Alumni Update

I received a few emails a couple of months ago from the Endicott Alumni Association asking for updates from my graduation class. It has been interesting reading the scattered responses and ever since the request came in I have been planning on sending an update. The problem has been that over the past decade there have been so many changes (heck, over the past year) that it is difficult to know where to start. Well, here is my attempt at providing a summary of what life has been like since I received my degree from Endicott College ten years ago…

It is hard to believe how quickly ten years can simply evaporate and I am sure that there are very few of you that were even close when you thought about where you would be as Dr. Wylie handed you your degree. I sure didn’t expect to be where I am today working as a PR Account Executive outside of Philadelphia focusing on the tech industry. I guess you never know where you will end up (especially for those of us who were English majors).

So, how did I get here? With my degree in hand I returned home to the Philadelphia suburbs, published some work in a few literary journals, magazines, anthologies, and pulled everything together in a short collection of poetry which was released by Pudding House Publications. Local readings followed including one at a local Barnes & Noble where I met my wife. After a year away from academia, I couldn’t help myself and soon enrolled in the MFA program at Rosemont College. While studying at Rosemont I was also pursuing a greater spiritual endeavor which led me to my conversion to Judaism a month before receiving my graduate degree.

Here is where things really started getting hectic. That same summer I was offered a Business Writer position at a PR firm in midtown Manhattan. By the fall of 2008 I was living in Brooklyn riding the F train to work every morning. By the spring I found myself in a difficult position as my Fibromyalgia was getting the better of me forcing me to take some time off before my wedding in June. My wife and I were married in Philadelphia in June of 2009 and spent over a week in Jerusalem with a couple of days in London tacked on at the end. It was a life changing trip that followed a life changing event.

Now living in Metuchen, New Jersey, and with my Fibromyalgia in mysterious remission, that fall I was faced with the reality of a diabetes diagnosis. It was a moment that made us assess what we really wanted to do with our lives. The following summer, after visiting Endicott and showing my wife the beauty of the campus, my wife and I started on another adventure that would take us back to the Middle East. A year later, in July 2011, my wife and I made Aliyah. However, some things aren’t meant to be and we soon after found ourselves returning back to the United State (although we will always be Israelis). This would later prove to be a 

2012 was a difficult year having moved back to the Philadelphia area, Bala Cynwyd to be exact, to be close to family and, by doing so, putting our careers on hold. It was tough working overnight shifts, living paycheck to paycheck, and watching our debt slowly climb but we made it through that tough time and we both found ourselves back on track in the professions we are truly passionate about by the fall of 2013. This tough time also afforded us the opportunity, the freedom if you will, to explore much of Pennsylvania as well as get involved in a few local community organizations. It was during this time when I became both a Rotarian (former President Elect) and a Mason (currently serving my second year as Secretary). And given the monotony of the hourly position I held, I was also able to start a daily blog, Time To Keep It Simple, to which I continue posting on a daily basis. Finally, it gave us the time to explore our roots as we worked to pull together the dispersed details of our family trees and finding out where we come from and exploring the details of each generation. Again, this is something that we still enjoy doing when we have the time.

There are a lot of other things that have happened in the 10 years since I walked through the door of Trexler Hall one final time but I have already written more than you were probably expecting to read (if you even made it this far). So I will end things rather simply. Today, my wife and I are doing our best to enjoy every minute that we have with our eight month old son. We live a bit further from the city than our previous places of residence, but we are still close enough to see our families on a regular basis. We are busy, sometimes too much so, but we are happy. It has been a busy decade but I am sure it will pale in comparison to the decade that is unfolding before us.

Alumni Updates

They even changed the logo within the past 10 years. 

Over the past several months I have been receiving regular communications from my Alma mater, Endicott College. Since it has now been a decade since I graduated from the New England school, the alumni association is obviously ramping up efforts to bring everyone back for the ten year reunion. While the emails and mailings have been plentiful to the point of becoming borderline annoying, it has at least been a welcomed change from the frequent request for donations.

Obviously, with all the changes that have happened recently and the plans that we have already scheduling for the summer month, we will not be driving up to Massachusetts and the beautiful coastal campus this year. Thankfully, we made the trip just 5 years ago for our one year anniversary and so I was at least able to show my wife were I spent four years of my life. At some point we will bring our son up there and show him around too.

While I may not be able to attend, that doesn’t mean that I cannot reconnect (or in some cases connect) with many of those who finished their undergraduate experience the same day I did. In-between correspondences from the college, I got an email from a former classmate addressed to all of those a decade removed from their North Shore education. It was an invitation to offer an update and share it with everyone included on the email chain. While I didn’t know many of other students beyond the classroom, preferring the poets and professors around me, it has been interesting reading many of the updates.

It is interesting to read where people have ended up and the experiences that they have had since leaving college. While not nearly as interesting as those I have read but, so far, more interesting than those who have yet to write anything, I look forward to sharing my own update at some point within the next week. Basically, it all boils down to a simple timeline since that warm May day: published a book (and other pieces in magazines), graduate school, conversion, met my wife and got married, various jobs, moving to various places, writing, lodge, and starting a family. I think that pretty much covers everything.

So now that I have a basic template all I need to do is find the time to write the email. Of course, that will have to wait until I get over the fact that it has already been 10 years when the memories of my time there are still so vivid. I guess great memories stay with us longer than we realize.

Avoiding Modern Art On The Asphalt

I remember the Salem days!

As the years have passes I have become less and less a fan of the morbid sugar filled celebration that fills this frigid evening. And, as I have said before, while I have a number of memories about this evening when growing up, I can’t recall ever anticipating this day with much fervor as many of the people around me. It was always more of an excuse to be out late at night and get a big bag of candy… given my size when growing up that carried much more weight than it should have. However, one thing I do remember is not being an idiot like many of the kids around me by running into the street despite the headlights.

Over the years, both in my maturation and my growing devotion to my faith (albeit in a variety of different ways), the minimal enthusiasm that I had for the day has dwindled to the point of complete indifference to the day. Honestly, the most that I have celebrated this day is in the words that I have written on this blog and looking up the history of the day on Wikipedia. For those of you who are also curious, here is a little bit of that listing:

Halloween or Hallowe'en, a contraction of "All Hallows' Evening", also known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve, is a yearly celebration observed in a number of countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It initiates the triduum of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed believers. Within Allhallowtide, the traditional focus of All Hallows' Eve revolves around the theme of using "humor and ridicule to confront the power of death."

According to many scholars, All Hallows' Eve is a Christianized feast initially influenced by Celtic harvest festivals, with possible pagan roots, particularly the Gaelic Samhain. Other scholars maintain that it originated independently of Samhain and has solely Christian roots.

Typical festive Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (or the related "guising"), attending costume parties, decorating, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted house attractions, playing pranks, telling scary stories and watching horror films. In many parts of the world, the Christian religious observances of All Hallows' Eve, including attending church services and lighting candles on the graves of the dead, remain popular, although in other locations, these solemn customs are less pronounced in favor of a more commercialized and secularized celebration. Because many Western Christian denominations encourage, although most no longer require, abstinence from meat on All Hallows' Eve, the tradition of eating certain vegetarian foods for this vigil day developed, including the consumption of apples, colcannon, cider, potato pancakes, and soul cakes.

So, for those of you that enjoy this day (especially the night) have a blast. Just don’t dart out into the street without looking as I have already come too close to making modern art on the asphalt in recent years. As for me, I think I will wait for Purim to dress up and ask strangers for candy.

Oh, The Places I’ve Been!

I was flipping through the channels on the television during my shift this morning and came across a couple of travel shows. I can’t remember the names of them but that is really unimportant at this point. Seeing the images roll across the screen began to jog my memory and I started thinking about all the places I’ve lived over the years and all the places I have seen throughout my travels.

The list remained as simply a thought and it may have stayed that way if I didn’t come across a similar discussion question in a networking group invite asking about where I have lived. I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to make it to the meeting so I decided to respond with some of the places I have called home over the years. That list quickly evolved into a joint venture with the thoughts already floating around in my head.

While I wouldn’t consider myself an extensive traveler, I have been to a number of places throughout the United States and a few places abroad. I have lived in a few places always trying to find somewhere to call home. And while I am not going to go into any details at this point I still wanted to share my list with you. So, here it is. Here are all the places that I can think of in my bleary eyed state.

UNITED STATES (19/50):

·         PENNSYLVANIA – Philadelphia, Longwood Gardens, Harrisburg, Gettysburg, Knoebels, Milford, Delaware Water Gap, Lancaster County, Kutztown (Crystal Cave), Jim Thorpe, Williamsport, New Hope, Gardners (Appalachian Trail Mid Point)

o   Lived In: Bryn Mawr, Chesterbrook, Bala Cynwyd

·         MASSACHUSETTS – Boston, Newburyport, Haverhill, Worcester, North Adams

o   Lived In: Beverly, Salem

·         VERMONT – Brattleboro, Montpelier, Burlington, Stowe

o   Lived In: Northfield

·         NEW JERSEY – Highland Park, New Brunswick, Teaneck

o   Lived In: Ocean City, Metuchen

·         NEW YORK – New York / Manhattan, Niagara Falls (supposedly, I don’t remember)

o   Lived In: Brooklyn

·         NEW HAMPSHIRE – Portsmouth, Nashua, Londonderry

·         ROAD ISLAND – Warwick

·         CONNECTICUT – Hartford, West Hartford

·         DELAWARE – Wilmington, Dover

·         VIRGINIA – Natural Bridge, Virginia Beach, Williamsburg, Lexington, Lynchburg, Winchester,

·         MARYLAND – Baltimore

·         GEORGIA – Milledgeville, Americus

·         FLORIDA – Orlando, Kissimmee / Disney World, Key West, Daytona Beach, Miami, Winter Park

·         TEXAS – San Antonio

·         ILLINOIS – Chicago

·         MICHIGAN – Grand Rapids

·         CALIFORNIA – San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Ojai

·         WASHINGTON – Seattle, Bainbridge Island

·         MISSOURI – St. Louis, Fort Leonard Wood (Fort Lost in the Woods)

·         DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

·         NORTH CAROLINA

o   Drive through

·         SOUTH CAROLINA

o   Drive through

·         WEST VIRGINIA

o   Drive through

·         MAINE

o   Drive through

ISLANDS:

·         PUERTO RICO – San Juan

·         US VIRGIN ISLANDS

·         BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS

·         NETHERLANDS ANTILLES

·         SAINT MARTIN

·         BERMUDA – Hamilton

·         ARUBA

EUROPE:

·         UNITED KINGDOM – London

·         GERMANY – Munich, Olympic Park

MIDDLE EAST:

·         ISRAEL – Jerusalem, Dead Sea, Tel Aviv

o   Lived In: Jerusalem

That is the simple list of the places I’ve lived in, visited, and driven through. As I said before, not huge but I also wouldn’t consider myself sheltered. Please let me know if you would like to hear about any of the places I’ve visited or lived in. If you let me know you’re interested I will be sure to write about it in a future post.

So where have you lived? What places have you visited? Do you have any favorites?

Where Were You?

Twelve years ago today I stumbled out of bed and, without turning on my computer or the television, slowly made my way to my first Tuesday morning class. At the time, I was a student at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts and the early September weather made it difficult to keep progressing in the direction of the Academic building. The walk seemed a bit unusual as there were not as many students out and about as I was expecting. That thought didn’t last for long as is it could have been explained by the simple fact that it was an early class.   

I walked into the academic building and did notice out of the corner of my eye that a building was on fire but I didn’t give it a second thought as I didn’t pay attention to the location or reports that were scrolling across the silent screen. Still groggy, I finished my morning journey and settled into a seat waiting for others to arrive. About 15 minutes later every student was accounted for and the quick picture from the television passed to the back of my mind.

The discussion was opened up as soon as the young professor entered the room. We were all a little thrown off as the majority of us had stumbled our way into the classroom paying little attention to the things happening around us. Within a few minutes we were brought up to date as to the latest theories and assumptions. We were wide awake and ready to head out the door within 15 minutes of the class starting. There was little the school could do to keep us in class.

Some students ran out the door while other stayed in their seats with a flood of thoughts running through their minds and passed their eyes. I guess you could say I was in the middle. I slowly packed my things up as I was trying to remember if my dad had an appointment in New York that day. That thought was still running through my mind as I walked down the hall and into the entryway where I looked back up at the television I had passed about 20 minutes earlier. As soon as my eyes met the screen the second plane hit.

This is what I remember seeing when I turned to look at the screen.

As soon as I saw the ring of fire wrap around the tower, I pulled my cell phone (which I had just gotten a month prior) and called home. I don’t know how but the call went through. Everyone was home, everyone was okay, and everyone was glued to the television as I could hear Peter Jennings’ voice in the background.

Once I knew my family was safe at home I started walking back to my dorm but I soon found myself not wanting to go back to my room and just sit in front of the television. Instead I made my way to the administration building, walked around the side, and sat out back looking over the water at Salem on the opposite coast. For many the planes hitting the towers is the memory that will never fade from their mind but for me that it just one of the imaged emblazoned on my gray matter. One of the other images is the fighter jet which came screaming down the coast low enough that I could see the details on the mask of the pilot.

It was at that point when the gravity of the morning truly set in and I knew it was time that I went back to my room and attempt to find out what was happening. Flipping between the channels I stopped tapping the numbers on the remote just as the camera followed the men and women falling to their deaths. While I will always remember the plane flying into the building and the jets screaming over head, I will forever be haunted by the sight of people jumping out of the windows and falling between the floating sheets of paper.

The rest of the day was a blur as friends and classmates ran from one building to another and one phone to another while trying to make sense of the day. By the time we went to sleep no one had made sense of the day and no one would. All we could do was hope that tomorrow would be better than today.