate one...the teams that we don't like is a long list that i won't bore you with since you might find this to be boring in the first place! I write this since sunday is game #5 between the Penguins and the Flyers...
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS: 1. sydney crosby - this player is only 19 years old and is already the team captain!!! usually when a young player that is just starting out take it easy in their first season...not crosby. he has no problem throwing down the gloves and taking someone out...he is also bringing sexy back to hockey...yes there are some hot hockey players
2. Evgeni Malkin - is the next top player on the Penguins he is also the second captain. he is just 21 years old and hails from russia and scored 47 goals this season..that is a big deal.
3. Marian Hossa - right wing for the penguins also a kick ass guy who takes names later. 29 goals this season...
MARIO LEMIEUX - he is in his 9th season as Pittsburgh's chairman. what makes him great is he is a former Penguins player himself and besides Gretzky is his one of the greatest hockey players of all time. Lemieux retired at the age of 31 following the 1996-97 season, having produced 613 goals and 881 assists for 1,491 points in 745 games with the Penguins. The Hall of Fame immediately waived the mandatory waiting period and inducted him in 1997. i mean for the NHL hall of fame to waive the waiting period?!?!?! that is unheard of! also in 1993 Lemieux battled hodgkin’s disease and then came back within 2 months of his final treatment to play in the playoffs!!! 613 goals...wow that doesn't happen very often, at his retirement, whe was, and still is the NHL's 7th best scorer of ALL TIME! Mario Lemieux we love you
other awesome Penguins players worth mentioning...Jarkko Ruutu, Kris Letang and Jordan Staal.
Phildelphia Flyers
1. Danny Briere - i have to admit he is a great player but he left the Sabers due to some contract negotions... i have nothing else to say about him.
2. Scottie Upshaw & R.J Umberger - good players but i am only mentioning them since they had their asses kicked by Sydney Crosby and Tyler Kennedy of the Pittsburgh Penguins 3. Martin Biron (goalie) - ok i like Biron he was a back up goalie for the Sabres. I can't blame him for leaving since he was the back up...the neat thing about Biron is he has the CRAZIEST eyes i have ever seen. it is like he is part huskey. the picture below is is with Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabers
This is it for the Hockey Journal at this point...tomorrow i will continue this journal after the Redwing/Stars game more boring hockey stuff to come!!!
Posted on 05/16/2008 8:41 PM Comments (2)
May 13, 2008hi my name is...Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Anne aka Annieli (pronounced annie - lee). I have had this nickname since college since I love jett li and I would sit 5 inches away from my little 13 inch TV reading the subtitles to his movies… I am 31 years old and I have been very happily married for 6 years to Adam, the love of my life. We have a beautiful son, Adin, but I think most of you know that. I am a stay at home mom and left my career life behind me when I found out I was pregnant. My husband and I tried for many years to have a baby; I have seen many a fertility specialists and then by the grace of god, and only god, we were able to conceive. We had been given a 4% chance of ever conceiving a child…naturally. I graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1999 with a double major in chemistry and biology magna cum laude. That means I take education and intelligence very seriously. I am an observant Jew. I take my religion very seriously although not in a closed minded way. I live in the Bible belt and being an observant Jew is difficult here. So on occasion I have to defend my religion/family for being Jewish. I really don’t have time for my hobbies anymore besides baking. I love to knit and I finally have the time to do so on Sundays since I started a knitting group at my temple. I love to read but as of late most of my reading material revolves around parenting, potty training, and Thomas the Tank Engine. I have always been a huge music lover. My husband and I have close to 1500 cd’s in our home and strive to expose our son to something other than “mary had a little lamb”. Crossword puzzles are my weakness! I love them and before I go to bed I at least do two or three of them! It Drives Adam nuts since he is trying to sleep. I had my wild party days in college, as most of us did. I have had hair every color of the rainbow, piercings, went to parties, stayed out all night, drank, and had tons of fun. The moral of this is; who I was then has evolved into a grown woman who takes care of her family. Do I drink? Yes. Anyone who has a 2 year old like mine would indulge in a glass of wine here and there. Does that make me an alcoholic? Nope and if you think so…frankly you are stupid. We live a peaceful life here in Kentucky. We have a nice home at the end of a cul-de-sac with very nice neighbors. My son loves to play basketball in our yard and splash in the pool. We take walks around or neighborhood and I have