Author Archives: Marilyn Shapiro

About Marilyn Shapiro

After thirty five years in education, I have retired and am free to pursue my lifelong dream of becoming a freelance writer. Inspired by my mother, who was the family historian, I am writing down my family stories as well as publishing stories my mother wrote down throughout her life. Please feel free to comment and share.

Yiddish ta’am and chutzpadik shticks: Carl Topilow

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As we have done since our Mountain Girl was born in 2015, Larry and I are settled into our rental in Summit County, Colorado, to escape the Florida heat and to enjoy family time.

Each summer, we look forward to attending performances of the National Repertory Orchestra (NRO). Eighty young musicians are selected every year through national auditions to perform with the NRO. NRO alumni may be found in countless orchestras both the in the United States and abroad. Along with performances at the Riverwalk Center in Breckinridge, the talented performers take part in free “pop up” concerts offered throughout the county. We have fortunately been able to attend several NRO events throughout our stay.

For the past three years, we have attended the Pops concert, led by conductor, showman, and clarinet player extraordinaire Carl Topilow. Now serving as Conductor Laureate, he was Music Director and Conductor of the NRO for 42 years. In addition to his appearances with the NRO, Topilow is the Founding Conductor and Music Director of the Cleveland Pops Orchestra and has appeared as guest conductor for over 130 orchestras.

Carl Topilow, the son of first-generation Jewish immigrants, grew up in a close-knit, extended family in Bayonne, New Jersey.in Bayonne, New Jersey. His mother Pearl, the daughter of Austrian immigrants, was born on New York City’s Lower East Side. Six of his father Jacob’s eight siblings were born in Russia before the family immigrated to the United States at the turn of the 20th century. His enjoyment and appreciation of his rich family history infuse his performances.

“I’ve been told that even when I play Dixieland or jazz, a Yiddish twang seems to be part of my musical vocabulary,” Topilow shared in a 2025 email. “My eclectic musical tastes include performing Klezmer [the dance-oriented Jewish tradition from Eastern Europe] and traditional Yiddish music. Recognizing the fact that so many of the great Broadway composers were Jewish—Jerome Kern, George and Ira Gershwin, Steven Sondheim, Richard Rodgers, Irving Berlin, Alan Menken, and Jules Styne—to name just a few, is a source of pride”

A 2011 article by Violet Spevack in the Cleveland Jewish News spoke of Topilow’s performances in Jewish venues, including at Yom Kippur services and Sisterhood meetings. “Topilow is endearingly ‘one of us,’” wrote Spevack, “with his Yiddish ta’am (flavor) and chutzpadik (audacious) shticks.” He and his brother and pianist Dr. Arthur Topilow often perform together, including for a July 2016 NRO event that included klezmer music.

On July 8, 2023, Larry and I brought our then eight-year-old granddaughter to her first concert performance, billed as “Topilow Pops.” Before the event, we explained to her about the protocols for the concert: her need to sit quietly, to be attentive, to applaud at the appropriate times, and to avoid any actions that would distract from other concert goers. Outside of asking if there would be a ‘half time’ (she and her father are huge Denver Nuggets fans), our Mountain Girl was well prepared. She even jumped up and yelled, “Bravo” at the end of several numbers. Carl Topilow would be proud of her appreciation for his concert!

The highlight for us came when Topilow included the Shofar sounds into his rendition of Fiddler on the Roof. Tekiah! Teruah! Shevarim! echoed through the concert hall. The audience—especially those well-versed in the sweet sounds heard on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur—clapped their appreciation.

In 2024, Larry and I again attended NRO’s pops concert.Topilow and his iconic red clarinet lead a small line of brass and wind musicians into Riverwalk with a somber rendition of “Just a Closer Walk with Thee,” a gospel song frequently played at New Orleans jazz funerals. Once on stage, he led the orchestra in a rousing “When the Saints Go Marching In.” He showed off his clarinet expertise in the final number, the Cantina theme from John Williams Star Wars soundtrack.

Okay, no traditional Jewish music at this concert. But articles about Star Wars’ link to Judaism fill the internet. In a December 16, 2015, article in the Forward, Seth Rogovoy makes an interesting case for the secret Jewish history of the George Lucas franchise. “You don’t have to be a linguist to figure out that the Jedi knights, who use “the Force”–the spiritual power of good deeds, aka the mitzvot—to do good in their battle with the “Dark Side,” the yetzer hara, or the evil urge within us all, bear the Anglicized name of a Jew. In other words, Jedi = yehudi = Jew.” And did you know that in Hebrew, Yoda means “one who knows”? And who cannot fall to compare Darth Vader and his Storm Troopers to Hitler and his SS? Or the motley ragtag band of heroes as modern day Maccabees? And John Williams’ main movie theme is eerily similar to Czech-born Jewish Hollywood composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s theme to “King’s Row”? (Google it! It’s amazing!) So Carl Topilow may, just may, be delving into his family’s immigrant past when he belts out the music from the Cantina scene on his iconic red clarinet. May the Force be with you, Carl!

Originally published July 20, 2024. Updated May 26, 2025.

Sources

A special thank you to Carl Topilow for his input into the article and for permission to use photos.

Photo courtesy of Carl Topilow. Photographed by Robb McCormick. http://www.carltopilow.com

Farnell, Shauna. “The National Repertory Orchestra presents Disney’s ‘The Lion King’ in Concert Live to Film.” www.nro.org website. July 23, 2023.

NRO website. www.nro.org

Rogovey, Seth. “The Secret Jewish History of Starwars.” The Forward. December 16, 2015.

Spevack, Violet. “Maestro Carl Topilow, Cleveland Pops mark a decade together.” Cleveland Jewish News. October 4, 2011.

Topilow, Carl. www.carltopilow.com

A sister’s promise fulfilled: Eva Geiringer Schloss

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This is an updated version of Eva Geiringer Schloss’s story that was originally published in November 2023.

On June 12, 1942, Anne Frank was given a diary for her thirteenth

birthday. Less than a month later, she and her family went into

hiding from the Nazis. The story of Eva Schloss Geiringer may

not be as well-known as Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. Through a

chance meeting with a passionate New Jersey college educator, however, Eva’s

amazing life of sacrifice, survival, and strength is finally gaining the recognition

it deserves.

On a train to Auschwitz, fifteen-year-old Eva made a promise to her

brother, Heinz Geiringer. If he did not survive the camps, Eva promised to

retrieve the paintings and poetry Heinz hid under the floorboards of his attic

hiding place. The film Eva’s Promise, an important addition to the annals of

Jewish Holocaust history, introduces its audiences to Heinz, his artistry, and

Eva’s efforts to find and share her brother’s remarkable legacy.

