Back in Birmingham

Hello from Alabama. I am once again in the deep South visiting my mom and sister. Don't call it a vacation though. When I visit with relatives, I refer to it as a "Family Maintenace Tour" (FMT). While we grew up on Long Island, my sister moved here when her husband took a job after finishing medical school at Stony Brook. Mom moved here in early 2002 after Dad died.

With Helaine's family still on Long Island and my mom and sister in Birmingham, most of our time away seems to be the FMTs. We try throwing in some "fun" things so the trips seem more like family vacations. We'll head up to Huntsville tomorrow to go to the US Space and Rocket Center. Philip has had an interest in space and rockets since he was a toddler. This is a neat place and they have lots of activities. Father and son will be coming back in August for 3 days of "Space Camp". We're also going to stop for night in the mountains of North Carolina and visit some friends who are renting a house for the week.

I just finished reading my friend Mike Walter's blog entry about his mom. Mike is a great storyteller, even when it's a tough story to tell. Mike writes about his mom and his family and the monumental changes that a passing life bring.

I am inspired by him as I sit in the home with my Mom and the other elderly residents. This is a home for Alzheimer and dementia patients. Some of the residents are in the beginning phases and are quite capable of taking care of themselves and carrying on conversations. Others need almost full time attention. It is a humbling place on many levels. I find these visits bittersweet. I cherish the time I spend with my Mom, but I ache for the time when she was a much more vibrant person. She can't see(Macular Degeneration), and she can barely put a few words together. I do most of the talking and I help her eat during meal time. I've come down to Alabama a few times by myself, but this time, Philip was with me and he was helping his grandma eat. My soon to be 8 year old can frustrate me and try my patience, but he was a real prince with his grandma and I think it was a valuable experience that he had. I was very proud of him and even it wasn't Rockets, but I think it was pretty huge.

Philip was also talking with some of the residents. They seem to get a big kick in seeing a little boy. It's a big departure from the norm. I also talk and help whomever I can. If you have half a heart, it's impossible to sit there, feeding your own Mom, while others are waiting for a resident assistant to come over. So until they do, I try and pick up some slack.

Like my own Mom, everybody has a story of their life. There is 1 woman though, who is from Baltimore originally, Isabella Rich. She must be in her mid 80s now and is a sweet lady. She shares the room with my Mom and there is a newspaper or magazine clipping on the wall. I've read it a couple of times so I'll do my best to remember, but in 1942 she walked in to the Army recruiting office in Baltimore to enlist. The army guys told her to go away, they're not taking any "colored women". She came back the next day and was told the same thing. But this time, when the Army guy said "Next", the next guy in line said, not until you're done with her. Other people on line joined in and Isabella Rich became one of the first, if not the first members of The Women's Army Corps. Today, she lives in relative obscurity for the remainder of her days in this home in Alabama.

I have met other residents, mainly women there, who all have rich histories. They're not what they once were, but I honor and respect all of them, because of those rich histories and the lives They lived before I met them. It might only be a FMT and not a "real vacation", but we're building memories that will last a lifetime. Here's to you Rose Bernstein and also to Mike's mom Mary Jo Walter.

Money Saving Invitation Idea

My son's birthday is coming up in early May, so we are at the planning process. I won't get into all of the details, but Helaine and I were discussing invitations. Actually, she was doing most of the research and I was the sounding board.

Invitations can be costly. The cheap ones were 50 cents each (blanks), and others cost more than 1 dollar a piece. This party is going to cost me enough without shelling out some real money for invitations.

My mother-in-law has this software that makes greeting cards and then she prints them. She enjoys making them and Philip really likes getting the very customized cards. I thought about going that route, when I had a vision.

Why not use some photo editing software that I already have and make a picture size (4x6) invitation? All I have to do is find a picture of my son that we like, easy enough to do, and then add the appropriate text. Once I'm done, I then put the image on a memory stick and head off to Costco. They charge 15 cents a print. Now we're talking I price I can live with.

