OPERATION NORTH: Truthseekers

"What made you think of me?," Charles asked.
"I'd like to see you again, too," Danny enthused. "Compare notes of what's happened over the years, see where we've been."
"When are you having this?"
"Two Saturdays from now. At 4 pm at Julie Dehovitz and Michael Braun's house on Jordan Avenue."
"Oh God, I haven't seen him in years. Jesus. Michael...we used to be buddies in high school. That'd be wild!!!! To see them both and married. Julie, isn't she a doctor? I think I heard..."
"Yes, she practices medicine and she is raising a family."
"What is Michael doing?"
"He's a broker, with Peat, Marwich and Mitchell."
"Who else is coming?"
"Well, there's a guy, a friend of my family's who's name is Andy. He grew up in Washington but came here to go to Stanford to do graduate work."
"Great. Is he Jewish?"
"Yes."
Charles queried Danny, "Since when are you so interested in Judaism? I don't remember..."
"Well, I'm not observant or anything. Let me tell you in two weeks."
"O.K. Who else have you invited?"
"A good friend who's studying to be a rabbi, my oldest friend. You may know him, Eric Wagerman."
"Nope, name's not familiar."
"You'll recognize him when you see him. And Peter Schlossberg's coming."
"Yeah, Peter!!! We used to play basketball. haven't seen him...shit...in too long. That'd be great!"
"And Jennifer Rosen will be there."
"I remember her. She was a pot head."
"Well, she's in business now. She said she wanted to see you."

OPERATION NORTH: Truthseekers

OPERATION NORTH: Truthseekers (Part Two)

Ever since Oliver North's acquital in his Washington trial, a small group of disaffected yuppies, men and women who received their MBA's and law degrees, who apprenticed to judges, became doctors and served the public sector, joined together to take justice into their own hands.

Charles did not initiate the group. He was a Stanford grad, happily applying his education to selling rock memorabilia to Bay Area concertgoers. He knew his contribution to society was minimal, but he was comfortable and secure. He had no reason to take risks or disrupt his lifestyle.

Until a phone call from an acquaintance, a Harvard graduate who had been living in Washington, D.C.. Danny was discreetly seeking out jewish people who would form the core of this quest for justice. Danny called Charles on a Saturday afternoon and found him at home, relaxed.

"Charles, this is Danny Levin...you may not remember me...I was a year behind you at Temple Emanuel. i grew up on Sacramento Street. I knew your sister, Eva."

"Yeah....yeah....I kinda recognize your voice. It's been a long time. You went to Harvard right?"

"Yes. I lived in Boston for three years."

"Sounds great. What are you doing now?"

"I'm working in Washington D.C.."

"Are you calling from there?"

"No, I'm here in SF now."

"So, what's up?"

"I'm inviting you to come to a reunion of sorts, of professionals from the Jewish community in San Francisco."

"What for?"

"Get together with old friends, meet new ones."

"Socially, or....?"

"Yes, and professional...it's not a matchmaking thing." Danny understood that unmarried people were wary of singles gatherings.

"Oh, good...I was afraid you were talking about people with name tags...I don't need that. I've been to mixers. They stink."

"Yes, Charles," Danny reassured him. "I just decided to bring together a small group of people who basically knew each other already and get them reacquainted. Ten to fifteen people. It'll be great."

Telepathy

Telepathy

serotonin and dopamine agonists

I am pulled in two directions (at least two.) Should i read my casework text or work on Shabbat writing? I am drawn to work on Shabbat, so I will do that, follow the bliss. Words to text. It isn't just easy creativity. It is editing and crafting. The sabbath service takes crafting, on Shabbat. Before Grandma is demented and cannot recall what you have just said to her. So, off I go to Microsoft word. Shabbat Shalom.