Heinz Geiringer and Eva Geiringer Schloss’s Holocaust story is chillingly

parallel to that of their classmates, Margot and Anne Frank. Faced with Hitler’s

rise, Erich, Elfriede (“Fritzi”), and their two children, fled from their home and

comfortable life in Vienna, Austria, and settled in the Netherlands, hoping

its history of neutrality would provide a safe haven. Their worst fears came to

pass when Germany invaded Holland.

“As of 15 May 1940, we were living under Nazi occupation, and we had

nowhere else to go,” Eva recalled in her 2013 memoir After Auschwitz: A Story

of Heartbreak and Survival by the Stepsister of Anne Frank. Soon after, the Nazis

implemented the increasingly harsh measures against the Jews that were part

of their Final Solution. In May 1942, Heinz received orders to report for a

deportation to a Germany factory. That evening, the family went into hiding.

As no place was large enough for four people, they were forced to split up. Erich

and Heinz in one apartment; Fritzi and Eva in another. For Eva, her time was

to be “a mixture of two emotions, utter terror and mind-numbing boredom.”

161Remembrance and Legacy A Sister’s Promise Fulfilled: Eva Geiringer Schloss

Meanwhile, Heinz, having to give up his musical interests, spent his time

painting and writing poetry. “I could hardly believe the detailed and impressive

oil paintings that he showed me,” said Eva, recalling the furtive visits she and

Fritzi made to the men’s apartment. “In one, a young man, like himself, was

leaning his head on the desk in despair. In another, a sailing boat was crossing

the ocean in front of a shuttered window.”

On May 11, 1944, Eva’s fifteenth birthday, the Geiringer family was

captured after being betrayed by a double agent in the Dutch underground.

A train took them on an arduous three-day trip across Europe, in what would

be the last time they would be together as a family.

During their ride, Heinz made Eva promise that if he didn’t survive, she

would retrieve the paintings he had stashed under the floorboards of the house

where he and his father had hidden them. “Please, Eva, please,” Heinz told his

sister. “Go and pick it up and show to the world what I achieved in my short

life.” Eva grudgingly agreed.

When the trains reached the concentration camps, Erich and Heinz

were sent to Auschwitz; Fritzi and Eva, to Birkenau. Through sheer luck and

resourcefulness, Eva and Fritzi survived but were barely alive when Soviet

troops freed them in 1945. “I never gave up hope, or the determination that I

would outlast the Nazis and go on to live the full life that I and all victims of

the Holocaust deserved,” Eva said.

Tragically, Heinz and Erich perished in Ebensee, a subcamp of Mauthausen

following the forced march from Auschwitz that came just before the war

ended. The two women eventually returned to Amsterdam and settled into

their family’s apartment, which had remained untouched.

After the war, Otto Frank, their old neighbor, the only surviving member

of his family and his “Annex” companions, took comfort in visits with Fritzi

and Eva. In 1953, Eva became the posthumous stepsister of Anne Frank when

Otto and Fritzi were married. The couple dedicated the rest of their lives to the

publication and promotion of what would be the world’s most famous diary.

In the meantime, Fritzi and Eva had retrieved Heinz’s work, which included

paintings, a sketchbook, and poems, from his and Erich’s last hiding place. For

many years, Eva and her mother kept the paintings and poems in the family.

Eva eventually moved to London, where she married Zvi Schloss, a German

refugee, raised their three daughters, ran a successful antique store, and quietly

moved on with her life despite her recurring nightmares. It was a few years after

Otto Frank passed away in 1980 that Eva, now in her late fifties, began publicly

sharing her wartime experiences in person and through her memoir, Eva’s

Story: A Survivor’s Tale by the Stepsister of Anne Frank (1988). “As soon as I

started talking, I became calmer and didn’t have nightmares anymore,” she said

in her film Eva’s Promise. During one of her talks in Philadelphia, she shared

Heinz’s work for the first time.

A chance meeting with Susan Kerner led Eva to further expand her audi-

ence. In 1994, Kerner, the education director at the George Street Playhouse

in New Brunswick, New Jersey, directed a production of The Diary of Anne

Frank. Kerner reached out to Ed Silverberg, a friend of Anne Frank’s who

had survived the war by successfully hiding, to talk to the cast about life in

Amsterdam after the invasion.

Around the same time, Young Audiences of NJ reached out to Kerner with

a request to work with a playwright to create a play about Anne Frank to tour

schools. The Anne Frank Center in NYC suggested they create a piece about

two hidden children who survived the Holocaust who had a connection with

the now-famous German author.

“I already knew Ed,” recounted Kerner in a 2023 article in the Jewish

Standard Times of Israel. I wanted a woman, and I wanted her to be a camp

survivor.” They put her in touch with Eva Schloss. George Street Playhouse

commissioned playwright James Still to write the play. The final product, And

Then They Came For Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank, is a gripping

multimedia experience, which combines videotaped interviews with the two

survivors playing behind the actors who portrayed scenes from their lives.

162 163Remembrance and Legacy A Sister’s Promise Fulfilled: Eva Geiringer Schloss

Thirty years later, the play continues to tour around the world.

A lifelong friendship developed between Eva and Kerner, who met peri-

odically. As the success of the play grew, Schloss sold her antique shop and

became a full-time Holocaust educator, traveling in Europe, Asia, and the

United States and participating in talkbacks following performances of the

play in many countries.

More importantly, Eva came to grips with the unfulfilled promise she had

made to her older brother. In 2006, over sixty years after the Holocaust, Eva

gave Heinz’s works to the newly established Het Verzetsmuseum, the Dutch

Resistance Museum in Amsterdam. Soon after, she published her second

memoir, The Promise (2006), followed by her final memoir, After Auschwitz

(2013). She now focused her efforts on preserving Heinz’s’ legacy. “It became

my task that people would remember who he was … and what he achieved,”

Eva said.

As the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the world, Eva realized that she

wanted to do even more to preserve Heinz’s legacy. She reached out to Kerner,

who suggested a documentary film. Kerner recruited Steve McCarthy, her

Montclair State University colleague and an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker,

to direct and coproduce what would become Eva’s Promise. Eva had only two

requests: “Get it done. And hurry.”

Despite the pandemic, the team, which now included McCarthy’s two

sons, flew to London to tape twelve hours of interviews with Schloss. They also

interviewed the staff of the Amsterdam museum that houses Heinz’s work.

