Back when my father ran his company out of a building down in Soho, I walked into his office one day and found him poring over the Times. When I got close enough to see what page he was on, I asked, “Why are you reading the obituaries, Dad?” He looked up with a wry smile and said, “I always find it reassuring when I don’t see my name.”
My father is gone six years now, and I sometimes wonder whether part of what my children will remember about me is the fixation I have that famous people who share their birthdays are somehow joined to them in relevance. When I happen upon a listing of celebrities or historical figures with birthdays that match Son or Daughter, I always tell them about my discovery and then wonder afterward if it was such a wise thing to do. For example, I think Son and Wyatt Earp sharing March 19th should be seen as a compliment to both of them; but Bruce Willis maybe not so lofty a connection. Still better than Billy the Kid, who was born in November on the birthday of some other woman’s son.
Likewise Daughter’s calendar-driven kinship with legendary athlete and humanitarian Arthur Ashe, also born on July 10th. Daughter certainly shares Ashe’s big heart, drive for excellence, and belief that the best hope for civilization lies in education. But what about boxer Jake LaMotta, known as”The Raging Bull?” He was a July 10 baby, too. I suppose I could ask around Daughter’s inner circle about her left hook, but it’s not really a place I’d like to go. I prefer to glance up at the bulletin board of photos over my desk and see her smiling at me in her prom dress, slender hands cradling a rose, not a sucker punch.
Today’s paper gives a roster of famous birthdays that includes the following: Barbara Walters, 81; Michael Douglas, 66; Mark Hamill, 59; Catherine Zeta-Jones, 41. First reaction here has to be LUKE SKYWALKER IS OLDER THAN ME! Unlike Han Solo, who is ageless. Next is to register surprise that Douglas and wife have the same birthday, separated by, oh, about a century. Hooray for Hollywood. Lastly and sadly, if only Gilda Radner were here to celebrate with Baba-Wawa. That would be tewiffic.
Daughter’s Featured Fotos showcase NYC’s art installation Sukkah City. For all the non-Jewish readers, a sukkah is a hut-like structure in which one eats, sleeps and visits during the holiday of Sukkot. Its religious symbolism is to commemorate the time the Israelites spent in the wilderness after they were freed from slavery in Egypt.
angled
womb-like
pointy
invisible