Anniversaries

Shortly after we moved to LA SMS and I saw an actor at the Whole Foods in our neighborhood. I couldn't quite place him, but he struck me as the guy that would have played the the jock or the bully in a high school show years ago. He was sort of bulky and blond with a mole on his face. I thought he was maybe in Back to the Future, or Stand by Me (one of the guys that stole the hat), or possibly a KEG in 90210. As you may have seen, I keep a running list of "star sightings" in the lower right and corner of this blog, so I felt the need to identify this guy. I looked around on-line but I couldn't figure out who he was.

I mentioned this to Mr. Happy when we saw him a few weeks ago and his response was "Was it Tony Miller - Brenda's prom date?"

I looked at him in astonishment, not necessarily because he named the guy, because I had no idea if that was the guy I saw at Whole Foods, but because he could call up the name of Brenda's prom date without a second thought.

This morning, because I don't sleep, I looked up Brenda's prom date and in fact, that was the guy we saw in Whole Foods. My brother is a crazy genius and still 90210's biggest fan ever.

This is a picture of Mr. Happy in a bolo tie with Brandon's haircut before Brandon had it:


Today my brother leaves for a week in New Orleans to commemorate the 2nd anniversary of Katrina. Please read about his first trip here and see his photos from that trip here.

The 29th of August is actually the anniversary of two other important dates in my life, my wedding in 2004 and the day I learned my dad was sick in 2005, the same exact day as Katrina.

Shortly after learning my dad was sick I returned to Pittsburgh to clean out the basement of his house - unrelated to his illness he was already planning to downsize to an apartment nearby and my trip had been scheduled before I knew about his illness. As I sat in the basement of the house in which I grew up (my parents and Mr. Happy had move in before I was born) going through the contents of my childhood, I watched Anderson Cooper's coverage of New Orleans. I was horrified by what I saw, but also by what I was experiencing.

I knew that what was happening in New Orleans was far more traumatic for far more people than what I was going through, but everything is relative. My parents had split shortly before my wedding the year before; I was losing my childhood home and my father was very sick. Somehow, watching mother nature rip apart an entire city was a pretty good visual for what was happening in my heart.

When my dad died three months later we chose to have contributions made in his name to Habitat for Humanity. It was my brother's idea and a good one. For me, my father's illness and death will always be tied to Hurricane Katrina. As the world moves on more catastrophes (and blessings) happen. Habitat and organizations like it still need help. Please, as the media coverage this week will most likely be sensational (as it will in two weeks surrounding September 11th) think about ways to help. Don't get bogged down in the hype, don't get complacent or desensitized. There are little tragedies every day and if you are in a position to do something about it, please do.

Me, Cohen Sr. and Mr. Happy circa 1975.