The film was completed in 2022.

Kerner and McCarthy worked tirelessly and without pay to produce

the film. Screenings took place across the United States, including a show-

ing at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley,

California. Kerner hopes that the documentary can be used as an educational

tool to counteract the recent dramatic rise of antisemitism as a result of the

Gaza–Israeli War. In 2024, she and McCarthy tested the film in a school with

eleven- to thirteen-year-old children. “The kids were very engaged and had

lots of thoughtful comments and questions,” said Kerner.

Beginning in 2024, Eve’s Promise has been presented on 17 PBS stations.

The film has been screened in film festivals, museums, JCCs, synagogues, and

theaters. Several colleges have included it in course curricula, and the film is

beginning to get adopted in secondary schools. Eva’s Promise was presented

at an Anne Frank exhibit in Columbus, Ohio, in February 2025. The Heinz

Geiringer story, including his poems and paintings, will be featured in an

upcoming New York State Holocaust resource guide along with a clip of the

film. Kerner envisions the resource guide will lead to greater national and even

international exposure.

Until recently, Eva continued her active involvement in Holocaust educa-

tion and advocacy. She has spoken around the world, with a special place in her

heart for her meetings with schoolchildren. She was part of the 2018 campaign

to convince Mark Zuckerberg to ban Holocaust deniers from Facebook,

and she is prominently featured in the Ken Burns 2022 documentary, The

U.S. and the Holocaust. In January 2023, Eva attended the screening of Eva’s

Promise at JW3, a Jewish community center in London. Now nearing her

ninety-sixth birthday, she has stepped back to rest and is enjoying time with

her first great-grandchild. Her grandson Eric, who is featured in the film, now

shares her work.

Before they were forced into hiding, Eva’s father Erich gave his children

the following advice: “I promise you this, everything you do leaves something

behind; nothing gets lost. All the good you have accomplished will continue in

the lives of the people you have touched. It will make a difference to someone,

somewhere, sometime, and your achievements will be carried on.”

Through her books, her films, and her tireless work in Holocaust educa-

tion and advocacy, Eva Schloss has not only kept her promise to her brother

Heinz but also has made the memory of the six million and all who have been

subjected to hatred a blessing and an inspiration.

Please contact Susan Kerner at kerners@montclair.edu for information on showing “Eva’s Promise” in your community. The film’s website is https://ryanreddingtonmcca.wixsite.com/evaspromise.

Filming Eva’s Promise in London. Seated: Eric Schloss, Eva Geiringer Schloss. Standing: Susan Kerner, Steve McCarthy, Justin McCarthy, and Ryan McCarthy.

Eva and Heinz in Amsterdam before they went into hiding.

PHOTO CREDITS:

Photograph of production team and Eva and Heinz in Amsterdam courtesy of Susan Kerner and Eva Schloss.

Photograph of Eva Schloss : John Mathew Smith and http://www.celebrity-photos.com.“Colonel Zadok Magruder High School.” August 10, 2010. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eva_Schloss_5.jpg 

A seventeen-year-old’s powerful stand against hate

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One million paper clips are piled high on black construction paper on the stage, lit by a spotlight. Above it, the flickering black and white film of Jews walking to their deaths in a Nazi concentration camp is being shown on a theater-sized screen. And standing in front of the stage is the seventeen-year-old Edgewater High School (EHS), Florida, senior who orchestrated this scene, along with several other exhibits that make a powerful stand against antisemitism and many hate.

The first thing you notice about Adam Mendelsohn is his hair. Standing at six feet tall, Mendelsohn adds another two inches with his wild dark brown curls, complimented with a gray yarmulke perched in the back. As the organizer of the January 9, 2025, Hate Ends Nowcommunity event, Adam radiates a confidence and maturity that is unusual in such a young man.

The previous summer, Adam had attended a meeting of the local Jewish Student Union (JSU). Founded in 2002, the organization oversees 200 Jewish culture clubs on public high school campuses to provide Jewish teens with programs that strengthen their Jewish identity and connection to Israel. On that day, Rabbi Daniel Nabatian, the co-director of the Central Florida branch, encouraged the students to make an impact—no matter how small—to fight against the rising wave of antisemitism that had gripped the world since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Adam was determined to bring the JSU message to Edgewater High School students and staff. Following up on his memory of a similar exhibit, he contacted Hate Ends Now, a nonprofit whose mission is to combat hatred and indifference by educating people about the history of the Holocaust and all forms of bigotry. The organization offered not only artifacts from the Holocaust but also an exact replica of a World War Two-era cattle car that was used to transport Jews and other targeted groups to concentration and death camps. A twenty-minute, 360 degree immersive presentation offers an impactful educational experience. With the support of Dr. Alex Jackson, Edgewater’s principal, and his assistant, Valerie Lopez, Adam worked with Todd Cohn, the CEO of the nonprofit, schedule the event in Orlando for January 9, 2025.

Adam then started a fundraising campaign to pay for the cattle car and other expenses. Thanks to the generosity of many donors, including the Ginsberg Family Foundation and Massey Services, the seventeen-year-old raised over $30,000, enough to cover most of the expenses.

Adam’s next step was to contact local organizations whose mission aligned with the core values of the event to sign on. Participants included the Jewish Student Union (JSU); Chabad C-Teen; Shalom Orlando, the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida; the Anti-Defamation League, and Central Florida Pledge, a network of community members in Florida who stand up against discrimination and hate.

Adam now began the search for a Holocaust survivor. Jasmine Flores, the community relations manager for the Greater Orlando Massey Services, connected Adam with Ludwig (Lou) Ziemba, an 82-year-old Kissimmee resident, through her involvement in Maitland Rotary. Ziemba was born in the Lodz Ghetto on September 9, 1942, one day before 13,000 children under ten were to be sent to an extermination camp. Arrangements were made for the infant to be hidden in a garbage truck and smuggled outside the Ghetto where a Christian Polish farmer retrieved him and took him home to be raised as his own. Miraculously, his parents survived and were able to retrieve their “hidden child” when they were freed three years later.

The paper clip exhibit was a last-minute miraculous addition to the event. On Sunday, through a conversation with Beth Landa, Ziemba’s wife, Adam learned about Paper Clips, a documentary that highlighted the 1998 efforts of middle school students from Whitwell, Tennessee, to collect six million paper clips representing the six million Jews killed by the Nazis. According to Wikipedia, at last count, over 30 million paper clips had been received.