OPERATION NORTH: Truthseekers

OPERATION NORTH: Truthseekers (Part One)

He tapped her on the shoulder and nodded his head. They stood up together and apologetically slipped out of the row of seats of the theater in the middle of the second act. She was bored, nearly falling asleep, and he knew it. They walked to the parking lot but not to where Charles parked the car. He led her to a blue Audi 5000, a new clean vehicle, and quickly unlokced the doors.
Marguerite slid onto the velvet seats and laughed. "Charles, who's car is this?"
"Ours," he smiled. "We're going for a ride."
"What are you doing? How'd you get the keys," she quizzed.
"It's a surprise," he said.
"Where are we going?," she asked.
"To the country." Charles picked up leather driving gloves that were left on the dashboard and put them on. A bouquet of dead tigerlilies and yekllow roses lay on the dash. They reeked. The car smelled like a funeral home. A merscham pipe protruded from the ashtray.
Marguerite looked at Charles. In silence, they sped out of the parking lot and onto the highway. It was 9:30 at night. Droplets of fog reflected on the headlights, distorting the darkness of the road. Charles sighed, pressed the electronic seat button and reclined. He loved to cruise on an open highway. His eyes were dilated. Soon they would be at Stanford University.

Conference April 9, 2005

Demographic Shift: Ready or Not, Here It Comes
2010, baby boomers are turning 65 and becoming seniors; it is time we prepare to take care of ourselves and not leave the task to the hotel and hospitality industry. We need to train and prepare caregivers in a way that baggage handlers were put in the spotlight after Sept 11th: this is a crisis looming ahead, a tsunami and we will succumb to it if we aren't good boys scouts and BE PREPARED.

Today's conference at San Francisco State featured many excellent speakers at the peak of their field, no surpirse because SF is at the forefront of caregiving in the US. Noted was Patrick Arbore, PhD of the Institute On Aging who decried the way we don't have open conversations about death and dying in this country. He pointed out that Terry Schaivo died without explanations for her wishes, Johnny Cochran passed from cancer which must not have been pleasant and the Pope slipped into that good night...three deaths to get us talking about that transition. In addition, his colleague Mary Twomey focused on elder abuse and how we cannot look away when we see something that looks amiss. We must confront behavior or stories that seem suspicious.

(It must be mentioned that Stephanie Lencioni and Jacquie Lichstein organized this conference to meet the requirements for their MSW in Social Work.)

To start the day, David Hahklotubbe provided an overview of the field of aging and pointed out that those of us who attended the conference were an anomaly. People don't pay attention to the subject, he said. He is working on a documentary called Gray Dawn to capture the "Man on the Street's" impressions of aging. Media, he noted, doesn't shape culture anymore, society is shaping the more's, values and ethics we all live by.

(Note this blog where I capture the story in real time and beam it out to yo, reflect it back to you, asap.) We are fast becoming a culture which can reflect itself and perhaps have no way to look back on where we've come, which leads me on to the larger aim of this blog and the goals I have for writing. My role as a writer is to reflect on society and I take this responsibility seriously. I thank you for joining me on this ride.

Future versions of this blog will have excerpts from works in progress. I h ave called the blog telepathy because we will come to recognize that we don't even need the medium of this technology to communicate when we rely on age old forms of telepathic communication.

For now, I return to report back on the conference. From the Pacific Institute, Doris Bersing engaged us in an energetic talk that included a personal story about assessing an 89 year old who was deaf and not understanding her but after three days asked a question, "Aren't you the lady who's father raises horses?" And she was stopped cold because she had mentioned this in passing because in trying to establish rapport early on she saw pictures of horses and she saw that there was memory in this man's mind. It is not all cut and dried. It is not easy to determine who should be conserved or not. Nancy Flaxman from openhouse an LGBT sensitive affordable senior housing spoke about her mission. Then Bonnie Bollwinkel spoke bout Alzheimer's.

The last speaker of the day was Cathy Cress who covered assessment from the perspective of a geriatric care manager, an individual who solves problems, usually a nurse or social worker. As students, prospective professionals in the field, professionals or caregivers, we all left the conference at the end of the day invigorated with a sense of urgency and knowledge that, to paraphrase Margaret Mead, it is a small group of people who will change the world.