Helaine loved the idea and was very happy with the final product. Philip thought it was really cool and I was just happy that I was able to please everybody and it didn't cost me that much at all.

( I removed some of the info off the photo, but you get the idea....)

That's 1 Big Bird

I have a fun job. There are times I get to do things that I think the average person doesn't get to do. Earlier in the week, the good people from Busch Gardens were on a media tour to promote the parks opening for the season on March 21st.

Rob Yordi, one of the conservationists showed up with a bunch of different animals that we talked about. The interview will air Sunday morning March 16 during 9 NEWS NOW at 8 AM.

I had the privilege of holding an iguana, a crocodile (a small one), a boa constrictor, although he was actually holding me and a macaw. The macaw waves and says hello. My mother-in-law is deadly afraid of birds. I sent her this picture with me and the macaw and she couldn't believe that it was real. Well., it was real and it was fun.

More Signs of Spring

Even though we have temperatures in the 20s this Sunday morning, I keep running into more and more signs of Spring. Last week, I saw the first advertisement for fertilizer in the big LOWES ad supplement. We also had a visitor in studio who reminded me that the season is near. Rob Yordi, with Busch Gardens, was in town with a bunch of animals to remind us of all of the conservation work that Busch Gardens does, and to also remind us that they open their doors on March 21st.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Rob as he brought out several different animals. There was the iguana, the alligator, the macaw, the armadillo, a huge rabbit and a boa constrictor. I held several of the animals myself. I feel very lucky at the opportunities that I sometimes get. The macaw that was on my arm is a big bird, but he waves and says "hello", so I was pretty fascinated. The boa constrictor had a firm grip of my arm, but wasn't squeezing to hurt me, just to hold on.


We were also reminded on Saturday afternoon of the impending seasonal change with the severe weather that hit the area. Winds as high as 68 mph, hail as large as 1" in diameter and numerous reports of wind damage are all signs of spring. Also, tree pollen has been in the high range this past week. Not fun for allergy sufferers.

Personally, I prefer the beauty of the flowers and the pleasantly warm days that Spring brings over the severe weather. One more reminder of Spring, The Cherry Blossoms are likely to be in peak bloom the final week of March into the first few days of April. That was announced this week at a pres conference that featured Robert Defeo of the National Park Service. Rob has been the chief horticulturist and main cherry blossom forecaster for years and every year he makes a fairly accurate prediction.

Frank McNamara, Musician

Along with my weather duties, I also get the opportunity to do some interviews for our 9 AM broadcast. On Tuesday, I met a man named Frank McNamara. He's in town promoting a St. Patrick's Day concert that will be taking place at DAR Constitution Hall on the 17th.

I am often pleasantly surprised by some of the people I get to meet. Ted Leonsis, Billy Bob Thornton, Comedian Larry Miller and Frankie Avalon are just a few of the names that I'll drop. Most people know those names, but Frank McNamara was a new name to me.

I try to research the person I'm interviewing and it's often during the research that I began to appreciate the individual's achievements. Frank McNamara was a great guy to meet. He's Irish and has been playing the piano since he was a toddler. It didn't hurt that his parents were into music. Frank has an amazing history in the business, especially in Europe, but he's worked all over the world with many amazing talents. His biography, as impressive as it is, probably doesn't do him justice. He's like Paul Shaffer in Ireland, as he's the musical director for the Irish "Late Late Show". He's worked with everybody, including Roger Daltrey and LeAnn Rimes and is the producer of "The Irish Tenors" and "The American Tenors". I mentioned that Ronan Tynan , the famed Irish Tenor, had been in our studios. In one of those small world stories, Frank told me that he and Ronan Tynan were classmates growing up and that Frank's dad was Ronan's music teacher.

I urge you to watch 9 NEWS NOW at 9 AM on March 14th to see the interview and you can catch Frank and the amazing show of Irish music on March 17th at DAR Constitution Hall.