A preliminary research of the documentary compelled Adam to see if he could locate a low-cost source of paper clips. The manufacturing plant of Bulk Office Supplies was in Tampa, but was closed for the weekend. Undeterred, he located the name of the founder and owner of the company, Alex Minzer, on Facebook. Encouraged by Minzer’s “Never Again,” hat, Adam messaged him; Minzer answered almost immediately. Alex Minzer had sold the company to Levi Haller, who was currently in Jerusalem. Alex helped connect Adam with a wholesaler in Tampa who would provide the paper clips at cost – and later that same day Levi Haller reached out to Adam to say that decided that Bulk Office Supply would donate the 1 million paper clips, inspired as he was by the project’s mission and Adam’s passion.

Next problem: how would the paper clips get from Tampa to Edgewater in time? Fortunately, Adam’s father Jason was returning from a business trip on Florida’s west coast on Wednesday. Adam quickly did the math, his favorite subject, to confirm all the boxes would fit into his father’s car. All good! The clips were successfully delivered at one o’clock, only 28 hours before the event was scheduled to open.

Adam and a group of student volunteers began the tedious task of opening the 10,000 small boxes of 100 paper clips and piling them onto a 7X7 foot square of construction paper that had been placed on the stage in the school’s auditorium. When the school day ended at 2 pm, Adam stayed on, working alone and then with his father, until 8 pm. “When I left, I looked at the pile and despaired,” said Adam. “I had no idea how the project could be completed.”

Adam returned to EHS the next morning at 5 am. By school opening, the whole student body was aware of the urgency to finish the job. “It was crazy!” Adam said. “Students were rotating in and out of the auditorium to provide help over the next several hours.” The pile was completed at 1 pm, twenty-four hours after the initial delivery. “I now hate paper clips,” Adam said with a laugh.

At five pm, the doors opened to the public. Over 500 people attended the three-hour event. They perused the display tables, munched sandwiches provided by Kosher Grill, listened intently to Ziemba, looked over the chilling artifacts on the Hate Ends Now tables, sat in the quiet auditorium to contemplate the million paper clips, and, at scheduled times, viewed the powerful immersive presentation in the cattle car parked just outside Edgewater’s entrance.

Dignitaries included United States Representative Maxwell Frost, Florida State Representative Anna Eskamani, staffers sent on behalf of Senator Rick Scott and United States Representative Darren Soto, and members of the EHS school board.

“This is an incredibly powerful experience,” said Frost. “I believe that every high school student should have the opportunity to witness the horrors of this tragic time in world history through such exhibits. This event serves as a reminder that when we lead with love, we can stop hate in all forms and make sure this type of history never repeats itself.”

Todd Cohn also commented on Adam’s project. “It’s rare to see such a young individual take on such a meaningful project with this level of commitment,” the Hate Ends Now CEO. “He made a lasting impact not only on us but on everyone who experienced the exhibit. Adam is a shining example of how one person can make a big difference.

Ziemba found sharing his story with a large and diverse audience to be exhilarating. Despite his history, Ziemba still believes love will prevail.

“Try to accept people,” Ziemba told Orlando’s Spectrum Cable News reporter Sasha Teman. “I know I grew up loving people, and I still love people.”

Adam is grateful to all involved in making the project a success. He also plans on sharing the message with him beyond high school “Barriers which prevent love and peace can be destroyed by understanding that we are all the same,” he said. “I plan on carrying the torch of compassion, acceptance and tolerance throughout my life.” And the one million paper clips? Plans are underway for the clips to be gathered in a lucite case with signage that will be placed in the Edgewater High School’s entrance hall. Adam’s hope to make a difference and to combat hate of all kinds will now be his lasting legacy.

Originally published January 25, 2025. Updated May 26, 2026

Those who wish to make a contribution to Hate Ends Now in honor of Adam Mendelsohn and his project, please click here.

All photos provided courtesy of Cara Dezso

Running for Katie Revisited

Ratted out..

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No, we didn’t have Santa Claus come down our chimney last year. First of all, we don’t HAVE a chimney. And, being Jewish, Santa doesn’t usually visit our home anyway. Instead, as we awaited the first night of Hanukah, which fell on Christmas Day this year (for only the fourth time in the last 100 years and the first time since 2005), we had another not-so-lovely visitor to our home.

The week before the holiday, while driving our Kia Sportage, Larry and I noticed that the windshield wiper fluid wasn’t coming out when we tried to access it. A check under the hood showed what we had thought. The holding tank was completely out of the fluid.

“That’s weird!” Larry said. “This car is not even three months old! I don’t understand why we’re already out of fluid.”

Later that week, my brother Jay came for a visit. That evening, Larry and I drove Jay and our two friends to Calogera’s, an Italian pizzeria in Lake Alfred. After consuming delicious gourmet pizzas (Hot Honey! Formaggi! Artichoke!), we piled back into the car for our ride home.

As soon as Larry turned on the car, we all noticed a definite aroma, and it certainly wasn’t coming from the boxed leftover pizza. As a matter of fact, it smelled HORRIBLE! Turning on the fan only made it worse. Despite the colder-than-usual-for-Florida temperatures, we opened up the windows and made it back to our friends’ house to drop them off.. They just didn’t depart…they dashed out faster than Santa’s reindeer.

When we got home, the three of us checked the inside and outside of the car for the problem. A mouse nest under the hood? An animal stuck in the wheels? Rotting fish we had accidentally left in the trunk from our recent shopping trip? To paraphrase Shakespeare, “Something is rotten in the town of Kissimmee,” but we were unable to find the source.

First thing the next morning, Larry and Jay took the Sportage through the car wash that included under carriage treatment. The odor wasn’t any better. The next day, Larry called the dealership for an appointment We would be dropping off the car on Christmas Eve, December 24.

On Saturday, Jay, Larry, and I met friends for a concert at Bok Tower Gardens. As we waited for the concert to begin, we told the friends we planned to meet—fortunately they hadn’t ask us for a ride—our stinky saga.

“We think it’s a dead animal caught up in the car,” I told our friend Teri.

“Gee, I hope it’s not a cat!” said Teri, who loves felines and even volunteers at a Cat Cafe.

“Whatever it is or was, it obviously didn’t have nine lives” I quipped.

Early Tuesday morning, I followed Larry in the Sportage over to the Kia dealership. Tyler, the manager, opened up the car door and was immediately hit with the stench of rotten flesh. Yes, we had no windshield wiper fluid because the hose connecting it was chewed up.

