THANKSGIVING + CHANUKAH

(RNS) It last happened in 1888 and, according to one calculation, won’t happen again for another 77,798 years: the convergence of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah.

This year, Nov. 28 is Thanksgiving and the first full day of the eight-day Jewish festival of lights, which begins at sundown the previous night.

For many Jewish Americans, this is no trivial convergence, but a once-in-an-eternity opportunity to simultaneously celebrate two favorite holidays, one quintessentially American, the other quintessentially Jewish.

JFK 50 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

I am bleary-eyed from watching all the coverage on TV yesterday, commemorating the assassination of JFK in Dallas. Today on CSPAN, Book TV is continuing the coverage all weekend. I am riveted to the set. It's like re-living that part of my youth since I remember watching it Live on TV when I was 13 years old. Unlike everybody else in the country who seem to remember exactly where they were the day he was shot, I don't. I keep watching the images hoping to jog my memory. I know it happened between 1:30 + 2:00 pm. I have a vague recollection they told us in school. But I don't have any memories of watching TV with Shirley. I watched the funeral but I don't remember watching it with her. I have a lot of memories but none of this event -

The memorials in Dallas and Boston were televised. Boston had coverage all day long. I found myself in tears many times. I don't remember crying at the time. So I cried yesterday. Grief. Grief for him, his family, those kids, grief for shirley, grief for the country......

Listening to him give speeches, I was struck by the idealism and the hope. I can't remember any other president speak about the importance of the Arts and not just 'commercialism.' What a different direction the country has gone. Completely opposite of his ideas. Today, it's all about 'commercialism' aka Corporate America. Money for the Arts gets cut, cut, cut. A different world.

I just remembered Roby was inspired by him. I heard he was looking into the possibility of going into the Peace Corps. Shirley must have told me. I heard they were going to send him to Calcutta and I know he did not go there. Does anyone remember anything about that ?

ADDENDUM:

It's quite extraordinary seeing coverage from 1963 - the pre-cell phone, pre-digital, pay phone low-tech. way of reporting the story - we all heard and saw the story delivered by the best newsman of the day, Walter Cronkite. He had the most gravitas - but even he was overcome with grief; he had to take off his glasses and wipe away tears while reporting the story.....

                                               

VETERANS DAY 2013

Remembering...

1944, WWII

1945:WWII, Rheurdt, Germany

DUCK BOAT PARADE STARTS AT 10:00 AM

Red Sox fans converge on city for World Series victory parade

This is poetic justice. I watched Opening Day in April, cheered them on and they won.  Two hours later, the Marathon Bombing at the Copley Square finish line happened.  If you're not from Boston, you can't understand how the two events are inextricably linked all season long. It is not just about baseball here in Boston. The Red Sox were an integral part of helping the city heal. The next home game, David Ortiz stood in the middle of Fenway and said " this is our f***ng city ! And the FCC gave him a pass ! That's how extraordinary this season has been. (See April 15, 2013 blog post.)

Check out Boston.Com for more info. Players and John Farrell are being interviewed right now before they get on to the duck boats lined up in Fenway Park which is also filled with fans.

The team, whose improbable six-game victory over the St. Louis Cardinals lifted the spirits of a region rattled by the Boston Marathon bombings, was expected to board amphibious duck boats at 10 a.m. for a 3.8-mile ride through city streets that will conclude with a splash — as the boats take a victory lap in the Charles River.
The “rolling rally” of 25 duck boats will begin at Fenway Park and pass by such landmarks as Boston Common and City Hall. It will also pass a more somber site — the place near the Marathon finish line where the twin bombs went off on April 15, killing three people and injuring more than 260.
The parade was expected to stop for a tribute at the site, but no details were available on what that would entail, a Red Sox spokesman said Friday. “It’s going to be special to all of us to go down past that finish line,” player Shane Victorino told WBZ-TV.

Some of the bombing victims were on the duck boats ! Very brave, very brave.....

It was Jonny Gomes and Jared Saltalamachhia's idea to place that BOSTON STRONG T shirt in the dugout after they won the game at Fenway and were on their way to Cleveland when they heard about the Bombing. It was in the dugout every game of the season. The rolling duck boat parade stopped at the site of the bombing in Copley Square for a special ceremony acknowledging the victims of that day. That's what makes this World Series, worst to first season different and very special.

I know Roby would be thrilled and moved by this particular celebration and world series win.