Illness Stalks the Reunion

Illness has been the unwelcome "guest" at the reunion, as in life.
Throughout these months, Murray and Marsha were dealing with Marsha's
parents' [yes, both of them] illnesses, Marsha's sister's emergency surgery,
Marsha's own illness on the eve of her retirement, and Aunt Blanche's illness
and eventual death which we learned of immediately after the reunion.

In the Lerner/Berger family, Bill and Ethel had to cancel at the last
minute due to concerns about Ethel's health. Everyone was also worried,
especially Raquel, about Saronna Hoffman, our cousin and her sister-in-law in
Israel. Stan and Racquel didn't know until the last minute whether they would
be able to attend the reunion but they were able to come with their children,
Avi and Sharon.

Not so lucky was Mindy Agler whose mother's poor health required her presence
in Augusta, Ga.

The good news in the illness category was about Gene. Already suffering with
the notoriously painful disease, shingles, Gene had a "false positive" when
an x-ray of his chest showed something that looked suspiciously similar to an
aortic aneurysm. Sorting this out required many visits to physicians and
diagnostic facilities in both Manhattan and the Berkshires. Finally, an
e-mail from Gene on 7/10/99 advised us that it had been an error. We were much
relieved. We knew we could now proceed with plans to have a surprise 80th
birthday celebration. Since Gene's birthday is in October and the reunion was
in July, we figured he'd be fairly surprised.

The good news in the baby category and in Murray and Marsha's life was
the birth of grandson Matthew Philip [named for Uncle Phil Gandler] to Adam
and Andrea. We got to meet the newest family member and his sister, Danielle,
both adorable, at the reunion.

The other good news was that Alan and Ilise decided that it would be a
good idea to have Sophia's baby naming before she entered college. An equally
important consideration was that, at 15 months old, Sophia was fast
outgrowing the little lace cap brought to America from Hungary by Harriet's
mother, Bertha, and worn by every baby in every generation since then. Al and
Ilise thought that since the whole family would be assembled at the reunion,
this was be a great time for the baby naming. The e-mails flew back and forth.
It was decided that Saturday night before dinner would be the best time and
that our family would be joined by Ilise's for the pleasure of sharing this
wonderful simcha. More about this later.

E-mail from Judy to family: "The big news in our lives right now
is…[drumroll]: Caryn has found her b'shert! Yes, our most peripatetic,
eligible daughter has accepted a marriage proposal from Bill Woolcott…" So,
although Caryn was in China, brave Bill accepted our invitation to attend the
reunion, which he did, and, despite meeting almost the entire family, he
still wants to marry into it!

As June drew to a close and our late July reunion got closer, there were
many important last-minute items to remember. Luckily, Sylvia [I told you
you'd hear more about her] did a lot of the remembering. She remembered we
needed the aforementioned kippahs and little cups for wine. She also brought
all the challahs. In addition to the Friday evening Shabbat service, I
thought a Saturday Havdalah service, which Richie does so beautifully, would
be wonderful. Richie e-mailed me a list of what was needed, and my sister,
Sheila who works for a synagogue, was able to bring the required items for
both services.

We were heading into the home stretch when a minor crisis arose. It was
July 17 and Beth had no one to play golf with. The reunion was less than a
week away. Once again, I turned to the internet. By 7/19, the following
e-mails reached Beth:

From Harriet: "…if I can find room in my car with 2 kids, car seats, and
luggage for 3 adults and 2 kids, I shall bring my clubs. I shall also tell
Don and Karen to bring their clubs."

From Stan: "My son, Avi, would love to play golf but he won't be able to
bring his clubs…Do you know if the courses rent clubs?…"

>From Marsha: "…I asked Adam if he would be interested and he said he would
love to. He'll try to fit his clubs in the car…"

So Beth was able to arrange 2 foursomes, get rental prices, reserve tee times
both Saturday and Sunday, and, thanks to the internet and family cooperation,
serious golf withdrawal was expeditiously averted. This family knows how to
deal with crisis!

Kippahs, Nametags, and The List

Once again, Sylvia remembered something important and alerted me to our need
for a sufficient number of kippahs for meals. She didn't think she had
enough. I looked for my supply but I'd lent them to a friend at Passover. So,
I immediately dashed off an e-mail to Marsha who just as immediately sent back
reassurance that me she would bring hers.

However, Marsha also told me that she would be arriving later than planned
and therefore wouldn't be able to get me the nametags in time for earlier
arriving guests. Fortunately, an offer had come from Gene, a.k.a. "Mr10", via
e-mail [of course]. Former principals do not forget important things like
nametags. I had told him I didn't know whether Marsha could do it. E-mails:

>From Gene: "Yes, Mr10 can help if the standard bearer falters. If, indeed,
the task falls to this shingled person, then a list of names would be in
order."

>From Judy: "Lucky you, you're the Nametag Guy!"

>From Gene: "…Do you have a Progress Chart on your wall to help plot progress
and problems?"

>From Judy: "I have it in my head. If I lose my head [it's close to
happening], we'll have to chuck the reunion. Does anyone in the Agler
residence have a video camera and expertise? At this point, lack of expertise
is also acceptable" [Alas, as you already know, we never found anyone to
videotape and the family pro, Caryn, was off videotaping eye surgeries in
China!]

The List Gene needed was a big problem. Just as Ronni had created mailing
labels from my scrawls, Jodi was now attempting to use the same scrawls, and
Ronni's labels, to make up a list not just of names and addresses but of
phones, faxes, e-mails, and all known family members [lots of new babies in
recent years]. I wanted to distribute this to everyone attending the reunion
and for Yuval to use it for input into Beth Hatefutsoth in Tel Aviv.

Jodi, the reliable good sport who had volunteered for 3 different projects,
uncharacteristically dropped off my radar screen. I didn't hear from her for
a couple of weeks. As the reunion drew closer, I began to worry about The
List since I needed time to duplicate and collate it. Finally, word came from
Jodi. She would not be able to attend the reunion! She had a work commitment
she couldn't escape.
E-mail from Jodi: "So sorry I haven't responded. I am working my little toosh
off. I am miserable that I can't attend. The CEO of my company is delighted
by this event I am putting on and is bringing his whole family. There is no
way out of this one…"
Although heartbroken and terribly busy planning her company's event, Jodi
persevered. Literally minutes before we left for Lenox, she faxed the list,
which was later photocopied and collated by Mort and Jennifer in time to hand
out at the reunion. Another potential disaster narrowly averted!