“Looks like an animal got into the car,” he said. “You’ll need to leave it here so we can find the animal and check for other possible damage.

An hour after we left, Tyler called us to give us the bad news. The mechanic had found a dead rat—a HUGE dead rat— stuck in the air conditioning unit. And there was more bad news. Before succumbing, the rat had chewed through more than the windshield washer tube. They would call us when the car was fixed and they were confident that the odor had been totally eRATicated. Err, I meant eradicated.

On Thursday afternoon, Larry and I got into our second car to pick up the Sportage. As we were pulling out of the driveway, Larry clicked the lever to wash the windows. No fluid was coming out. As Yogi Berra said, “It’s déjà vu all over again!” Had the rat gotten into both cars?

Tyler met us as soon as we pulled into the service port. It seemed our car was cause célèbre. The poor mechanic, despite wearing an industrial-strength mask, had almost lost his Christmas cookies while removing the eight-inch corpse. Maintaining his sense of humor, he had taken a picture of the dead rat, photoshopped a “Merry Christmas” sticker on it, and shared the picture with the entire service department and beyond.* Yes, they had seen rat damage. But ours won the prize for the biggest one ever seen in the dealership.

Meanwhile, a check under the hood of the other car confirmed our worst fears. The rat had obviously frolicked in that car before making its way into my Sportage. After leaving the second car for another couple of days, our garage soon housed both rat-free vehicles.

As I had been doing over the past week, I texted everyone who had been following our rat story with the latest updates. Responses included the usual “Oh no!” “Ugh” “Crazy!” and my favorite, “Happy Ratkanukkah!” I offered to share the picture captured by the mechanic, but only my brother and my son-in-law Sam took the bait.

“It looks like a children’s stuffy,” said Sam.

“Yes it does,” I said. “Just don’t tell that to your stuffy-loving daughter!”

Through a Google search, Larry and I learned that our experience was not uncommon. “Rats love car engines because they provide warmth, shelter, and food-like soy-based wiring in modern cars,” a pest control website explained. Suggestions to protect our cars from future infestations included peppermint oil, mothballs, Irish Spring soap, and more expensive rodent deterrent options ranging from $20 to $60 on Amazon.. For the moment, we are depending on luck.

This was not our only expensive First World Problem this year. In January, a heavy rain storm had left a puddle of water on our kitchen floor. Hours after a roofing company had completed fixing the leak, we heard intermittent moaning sounds emanating from our attic. We originally believed the noise was coming from a distressed animal that had been trapped during the repairs. Five stress-filled days later, we realized that the “culprit” was actually a water pressure issue caused by the failure of the roofers to turn off the spigot of our outdoor hose.

From perceived pests in the attic to real rats in the garage, I am more than ready to turn my secular calendar’s page to 2025. Happy New Year!

Source: LaJaunie’s Pest Control, “How to keep rats out of your car engine.” November 26, 2024. Click here for website.

*Most people will be happier if I don’t share the actual picture. So, instead, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, here is a picture of a rat stuffy. For those who want to see the picture in all its glory, email me at shapcomp18@gmail.com.

Making a difference in the new year

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This article was originally written for Rosh Hashanah 5785 (September 2024). It may be a little late for the High Holy Days, but the message is also valuable as we begin the secular year of of 2025.

The High Holy Days is a time for us to turn inward, to reflect on our lives, not only where we have been but also where we hope to go in the coming year. So much of the world needs our help. What can one person do? How can one person make a difference?

In the Pirkei Avot, Rabbi Tarfon writes,“It is not incumbent upon you to complete the work but neither are you at liberty to desist from it.” That quote has been in my email signature for several years and serves as a reminder to me and those that read it that we can all can make a difference. No, we cannot save the world. But our inability to do EVERYTHING does not give us a pass on doing nothing.

This truth is found in the often-told starfish parable. An old man is walking along the beach in which hundreds of starfish have been washed along the shore during high tide. As he walked, he came across a little girl who is throwing the starfish back into the ocean. “You realize that you will not be able to make much of a difference,” the old man tells the little girl. She picked up another starfish and threw it as far into the water as she could. “I made a difference to that one.”

It reminds me of “starfish” moment. On a recent trip to the beach, Larry and I were walking along the edge of the water. As Larry was enjoying the waves and the birds, I was picking up garbage and sticking it in a plastic bag I brought with me for that purpose. A broken styrofoam cup. A short length of cord. A lone flipflop. And a dozen or so plastic caps from water bottles.

“You can’t pick up every bit of litter on the beach,” Larry said.

“Yes. But I can do something!”

Yes, Larry was right. I am not going to pick up every piece of litter on a beach. But I can at least fill up a plastic bag with some of it.

Giving away my freshly baked challahs also gives me a chance to do something . Early into the pandemic, I started baking three or four challahs a week. At least one of the challahs went to someone in our community who needed cheering. The first one went to a friend whose wife was in a memory unit at the hospital. Week after week, we delivered challahs to people who had lost their spouse, who faced illness; who got bad news from their families. My small challahs were small tokens of love and caring. My challah baking has slowed down in recent months, and I usually make extras to tuck in the freezer to pull out as needed. It just filled my need to do SOMETHING!

For the past ten years, my writing has been a way for me to feel as if I am making a difference. Initially my writing focused on my family stories. In the past eight years, I have become captivated by telling other people’s stories, the lives of Holocaust survivors. So much has been written already: fictional accounts, memoirs, graphic novels, poetry, plays. Many of have become classics: Elie Wiesel’s Night;Prima Levi’s Man’s Search for Meaning; William Styron’s Sophie’s Choice, and Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl. Then why do I continue to interview Holocaust survivors and their families?

Writing these stories allows me to do my part to make the world never forget. Each story is a statement against Holocaust denial. And having each story published has brought feelings of pride, comfort, and maybe some peace to the subjects and their family. Following Rabbi Tarfon’s advice, my inability to write everything doesn’t mean I cannot continue to do something.

