ABSILVER's World

  Another First Father’s Day. 58 years ago, around this date, I celebrated my first Father’s Day. I don’t remember that one as I was about seven months old. This one is my first Father’s Day since my Dad passed, and there is much to share about my Dad. June is sort of my Dad’s month. It starts with his and my Mom’s anniversary, which would have been their 64th anniversary. There is, of course, Father’s Day, and then his birthday was June 24th. So, June this year has many dates to remember my Dad. That said, I am diverted to memories from yesterday evening. I was going to Savannah to see my Mom, my sister, and my family and to “check” in. I was lucky to find a reasonably priced flight from Longview, Texas. The only airline to choose is American. To say that American Airlines didn’t show their best service yesterday is an understatement, especially in the last leg of my journey out of Charlotte, but that is not the point of this Father’s Day. After a few delays and odd gate changes

I have a secret to share. There are times I have had a few of them to keep quiet.   There was a time at a business meeting outside of Atlanta, near the big chicken, when admitting that I was Jewish didn't seem like a good idea. Or the time driving through Knoxville when the radio in my rental was stuck on a station that was speaking about the subsequent civil war and the white people will rise again. There are numerous times in conversations for work, in particular, where the comments about partners come up, and you wonder if they know I am talking about Frank, and I wonder about others on the call. It doesn't seem necessary to describe my life and family, but I sometimes feel like one toe is in the closet without explaining more about my life.   But today, my confession is a bit sarcastic and a bit serious. You see, Frank and I live in East Texas. No, that is not the confession, although, as a Gay Jew, it might be. We get up and do some very odd things. See, we have a cat and

It is a random Sunday in Longview, Texas.  The weather this April has been odd.  One day it feels closer to summer, and then days like today, you could mistake it for a cool fall day, except for all the green leaves.  We woke up this morning to 53-degree weather, and going down to 45 tonight.  Instead of leaving early for a long walk on a Sunday, it was a bit wet.  I spent the early part of the morning unloading the dishwasher, making coffee, and starting a load of laundry.   Not a bad way to start the morning, as yesterday was a day for cooking as we were entertaining the family yesterday evening.  We are very lucky with Frank's sister Jennifer and brother-in-law Greg around the corner, his Mom a few steps further, and his sister Leslie, maybe 15 minutes away.  Jennifer and Greg have a great back porch, and we have enjoyed a few beers and dinners at their home of late, and it was definitely past our turn to have the family over.  Also, after so many months of back and forth to Sav

  When I was a child. My Grandpa would walk to synagogue on Saturday, Shabbos, morning. Their house was a block or two from ours. If you went to synagogue (Shul), and walked with Grandpa, you also got to have lunch with him and Granny at their house. I loved walking with Grandpa and talking about the world. His advice and stories, like the time he explained to me, he couldn’t understand smoking. Even as a young man, the idea of sucking smoke out of something burning to him didn’t seem wise. He was also a great company for me at Shul. I remember how it was pleasant to be with him. He made me feel special and treated me more like an adult. While the other kids ran around the social hall, I only wanted to sit next to him. At first, he wanted me to be more social and would ask me to go to Junior congregation where the kids prayed. But, eventually, he figured out my secret. I just wanted to be there with him. It was a great treat to walk home with him and usually Mr. Rotkow. We would get to

Top Ten Random Thoughts from the trail for 2023 from Longview, Texas As I start my 58th year on this planet, I have been trying to come up with something meaningful to write about and came up with a top ten list of things I learned or interested me in 2022. 1) I still don't care about the Kardashians. I don't get celebrity culture. It used to be you accomplished something or had a talent for the arts, but today the real accomplishment is being a celebrity. Whether you are an "influencer" online, Paris Hilton, or a Kardashian, this is true. I admire them because they have turned their celebrity into billions of dollars, but only for fleeting moments. 2) I made pizza for the first time.  I did a cast iron pan pizza as I don't have a pizza stone or a "pizza" oven. It came out well because my mother-in-law took leftovers home, which is a two-thumbs up for me.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-srfPL5CWZs 3) Best macaroni and cheese recipe is from the one and

I sit here the Sunday after my birthday. For the record, my birthday last Friday was a low-key, rainy day in Longview and ended with an early dinner at a very nice restaurant in Tyler, TX ( Culture ETX ).  Usually, on my birthday, I hide from social media and as many places as possible so the day passes quietly and we move on to the following year.  Dinner was wonderful, and we were back home by 7 PM.  I walked DaisyBelle, who seemed concerned that we had missed her walk and supper, normally a 5 pm walk and dinner. Friday morning, I went for a long walk.  As I looked back on year 57, there were some highlights.  I started a new job with TekMonks and learned that the people are even better than the products and services.  TekMonks products and services are unique, and there is great potential to lead in a cloud-centered technology world, and I look forward to year 58 being a great success. I also have learned to appreciate and enjoy Longview, Texas and the more leisurely pace.  Longview

I was in my 20s in Fort Lauderdale and coming to terms with being a gay male in a society that was slowly accepting gay people.  At a time when HIV and AIDs was a death sentence, and people were afraid of just standing close to others like me.  It was a gay bar or two that made me realize I was not alone.  One of my favorites was the Hideaway.  As the name connotates, it was hidden. You had to know where it was. In those days, there were several gay bars in Fort Lauderdale, but they were all quite hidden as I look back.  You had to know where they were. What were they? They were places for gay people to be together and, yes feel safe. Today, in Fort Lauderdale, no more Hideaways as the gay bars are all "out," and many are on the strip of Wilton Manors.  Gay people, straight people, and people of all kinds enjoy hanging out and openly enjoying each other's company.  If you have ever been to Wilton Manors for Halloween or a Pride parade, you would think the world is a toler