"Spritzing the Joy-Juice 2000"
A Peek into the Family Album
My Dad's Fabulous Glamour Shot in the Junkyard
This is a...uh... charming picture of my Dad, Izzy Rosenberg, at my Uncle Poof's auto junkyard, on one freezing cold day many years ago. (He was in his late 20s, I think). It's still a little hard for me to talk about my Dad, since he was brutally killed in a robbery when he was 54, and I was 24. But, I have purposed not to let the unspeakable last hour of his life be the preeminent frozen memory. He was a rare soul...a joy bringer...and my first life teacher. -- I don't know if I could convince a Talmudic Scholar of this, but my heart says that putting this picture here for all to see is, somehow, a way of obeying the Commandment to Honor Thy Father.
My Brother and I Growing Up Together in Washington, DC
This is me and my brother, Barry, ages 4 and 6. I was kind of new here on Earth, and he seemed to know his way around the neighborhood pretty good. So I followed him around. He interpreted this as stalking. "Ma, Burton's bothering me again!" Bothering? What, bothering?! Look, I just wanted some tips on who I was and what we're all doing here in this Life Thing. Is that so wrong? Oh sure, when a camera came out, oh yeah, he'd do the big "He's Not Heavy, He's My Brother" Act. Even if he did stick that Alpha-Male Dominant leg out in front of the kid. But you can be sure that as soon as the sound of the camera-click faded away, so did he. And I went off looking for him. But, that's okay. I grew up anyway. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nahhh nahh! -- He lives in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife and a mess o'kids. He's a men's hairstylist by trade. Although, speaking of which, every blessed one of the hairs you see so neatly Brylcreamed & displayed here have been unevenly distributed, one-by-one, all over the world, owing to travels and wind currents.
Uncle Poof, The Benevolent Godfather-King of the Rosenbergs
This is my Dad's brother, Uncle Poof, the Benevolent Godfather-King of the Rosenbergs. In his eighties now, his Philosophy always seemed to be: When in Doubt, Make a Funny Face. I think this is a good philosophy. At least until you can come up with a better one. At which time, you have a better philosophy AND a funny face. So, everybody wins. He and I have classic "discussions" about God. He is a strong non-believer, but it ain't over yet. He thinks I'm at least a little meshugganah.(crazy), mind you. But love carries us through real fine. Love never fails, you know. That's what the Bible says. Uh-oh, I can hear him in my head right now, "Oh yeah, so who wrote the Bible? How about if I wrote a Bible? Would you believe it? Huh? Okay, I'm going to write a Bible. You gonna believe my Bible?!"
-- If you want to see a lovely verbatim example of one of our stirring theological debates, you need merely Click Here.
My Dad, Praying at a Passover Seder
I came across this photo as I was looking for some good ones for the Website here. I didn't recall ever seeing it before. You can imagine my tender, wistful smile. I'll let my words be few on this one. Just as his were, in oneness with his God.
More Photos to Come. So Do Visit Again Soon.