And what happens when one person joins others to make a difference? Fortunately, I am surrounded by people in my 55+ community who are also doing their part to help people in the greater Poinciana area. Solivita has over 200 clubs, and many of them support the local community. The Do Unto Others Initiative (DUO) has raised over $260,000 in 11 years to support the work of the St. Rose of Lima Food Pantry. Another club, Solivita Friends Helping Those In NEED, provides similar support for St. Vincent de Paul St. Ann’s Food Pantry in Haines City. Solivita Friends of Elementary Education Schools (SoFEEs) provides nourishment, school supplies and seasonally appropriate clothing to local elementary schools. In the past nineteen years, Stonegate Women’s Golf Association (SWGA) has been able to provide over $300k to local community charities. The Solivita Performing Arts Council (SPAC, Inc.) has raised over $139,000 since its inception, providing grants to help local schools purchase and maintain instruments, fund band and choir concerts, produce school theatrical productions, fund thespian workshops and support art projects. SOLABILITY, a club consisting of individuals of varying abilities, provides activities accessible to all. Members of the Butterfly Club provide financial support for our beautiful butterfly garden; volunteers keep it weeded and in control. Our Book Circle, which has over 30 book clubs under its umbrella, donates books and financial help to Polk County Schools. The Shalom Club makes an annual contribution to the Perlman Food Pantry or Jewish organizations supporting local families. The organizations above represent only a small sample of ways individuals have joined together to help those in need.

So, yes, one person can make a difference. Wishes for a sweet, healthy 5785. May it be a year in which each of us make a difference.

Solivita’s butterfly garden

Published in Rosh Hashanah 2024 issues in Capital District New York’s The Jewish World and Orlando’s Heritage Florida Jewish News.

Solivita is a 55+ community for active adults in Poinciana, Florida.

Celebrating Christmas vicariously

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I love Christmas. I love looking at all the lights on people’s homes and all the twinkling trees inside. I love holiday cookies. And I love how some people fill every inch of their house with Christmas decorations. That being said, I am very happy to celebrate the season vicariously.

With a name like Marilyn Cohen Shapiro, you probably have realized that I have never actually celebrated Christmas. Growing up as the only Jewish family in a tiny upstate New York town, we never had a Christmas tree or strung red and green lights across our eaves. Once I married Larry under a chuppah in 1974, I continued our own Jewish traditions in December: lighting the menorah, making potato latkes, giving gifts to each other and to our children over the eight days. And never once in my life have I had the urge to celebrate the secular elements of the Christians’ beautiful religious holiday. In honor of Hanukkah, here are my eight reasons why.

I cannot untangle the wires on my earbuds. How would I ever manage to take yards and yards of Christmas lights out of storage and unwind them to put on a tree?
In 1996, Larry climbed up on a ladder to shovel snow off the roof. He slipped and fell, shattering his heel. That was the end of his running life. It was also the end of Larry ever climbing up on the roof. The idea of stringing all those lights onto the eaves is frightening prospect!
I look terrible in red and green. While all my Christian friends “don their gay apparel” from Thanksgiving to January 1, I am content to pull out my Israeli blue sweater, tuck my dreidel earrings into my lobes, and enjoy the holiday season with colors that compliment my blue eyes.
Remember I said I love to EAT holiday cookies? That doesn’t mean that I want to BAKE them. I have never done well making sugar cookies, which requires mixing the dough, rolling it out, and then cutting them into cute little shapes. I either made them too thin (i.e. burnt) or too thick (underdone).. And forget about decorating them with tubes of frosting. I can’t DRAW a straight line! How am I to master all those borders and curlicues?
Speaking of cookies, I gave up on cookie swaps years ago. I don’t need to start baking thirty kinds of cookies in October so I could share with friends whose cookies always looked prettier and tasted better than mine. I will stick to my yearlong custom of baking what are known as “Marilyn’s World Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies” and not share a single one.
I have friends that have bins and bins of Christmas decorations stored in their attic, garage, or expensive storage units. Every inch of their house becomes a winter wonderland. They have multiple trees, dozens of nutcrackers, Christmas towels, napkins, and even toilet paper. My friend Bonnie, who loves to decorate for every holiday, even has a twinkling alligator holding a candy cane and sporting a Santa hat! While I love walking through their homes, I am so glad I am not responsible for putting out all the tchotchkes and then packing them up for storage in January. My single decoration—an electric menorah that sits in my window throughout the eight days of Hanukkah is just fine, thank you very much!
As my readers know, I love Hallmark Christmas movies. I get to see everything I have written about above in various permutations of the standard rom-com: The setting: an idyllic small town in United States where everyone, no matter what their occupation, has thousands and thousands of dollars to spend on Christmas decorations. The Plot: either boy meets girl or or two high school sweethearts reconnect; boy and girl dance around a relationship (Think “Kiss the Girl” from The Little Mermaid;); 20 minutes before the end of the movie, boy and girl face a conflict; 20 seconds before the credits roll, boy and girl kiss as snow flakes gently fall on their perfect locks as Christmas music plays softly in the background. Perfect people. Perfect families. Perfect smiles.Why face the reality of a real family when you can kvell for a perfect one?
And speaking about Christmas music, I only learned recently many of the most popular holiday tunes were written by Jews. The most famous is White Christmas by Irving Berlin [born Israel Beilin]. Here is just a sampling of my other favorites: “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” by Mel Torme [born Melvin Howard Torme]; “The Christmas Waltz” by Sammy Kahn [born Cohen] and Jule Styne; “Santa Baby” by Joan Javits and Phil Springer; “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” by Kim Gannon and Walter Kent [born Kaufman]; “It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by George Wyle [born Bernard Weissman] and Eddie Pola [born Sidney Edward Pollacsek]. Even “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” got his shiny nose from two Jews from New York City’s suburbs. Johnny Marx, who also went on to write “Rocking Round the Christmas Tree” and Burl Ives’ classic “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas,” never—like me—actually celebrated the holiday. Marks’ co-writer Robert Louis May allegedly shared with multiple sources that the lyrics actually represented the ostracism May felt growing up as a Jew with a large nose. Hey, what better way for Jews to live vicariously through Christmas by realizing those songs you are hearing everywhere were written by members of The Tribe!

So, as Larry and I walk through the neighborhood during this surprisingly cold December in Florida, I will rejoice in the shining lights and lovely music and delicious smells of Christmas emanating from my Christian friends’ homes. Then we will go home, light our hanukkiah and enjoy some hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies as the candles flicker and burn, content in knowing that, for the Shapiros, that is enough. Dayanu.

Source: Albert, Maddy. “11 Iconic Christmas Songs That Were Written By Jews.” Kveller. December 22, 2020.

My preferred way to celebrate! I look good in blue!

The Kindness of Strangers

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For newlyweds Erwin and Selma Diwald, getting out of Austria wasn’t a choice. It was a necessity. Thankfully, the kindness of strangers saved their lives. Their daughter, Frances “Francie” Mendelsohn, shared their fascinating story.

