So Near, And Yet So Far
Title
So Near, And Yet So Far
Identifier
SO_NEAR_(3)
Creator
Jacob Schlitt
Description
"As a dear friend once observed, Fran and I do a lot of traveling, despite our infirmities."
Date
2015-03-10
Coverage
2015
Format
application/pdf
Type
text
Language
en
Text
SO NEAR, AND YET SO FAR
As a dear friend once observed, Fran and I do a lot of traveling, despite our infirmities. Most recently, we jumped into our newly washed (and gassed, and serviced) 2014 Toyota Camry to drive, first to Bloomfield CT to see cousin Shirley, and then to White Plains to see friend Margot. I should correct the verb. We did not “jump.” We more accurately hobbled over, and eased ourselves into the car. The day was Saturday, February 28, 2015. The visits were delightful, including the chance to see Margot’s daughter and granddaughter. The weather was perfect.
The next day, we drove to Manhattan where Fran was to have lunch with her friends Susan and Risa. The plan was to meet at 1 pm at the NY Historical Society, which has a lovely restaurant. Fran got to her appointment at exactly 1 pm, after we had a nostalgic meander through the upper West Side from Broadway and 125th Street to 77th Street and Central Park West. I then drove to the Museum of the City of New York to see a special exhibit of home movies taken by successful Jewish immigrants who returned to their shtetlakh in Eastern Europe with motion picture cameras in the period from 1920 to 1935.
When I left the museum, my car, which I managed to park less than a block away, was covered with snow, which started falling before 2 pm. I picked up Fran at 4 pm, just as the three women were leaving the Historical Society. A couple of quick photos, and we drove to the West Side Drive. Other people had the same idea. There were lots of cars, crawling north. About three inches of snow had fallen, and was continuing to fall. Traffic, when it moved , was going at less than 10 miles an hour. It was rough going, and we finally got to Margot’s at 7 pm. Three hours for a ride which usually takes less than 45 minutes.
The next day, Monday, the snow stopped, and we had lunch in Scarsdale with Fran and Ray Osinoff. The friendly proprietor allowed us to linger over our repast for the next three hours. Tuesday morning, we left for Princeton, NJ and Ruth, and then all three of us went to Doylestown PA to visit Phil and Martha. We had a lovely visit, as lovely as a visit can be when your friends are in the level three nursing section of a depressing retirement facility. Martha in a wheelchair and Phil in a hospital bed. Phil was much more alert and participated in the conversation; much more than the last time we saw them. We spent about three hours, and it too was a good visit. So far, so good.
Wednesday, we drove to the Best Western motel in West Orange, where we planned to stay overnight, visit with Carol, Alan and Elliott, attend their Synagogue’s Purim festivities, and then head for Baltimore and DC the next day. We did visit with Carol et al, we did Purim, we returned to our motel, and we were then hit with the biggest snow storm that the upper south had in years. No going to Baltimore and DC. And not seeing Lewis and Nina. In fact, the snow was so bad, we could not get together with Carol. Which explains the title of this piece. We spent the entire day reading, watching TV, calling Carol, napping, and eating take-out pizza for lunch and take-out Chinese food for supper.
Friday morning, Carol and Elliott visited us, and Elliott joined us for breakfast, as Carol shoveled and cleared my car out from under several inches of snow. We said goodbye, and with the help of my GPS, I was misdirected to the Midtown Tunnel instead of the Verrazano Bridge which I assumed was a more direct way to get to Bob an Rose in Oceanside, or more accurately to the Best Western motel in Rockville Center. Still, it was fun driving slowly from west to east through Manhattan from the Lincoln Tunnel. After checking into the motel, Bob picked us up and we spent a fun day. On Saturday, we got together in the early afternoon and went to see Chinese art at the Nassau County Museum of Art, housed in a Frick mansion in Roslyn Harbor. As Bob would say, it was “outstanding.” Dinner at an Italian restaurant, schmoozing back at the motel, and the end of another lovely visit.