organized an ice cream social for this weekend to get all of the kids together that live in our neighborhood. Having said that I live in Kentucky, we do wear shoes, I do not own overalls, and we do not have a horse and buggy. I have found myself saying “y’all” only because I have lived here for 18 years. My husband is an architect and is originally from Buffalo New York. We are avid hockey fans and hope that Adin will love hockey as much as we do. So far he does! He likes to ice skate, calls hockey “hock” and will yell at the TV when games are on saying… “go go go TOOT ORE!!!” which translates to go go go shoot score! Having read this…ask yourself…what do I honestly have to hide? What would I lie about? Why would you think I am not a nice and trust worthy person? Some of you don’t and frankly it disturbs me. I joined buzznet as a “connection” to the outside world, a moment of creativity, a moment of calm, a moment to socialize when my son will let me. A moment to let me be me. To prove there are cool moms out there that all of us don’t wear sweater sets, go out for tea, or sit on our asses. I am trying to, one small step at a time, break the stereo type of stay at home moms. Career moms VS. Stay at home moms…I GAVE up my career for this; I am not ashamed I am Proud of this choice…. So if you want to start rumors or say nasty untrue things about me or my friends …use your words wisely. I have nothing to hide from “you”. Do I need to defend myself or my life to teenagers? No I don’t I am comfortable with who I am am…and “you” one day will have this…when you grow up. Don’t try to start a battle with those of us that are older and wiser than “you” we will win. Sincerely, Anne
Posted on 05/13/2008 9:41 AM Comments (2)
May 12, 2008target who? target me? why?Here are some simple definitions you might find interesting…Did I major in Law? Nope, just a double major in chemistry and biology graduated magna cum laude…that means I am NOT stupid.
Definitions of slander on the Web:
Important Point: what is Libel?
Posted on 05/12/2008 9:22 PM Comments (2)
May 11, 2008PETA sucksHear me out…or at least hear my point of view before you “delete” me. Actually who cares? My husband works for the parent company of Kentucky Fried Chicken. He is an architect. He doesn’t strangle chickens or pluck feathers when he is at work. He sits in his office designing KFC restaurants across this country. Everything from the types of signs used, to the color of the tile, the interior/exterior décor. He sits in his office with blue prints, tile samples, fabric and a whole bunch of other stuff I could not tell you what it is for. He has some little knick knacks here and there; some autographed hockey photos, wind up walking sushi, some art from Adin and family photos. Where am I going with this? On Fridays Adin has his gymnastic class, we then we eat lunch with “dada” and feed the ducks at the pond at my husbands office before we go home for adin’s nap. This happens every Friday, except this last Friday. His office building was once again evacuated for bomb threats from PETA. The road where he works is across from the main post office. This entire road was shut down by the bomb squad, 16 police cars and countless fire trucks. The grounds of his building had 6 patrol cars circling the building with 16 armed guards. KFC kills chickens was spray painted across the building and numerous unmarked packages were left all over the grounds…hence why the bomb squad was called in besides the threat. Earlier in the week PETA people climbed the fence at the CEO’S home and threw red paint all over his wife and grandkids before throwing PETA pamphlets everywhere. his grandchildren?!?! WTF, at least leave them out of this crap.. PETA has parachuted onto the building to hang banners splattered with paint to look like blood they even once broke into the main building to destroy anything they could. Our car has been egged by PETA people and has even been towed from the KFC parking lot by them. PETA people occasionally call in tow trucks with the information of employee’s cars to have them towed for some reason. WTF!!!! My husband works to provide for his family. I am cautious to purchase products that have not been tested on animals. I give money to numerous “no kill” animal shelters across my county. With that being said it should be known that KFC purchases their chicken from TYSON and PERDUE. KFC does not “genetically” mutate chickens to have 15 legs and 6 breasts…all the videos you have seen are not filmed at KFC headquarters (where my husband works) they are filmed at the SUPPLIERS WAREHOUSES ie. perdue and tyson. PETA have also compared the holocaust to slaughtering of animals…to that I say F**K you. Ok so you are vegetarian or vegan…that is fine with me. But to I come to your place of business and throw paint on you? do I send you bomb threats because you eat broccoli? No, I didn’t think so. if you want to target someone target the warehouses...please don't ruin another paint job on our second car. if you could have seen the look of my son's face when he saw all the police cars, fire trucks, the bomb squad and the bomb search dogs...all he could say was "dada?"
Posted on 05/11/2008 8:57 PM Comments (6)
May 7, 2008commercial that make me cry!i know this is a little smaltzy but i couldn't help myself as i saw this commercial last night...i welled up with tears! so here are a few commericals that do this to me!
Posted on 05/07/2008 6:39 AM Comments (2)
April 28, 2008Yom Hashoah - יום השואהThis contains, some graphic images
The full name of the day commemorating the victims of the Holocaust is “Yom Hashoah Ve-Hagevurah”— literally the "Day of (remembrance of) the Holocaust and the Heroism.”
*statue at Dachau "to honor the dead and to warn the living"
I am sure most of you have heard or studied the horror and tragedy of the Holocaust. Being a Jew reminds me of the Holocaust every day. As a mother I have to think of all the women and children that were separated into different camps, those mothers that took the final walk with their children to death, and those mothers whom had to choose which child should die. In 1999 I visited the first concentration camp in Germany, Dachau, just outside of Munich. This was one of the most horrific visits to anywhere I have ever been. Yes the prisoners are gone and the guards are gone but you know, and you can feel it run through you like ice…what happened there. I stood in the crematorium, the gas chamber; the barracks were hundreds of Jews were hoarded in like cattle. I witnessed the empty train cars that the American forces found when they liberated Dachau that were filled top to bottom and side to side with the bodies of men, women and children.
the Germans forced more than 7,000 prisoners, mostly Jews, on a death march from Dachau to Tegernsee far to the south. During the death march, the Germans shot anyone who could no longer continue; many also died of hunger, cold, or exhaustion. On April 29, 1945, American forces liberated Dachau. As they neared the camp, they found more than 30 railroad cars filled with bodies brought to Dachau, all in an advanced state of decomposition. In early May 1945, American forces liberated the prisoners who had been sent on the death march.
The number of prisoners incarcerated in Dachau between 1933 and 1945 exceeded 188,000. The number of prisoners who died in the camp and the subcamps between January 1940 and May 1945 was at least 28,000, to which must be added those who perished there between 1933 and the end of 1939, as well as an uncounted number of unregistered prisoners. It is unlikely that the total number of victims who died in Dachau will ever be known.
I write this now for Yom Hashoah in hopes that no one will EVER forget, will ever minimize what happened to my people, or allow it to happen again to anyone. I have been blessed to know, personally, a survivor of the Holocaust. I serve on the women’s board with her at my temple. I have seen her smile countless times and I have heard her laugh; which is very peaceful to me. Here is her and her husband’s story. A. Klein After surviving Auschwitz and three and a half months of forced death marches in freezing weather, A. Klein was liberated in Wurzen, Germany. Her first thought was to get back to Hungary to see if her two brothers survived. Unfortunately, they did not. Klein got on a train for Budapest and found herself in a car with “a group of drunken Russian Soldiers” who “forced me to stay there with them. But I was scared and fought my way down to escape.” Unable to stay in the then-deserted station, Klein hopped on the step of another car as the train began to move and hung on with one hand (her other hand was injured) for the entire five-hour trip to Budapest. “After a year in Budapest with my aunt and uncle,” she recalled, “I received a letter from my high school boyfriend, Sandy, who had moved to America eight years earlier. In the letter, he asked me to marry him. “Since he was in the American Army for about four years, I was able to get my passport papers as a war bride,” Klein said. S. Klein, Ann’s husband, came to the U.S. on August 15, 1938, after his graduation from high school. An uncle had invited him to study here, and “my parents were glad to send me away from the recently enacted Jewish laws and anticipated worse possibilities.” He started his studies at George Washington University in 1939, but did not graduate until 1948, because after Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, his uncle went on active duty in the Navy and Klein enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps. Shortly after the war ended in May 1945, Klein’s aunt in Washington, DC, received a letter “addressed simply to Dr. Elmer Klein, Washington, D.C.” and forwarded it to Klein in Casablanca, Morocco. In it, his two sisters wrote, “Dear Sandy, We are in Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp and we are waiting for you.” With the help and support of his commanding officer, he made it to Bergen-Belsen in a day and a half. “There, I found my two sisters, who told me of their experiences in Auschwitz,” he said. “That is where our parents perished and where each of them lost a child – a four-year-old girl and a six-year-old boy. They lost their respective husbands some two-three years before in labor camps.” Klein decided to take them back to Casablanca, but their poor emotional and physical conditions meant that that trip took 45 days. Of the 1600 Jews in his hometown, Eger, Hungary, before the war, Klein reported, only 21 women and seven men survived. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ The other two Holocaust survivors of Louisville Kentucky have since passed. E. Meyer’s funeral was just today and E. Marx died last year. Here is E. Meyer’s story. . In making plans to leave Germany in 1938, Meyer’s family wrote the American Consulate for a quota number. “Only 20,000 visas were given out,” she said. “Mine was 16,540.” Two weeks later, when her parents sent for theirs, they were number 24,460. After Kristallnacht and her father’s arrest and subsequent release, Meyer and her sister left on a kindertransport to Holland on January 4, 1939 and again began the process of trying to get to America. On March 26, 1940 Meyer received her visa, and with great difficulty found passage on a ship with only one open place. On April 16, she said, the immigrants got up at 4 a.m. “to see the Statue of Liberty.” Meyer was detained on the ship until the $100 she needed to get off the ship arrived from her brother in Wisconsin. Finally reunited with family in Green Bay, Meyer had difficulty finding a job. She worked as a maid and in a knitting factory, eventually moving to Cleveland where she found a job in a meat packing plant. After five years, she sought to improve her lot. She attended beauty school during the day and continued working at the packing plant at night. “The hardest part was not knowing what happened to my family,” she said. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ E. Marx E. Marx didn’t come to America until after the war. “After the liberation in France in June of 1944, I didn’t have a home anymore and I didn’t know what happened to my family,” he recounted, so he joined the French Army. Eventually, he found his brother in Switzerland, and his mother. Marx’s mother’s uncle, who lived in Argentina, “gave an affidavit and sent money to the U.S. Embassy so we could come to the United States.” (thanks to S.T Wallace) No one really knows the total number of Jews that died truly all the numbers are an estimation it is estimated that it was close to 6 million. What is NOT estimation is 80% of Jews were killed in the Holocaust and we now make up only 2% of the world.
today i remember all the unknown that died, all of those that never knew what happened to their families, and the Jewish population as a whole that remembers this EVERY year so it will not be forgotten. _______________________________________________________________________
Elie Wiesel wrote, "Let us remember, let us remember the heroes of Warsaw, the martyrs of Treblinka, the children of Auschwitz. They fought alone, they suffered alone, they lived alone, but they did not die alone, for something in all of us died with them."
Posted on 04/28/2008 1:21 PM Comments (2)
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at 46 years of age he is still skatin' 
he is the first european that hails from Sweden to be a team captin. this is really cool since he is 46 years old and this is a chace for him to win the Stanley Cup as a captain. granted I hope this doesn't happen since I am for Pittsburgh...but if this doesn't happen for some reason I would be happy for Lidstrom.
he is a good player... I will not say nothing more. he is a threat
- this is a team we hate. they have been known as a dirty team and they took one of the best players from the Buffalo Sabres from last season. another reason why i currently cannot stand them is they took the Buffalo Sabers out of the playoffs...damn them. i have to admit they have some great players and under different circumstances i might like them...NOT. but some of their players deserve some props...
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