Erwin Diwald was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1907, to Bettina and Sigmond, who was a successful importer of the ostrich and egret feathers used in the making of hats popular at that time. Erwin attended the University of Vienna, where he earned doctorates in both history and law. He launched a successful career in law and was sought after by many Catholic clients wishing to legally annul their marriages.

Born in 1931, Selma Gehler was the second child of Maria and Victor Gehler. Victor, an engineer, was involved in the building of the Wiener Riesenrad ferris wheel in the Prater, still considered one of Vienna’s popular tourist attractions. Selma worked in her uncle Joel’s’ pharmacy while attending the University of Vienna’s pharmacy program, intending to step into her uncle’s business after graduation.

Selma and Erwin met at a friend’s wedding and married in October 1937. Six months later, German troops invaded Austria. On March 15, 1938, the terrified Erwin found himself caught up in the enthusiastic crowds cheering and raising hands in the Nazi salute as a triumphant Hitler paraded through the streets of Vienna. Immediately, the Jews in Austria were in the crosshairs of the new regime.

The newlyweds knew they had to leave their native country. Their first attempt to obtain visas took them to Stuttgart, Germany. On their first evening there, Selma and Erwin ate dinner in the hotel’s restaurant. The waiter brought over a huge tureen of soup. “Compliments of the Fuhrer,” they were told. They soon learned that their hotel was the site of the city’s Nazi headquarters. They quickly returned to Vienna to explore other options to leave Austria.

Help arrived through Erwin’s younger sister. Paula Diwald had been vocal in her dislike for the new regime. When notified that the Nazis were looking for her, she hastily made arrangements for a “ski trip” in France. As soon as she crossed the border, she ditched the skis and took up residence in Paris.

Paula worked during the day as a salesclerk in a shop selling expensive handbags. To supplement her income, she worked as a tour guide, her ability to speak seven languages a definite asset.

One evening, Paula overheard a couple requesting a guide who could speak English. She introduced herself and spent the next several days showing the Gregorys, a wealthy Greek Orthodox couple from Chicago, the highlights of the City of Light. At the end of their visit, they asked Paula what they could do to thank her for all she had done.

“What you can do is sponsor my brother and his wife,” Paula told them. “We have absolutely no family in the United States. Your providing them with visas is the only payment I want.” They promised to see if they could make the arrangements once they returned to Chicago.

Paula immediately contacted Erwin. His education had included years studying classical Latin and Greek, and he decided to use this knowledge to further persuade the Gregorys.He wrote a long eloquent letter in classical Greek to plead his case.

The Gregorys may have been Greek Orthodox but had no knowledge of its language; they brought the letter to their priest. Impressed by both the Erwin’s language and moved by their plight, the priest told the Gregorys, “You have to save these people.” The Americans complied and began the process of getting visa for the couple. They enlisted the aid of Lazarus Krinsley, a Jewish lawyer in Chicago, to obtain the paperwork.

The Diwald flew to Paris to await the paperwork that, according to the officer in charge had not come through. It was only when the Diwalds checked in on a day the regular official was not at work. His substitute immediately “found” the missing documents.“Where have you been?” He said. “These visas have been here for months.”

Knowing that they could not bring a great deal of money into the States, the Diwalds arranged first -class passage on the Paquebot Champlain. Built in 1932 and hailed as the first modern liner, the ship was pressed into evacuee work, transporting many Jews, like the Diwalds, who were fleeing Europe.

Erwin remained in Paris with Paula before boarding the ship in Le Havre, France on August 29, 1938. Later that day, Selma, who had gone to England to say goodbye to her family, boarded in Southhampton. On August 31, 1938, Germany invaded Poland, marking the beginning of World War II. Erwin and Selma had made their escape just in time.The ship sailed in radio silence for the remainder of the voyage.

Meanwhile, he Diwalds found themselves in the company of many celebrities. Their travel mates included actor Helen Hayes, comedian Groucho Marx, composer Samuel Barber, Italian-American composer Gian Carlo Menotti, and Austrian-American actor/director Erich von Stroheim. It made for a very memorable voyage!

An interesting side note: According to a Wikipedia article, the Champlain continued crossing the Atlantic Ocean for the next two years, transporting refugees, including many Jews, to safety. On June 17, 1940, on what was to be its last crossing, the Champlain hit a German air-laid mine, causing it to keel over on its side and killing 12 people. . A German torpedo finished its destruction a few days later. It was one of the largest boats sunk sunk in World War II.

After debarking the ship in New York City, Selma and Erwin traveled to Chicago to meet their benefactors. Even though the Gregorys were responsible for getting the visas, they were not very welcoming. Lazarus Krinsley the lawyer, and his wife Rose, however, warmly embraced the couple, a friendship that was maintained throughout their lives. Upon the Krinsleys’ recommendation, the Diwalds settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which had a fairly large Jewish population and offered more job opportunities.

Despite his educational background, Erwin lacked the credentials to practice law in his United States, During the war, he worked on an assembly line that polished propellers for B-29 planes. and drove trucks After the war, Erwin applied for a job as a tire salesman with Dayton Tire and Rubber Company. Initially, human resources failed to recommend him, saying he was “too intelligent.” He went on to become one of their top salesmen.

Using the skills learned in Vienna, Selma worked in a pharmacy. She considered going to UW Madison to get certified as a pharmacist. After the birth of her two daughters Ann Frances [“Francie”) and Susan Jane, however, she gave up her dreams of further education.

The Diwalds joined to Temple Emanuel, a reform congregation. In 1954, Francie became the first bat mitzvah in the congregation, with her sister Susan following in her footsteps three years later.

Fortunately, many of Selma and Erwin’s family were able to escape the fate of the many Jews imprisoned and murdered during the Holocaust. In 1938, the Nazis stormed into the Gehler home looking for Joel. When they could not find him, they arrested Selma’s father, Victor, who was deported to Dachau. Maria, through a possible bribe, was able to free him. They immediately fled for Haifa, in what then Palestine. They both passed away in Israel in 1951, three years after it had become the State of Israel.

Erwin’s parents had also escaped Austrian 1940 by hiking over the Alps into France. They emigrated to Milwaukee in 1942. Joel, who had narrowly missed arrest in 1938, fled to England, where he met the love of his life, Patricia. Joel passed away in 1986; Patricia passed in 2022.

Selma died in 1996 at the age of 83 from cancer. Erwin died in 2008 at the age of 101, suffering from dementia in his last years. Despite all that the family had endured, Francie said that her parents were never bitter or angry. “I feel as if I been touched by God,” Erwin told his children. “We survived.”

SOURCES

Thanks to Francine Mendelsohn for sharing her parents’ story.

“SS Champlain.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Champlain

A Hallmark Chanukah [Updated 12/24]

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As we look forward to Hanukkah this year, which falls on Christmas Day, Larry and I are looking forward to our long-standing holiday traditions. Eating potato pancakes with applesauce. Lighting candles each night. “Betting” on which candle lasts the longest. Watching Hallmark Christmas movies.

Wait! Hallmark Christmas movies? When did that become a tradition?

For as long as I can remember, I have watched Hallmark movies. For many years, the famous card company aired shows specific to the holidays—Thanksgiving, Christmas, and of course Valentine’s Day. Each two-hour made-for television episode touched my heart. Many were based on classic novels, such as The Secret Garden or Sarah Big and Tall. Others were originals, such as What the Deaf Man Heard. And as much as I loved the shows themselves, I especially enjoyed the tear-jerking commercials (Did you know you can Google them? Watch them with a box of Kleenex next to you!)

In 2001, after the major networks dropped the specials, the company launched The Hallmark Channel. Building on its many fans during the holidays, Countdown to Christmas began in 2009, a promotion of 24/7-blast of cheer that is still running today. Cookie-cutter stories, many based loosely on more expensive big screen movies, have been churned out at an amazingly fast rate, with 136 to date. That is a great deal of Deck the Halls and Jingle Bells, their favorite songs as the movies are touted to be about the spirit of the season, not religion.

Even though Larry and I watched the movies frequently over the years, what sent me over the edge was November 2016, when the election results triggered such fear and anxiety that my doctor suggested Xanax. Dr. Larry suggested an additional remedy: Turnoff MSNBC and tune into Hallmark. I was off the anxiety medication less than three months, but I still have my weekly dose of sap and sugar.

If you have watched only one or two of the productions, you have pretty much seen them all. The Christmas plot fall into two categories. Plot One: A high powered business dynamo needs to learn the real meaning of life and that he/she can only find in a small idyllic town inhabited by incredibly cheerful people who despite their low-paying occupations (cupcake bakers, store clerks, and staff at huge inn with no guests in sight except the small cast seem to be a favorite) still can afford enough Christmas decorations to cover EPCOT. Plot Two: A poor but kind woman finds out that the incredibly handsome mystery man she is dating is actually the king of a tiny but wealthy country named after a countertop (Cambria) or china pattern (Winshire). Just before the commercial twenty minutes before the show ends, a conflict based on a misunderstanding erupts. No worries! It will be resolved with a kiss one minute before the snow starts and two minutes before the credits roll.

Until recently, Hallmark was all about white heterosexual Christians. People of color were only seen as the best friend or the minister who marries the happy couple. Gays and lesbians were never seen. This type casting was blown out of the water in December 2021 when the channel first aired then immediately pulled an advertisement for an event planning site that featured two women kissing at the altar. Within hours of its removal, the incident was all over the news. Within days, the president resigned. Within weeks scriptwriters began churning out stories in which gay, lesbian, and interracial romances are highlighted. By Christmas 2021, diversity was fully integrated into the holiday story lines.

And those holiday story lines included those about Jewish families celebrating Hanukkah. Up until 2020, the channel’s attempts at representing a Jewish perspective were major fails for me. Holiday Date. one of three 2019 Hallmark movies with a Jewish twist, involved a Joel, a nice Jewish boy who pretends to be the boyfriend of Brittany, a nice shiksa from an idyll small town in Pennsylvania. “Hilarity” ensues when Joel, who grew up in New York City surrounded by at least one or two Christians, has no idea how to decorate a tree or make a right-sided gingerbread house or sing “Deck the Halls.” (There is that song again!) My favorite moment is when, once the ruse is uncovered, Brittany’s mother comes out of the kitchen holding a tray full of potato latkes and wearing an “Oy Vey” apron that she managed to find on the first night of Chanukah in the town’s only store. The plots of the other two, both involving interfaith romances, made Holiday Date look like Casablanca.

In recent years, Hallmark has redeemed itself with three great Hanukkah movies: Eight Gifts of Hanukkah (2021); Hanukkah on Rye (2022); and Round and Round (2023). These three fine movies contain with a (mostly) Jewish cast and great story lines. Sure, as are all of the channel’s movies, they are schmaltzy, but they will make you kvell with Yiddishkeit pride!

So why do I—along with many others who will not come out of the closet—love the shows? Simple. They are mindless, sweet, non-political, non-violent, and always guarantee to result in a happy ending. I still cry every time King Maximillian and Allie embrace at the end of A Crown for Christmas.(Take that, you wicked Countess!) What held true for me in 2016 holds true in 2024. I need a break from news about wars and politics and environmental disasters. Grab the dreidel shaped sugar cookies and hot chocolate. It’s time for a Hallmark Christmas movie!

Crunch: A Poem

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Watch out for the acorns

Warns a fellow walker.

Watch out? I think.

I watch for them.

Love the crunch under my feet

My steps erratic

As I weave my way through my walk.

Crunch one to the left

Two to the right

Three clustered ahead of me.

Thousands of acorns

Waiting to be decimated

By my New Balance.

I can’t crunch them all.

After all, how many can I destroy

In a two hour walk?

My life is filled with acorns,

The crunchy ones.

But also the acorns that fill my wish list.

Write a story and a book.

Plan a trip to see family

And a trip to see France.

Learn Fur Elise on the piano.

Find a framer for Sylvie’s crewel piece

Stitch cable cars for Sid

A sampler for Frannie.

Read the 200+ books on my To Read list

Watch all the movies on my Netflix lis.

Pen gratitude letters to my family and friends.

So many acorns

Waiting to be accomplished.

I can’t complete them all.

After all, how many can I accomplish

In the years I have left?

But I still strive for them.

I love the joy in my heart

As I weave my way through my life.

There Goes My Heart

The stories on "There Goes My Heart " capture special moments in a lifetime spent in Upstate New York, Florida, Colorado, and beyond.

Author Archives: Marilyn Shapiro

About Marilyn Shapiro

Yiddish ta’am and chutzpadik shticks: Carl Topilow

A sister’s promise fulfilled: Eva Geiringer Schloss

A seventeen-year-old’s powerful stand against hate

Running for Katie Revisited

Ratted out..

Making a difference in the new year

Celebrating Christmas vicariously

The Kindness of Strangers

A Hallmark Chanukah [Updated 12/24]

Crunch: A Poem