Sunday, March 8, after breakfast, we drove to the Montefiore cemetery to visit my parents’ grave. Again the GPS screwed up, but we got there. Unfortunately, we were unable to get to the grave site because of the snow. So near etc. The drive home went well, though there was a slowdown on I-95 while workers were filling pot holes. Our car performed admirably, but I couldn’t get over how dirty it got. Guess I will have to get it washed again. We will get to visit with Lewis and Nina (and Barbara) another time. I will send pictures which I took sporadically.
3-10-15
As a dear friend once observed, Fran and I do a lot of traveling, despite our infirmities. Most recently, we jumped into our newly washed (and gassed, and serviced) 2014 Toyota Camry to drive, first to Bloomfield CT to see cousin Shirley, and then to White Plains to see friend Margot. I should correct the verb. We did not “jump.” We more accurately hobbled over, and eased ourselves into the car. The day was Saturday, February 28, 2015. The visits were delightful, including the chance to see Margot’s daughter and granddaughter. The weather was perfect.
The next day, we drove to Manhattan where Fran was to have lunch with her friends Susan and Risa. The plan was to meet at 1 pm at the NY Historical Society, which has a lovely restaurant. Fran got to her appointment at exactly 1 pm, after we had a nostalgic meander through the upper West Side from Broadway and 125th Street to 77th Street and Central Park West. I then drove to the Museum of the City of New York to see a special exhibit of home movies taken by successful Jewish immigrants who returned to their shtetlakh in Eastern Europe with motion picture cameras in the period from 1920 to 1935.
When I left the museum, my car, which I managed to park less than a block away, was covered with snow, which started falling before 2 pm. I picked up Fran at 4 pm, just as the three women were leaving the Historical Society. A couple of quick photos, and we drove to the West Side Drive. Other people had the same idea. There were lots of cars, crawling north. About three inches of snow had fallen, and was continuing to fall. Traffic, when it moved , was going at less than 10 miles an hour. It was rough going, and we finally got to Margot’s at 7 pm. Three hours for a ride which usually takes less than 45 minutes.
The next day, Monday, the snow stopped, and we had lunch in Scarsdale with Fran and Ray Osinoff. The friendly proprietor allowed us to linger over our repast for the next three hours. Tuesday morning, we left for Princeton, NJ and Ruth, and then all three of us went to Doylestown PA to visit Phil and Martha. We had a lovely visit, as lovely as a visit can be when your friends are in the level three nursing section of a depressing retirement facility. Martha in a wheelchair and Phil in a hospital bed. Phil was much more alert and participated in the conversation; much more than the last time we saw them. We spent about three hours, and it too was a good visit. So far, so good.
Wednesday, we drove to the Best Western motel in West Orange, where we planned to stay overnight, visit with Carol, Alan and Elliott, attend their Synagogue’s Purim festivities, and then head for Baltimore and DC the next day. We did visit with Carol et al, we did Purim, we returned to our motel, and we were then hit with the biggest snow storm that the upper south had in years. No going to Baltimore and DC. And not seeing Lewis and Nina. In fact, the snow was so bad, we could not get together with Carol. Which explains the title of this piece. We spent the entire day reading, watching TV, calling Carol, napping, and eating take-out pizza for lunch and take-out Chinese food for supper.
Friday morning, Carol and Elliott visited us, and Elliott joined us for breakfast, as Carol shoveled and cleared my car out from under several inches of snow. We said goodbye, and with the help of my GPS, I was misdirected to the Midtown Tunnel instead of the Verrazano Bridge which I assumed was a more direct way to get to Bob an Rose in Oceanside, or more accurately to the Best Western motel in Rockville Center. Still, it was fun driving slowly from west to east through Manhattan from the Lincoln Tunnel. After checking into the motel, Bob picked us up and we spent a fun day. On Saturday, we got together in the early afternoon and went to see Chinese art at the Nassau County Museum of Art, housed in a Frick mansion in Roslyn Harbor. As Bob would say, it was “outstanding.” Dinner at an Italian restaurant, schmoozing back at the motel, and the end of another lovely visit.
Sunday, March 8, after breakfast, we drove to the Montefiore cemetery to visit my parents’ grave. Again the GPS screwed up, but we got there. Unfortunately, we were unable to get to the grave site because of the snow. So near etc. The drive home went well, though there was a slowdown on I-95 while workers were filling pot holes. Our car performed admirably, but I couldn’t get over how dirty it got. