The Ancient One Dances in Brooklyn

Yesterday was wonderful. Granddaughter Jolee did a magnificent job on her Bat Mitzvah day. She was articulate, eloquent and beautiful. The synagogue service was most enjoyable and the Hawaiian themed party last night was joyful and fun. Wonderful memories will be carried away and more will be written about the day in the future.

One unusual happening at the party last night was the sight of The Ancient One dancing with Donna. Son Seth recorded the event by grabbing the camera and capturing his parents gliding (?) along the dance floor. Thanks Seth!

Now on to our last full day of celebration with all the children and grandchildren here in Bay Ridge. . .

Random Views in NYC

Donna and The Ancient One have completed the first 2 full days of their visit to New York. These were the try to "see things days" prior to the "family event days" beginning tomorrow. The highlight of the visit will be the Bat Mitzvah of granddaughter #1 on Saturday.

Yesterday was spent in "the City," more specifically in midtown Manhattan. After lunch with son Bill (father of the Bat Mitzvah girl), we wandered and walked and walked and wandered leading up to the evening's highlight, a wonderful performance of Altar Boyz. A few pictures were taken, 2 of which are offered here. First, a kind stranger shot a photo of The Ancient One and Donna just after their ride on the Merry-Go- Round in Bryant Park. (Those who know her will truly appreciate that Donna is astride a frog, rather than a horse):

Then, as we wandered up 5^th Avenue, we spotted the spires of St Patrick's Cathedral and decided to stop by for a visit. In this picture I sort of like the juxtaposition of this great edifice with the glass high rise behind it.

Today we wandered through the area where son Bill and family live and where our hotel is located, the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn. We did have some good food and visited a lot of stores and The Ancient One took just one photo along the way. It is of a rather common stone urn on the porch of a home on 86^th Street between 3^rd and 4^th Avenue. Why this picture? Well, there were 2 flower urns just like it in front of the house in which The Ancient Grew did much of his growing up, on Chicago Boulevard in Detroit (ages 7-21 from 1945 to 1959). It just hit me when I saw it and the photo became necessary.

And the day ended on a high note as The Ancient One was surrounded by Donna, all 3 of his children and both of his granddaughters this evening at the Brooklyn Cohen's residence in Bay Ridge. The next few days will surely bring forth many tears of joy. This is one of those wonderful weeks we occasionally get to experience to the fullest extent possible.

Such are the random thoughts and views of the first part of our visit.