Jerry D

Oh I definitely will! You can buy frozen knishes in a store and bake them in the oven and a few places sell bagels here, but not salt bagels. Eating a salt bagel is like eating a pretzel. It's so good! I've also heard that there's something about the water in New York and New Jersey that makes the bagels taste better there than anywhere else.

jediwands

Sounds delicious! I had a bagel in NYC and thought it was super good. Certainly unlike the bagels I've had outside of NYC. I've never had a knish before. Cleveland has a large Jewish population (the rest of Ohio does not) but the areas they live in are very separate. I grew up in a Polish Catholic neighborhood with Italian neighborhoods not far away. I grew up eating Polish, Slovak, and Italian food. Minnesota doesn't have a large Jewish population.

Jerry D

That's neat!

When my mother lived in The Bronx growing up, the neighborhood she lived in was mostly German (she was mostly of German descent) but there was also a lot of Jewish people in one part of her neighborhood, and they lived on what was then the most elegant street in the Bronx, called the Grand Concourse.

My father was from an Irish neighborhood in Manhattan, and when my parents got married they moved to an Irish neighborhood in The Bronx, and then we moved to Fair Lawn in 1969.

Teresa grew up in a part of Houston that was and still is mostly Jewish. She even worked in a synagogue when she first got out of High School as a bookkeeper. The area of Houston that she grew up in has stayed nice, unlike many other areas of Houston. We don't really go back there anymore because it's over an hour away and her parents have passed away, but we used to stock up on some good Jewish food, like blintzes and knishes, when we used to go there to visit her parents. Her parents were divorced but they had a cordial relationship so we would go to her mother's house on birthdays and holidays and her father lived in an apartment in the area so we would go visit him sometimes.

jediwands

That’s great.

How old were Teresa’s parents when they passed away? How incredibly interesting both of you had close interaction with Jewish people/culture and neither of you are Jewish. Isn’t that amazing? Lol.

My mom was born and raised in Western Pennsylvania about 30 minutes from Pittsburgh. They moved to Cleveland when my mom was a senior in high school. Some of her sisters were already in Cleveland. My mom didn’t want to go. She was considering staying behind and living with an aunt and uncle (she was best friends with her cousin). In the end she moved to Cleveland with my Grandparents and her brother. Within one month of being in Cleveland, she met my dad and the rest is history

How long were you in Houston before you met Teresa?

Jerry D

Teresa's parents both died in 2005, about 6 weeks apart from each other. Her father was 78 and her mother was 75.

Yes, it is pretty amazing! Our neighbors were Jewish and I was friends with the son and daughter and two years ago, when Teresa and I went to Hilton Head South Carolina we visited the daughter and it was great to catch up with her.

That's a really nice story. I remember when one of your e-mail address had Cleveland Western PA in it. My parents met at an engagement party. Her best friend was getting married to my father's first cousin and they met at their engagement party, and they got engaged six months after they met and they got married a year after that in 1953. They were married for 37 years when my mother passed away.

We met a year after I moved to Houston. I had already moved to my first house in Sugar Land Texas when we met. I lived in an apartment in Houston for a year, but I decided to buy a house and I moved into my house in April of 1990. I was in the process of moving when my mother passed away. We worked for the same company but we didn't really come into contact with each other at work because I worked on the first floor and she worked on the second floor and our jobs were unrelated (I was in sales/engineering and she was in accounting) but we met at a Happy Hour that my work had. It was a few weeks after my mother passed away and someone told Teresa to talk to me because I had just lost my mother, so she did and we hit it off and we started dating. This was in 1990. We got engaged in 1991 and we got married in May of 1992.

jediwands

6 weeks apart from each other... it must have been so difficult losing both essentially at the same time.

That’s great!

That’s right... now you know why I came up with that e-mail address.

Nice. Did you know your Great Grandparents on either side?

So meant to be. You guys had a similar timeframe as your parents. I assume meeting Teresa really helped you mourn the loss of your mother? I fully believe your mom played a part in helping you meet Teresa. She sort of helped things along.

Jerry D

Yes it was and she also lost her sister that same year.

Yes, they were a really nice family and my father and their father were great friends.

That's wonderful.

I knew my Grandfather on my mother's side (my Grandmother had passed away before I was born) and my Grandmother and Grandfather on my father's side.

Yes, having Teresa helped me to mourn for my mother and I definitely believe my mother played a part in Teresa and I getting together.

jediwands

Wow. How on earth did she get through three big deaths? I couldn't even imagine. I am sure you played a large part in getting her through.

Is he still alive?

That's great.



How's work? Is your boss there?

jediwands

Buddy is presently at the Groomer. We take him to a woman who has a business right out of her own home... a little shop connected to her house. He's only about 2 miles away. The Groomer is 1/2 mile from my sister's house.

Anyway, he'll be home at 11. I love this day but also hate this day. Love it because it's hot outside (or our version of hot, not Houston hot!) so he'll feel so much better after the cut. But hate it because he's sensitive and always takes anywhere from 12-24 hours to get over being at her place. He always seems fatigued, quiet, and not happy we take him there and he lets us know for a day.

Jerry D

It was hard, but we got through it together.

Yes he is.

I miss them all, along with my parents.



It's going okay and yes he is.

jediwands

Will you visit him? Where does he live now?



He didn't take a day to work from home?

Jerry D

He lives in South Carolina now near his daughter. I'm not sure when we would go there again.

Nope!

jediwands

I see.

Wow. That is so ridiculous. Does upper management care do you think? I mean, a case can be made he's not following the new rules.

jediwands

Really weird severe weather here today. It wasn’t even predicted. My dad left for his treatment and 30 minutes later the TV is beeping with a severe thunderstorm warning... suddenly it got super dark and winds were strong. Buddy hates his cut, he’s tired then the sirens go off. He’s on high alert. Winds were super strong but hardly any rain. 30-some minutes later the sun was out again. Sara was home alone and a tree across their street split in two, she looked out the window and saw the tree split live. My dad said it got dark at the clinic (which is 5 miles from home) but no winds. My sister was working in Minneapolis and said they had sunshine all morning and afternoon.

Jerry D

They wouldn't care.

I have to work this weekend because my boss dumped a bid off on me today that's due Monday. Some things never change.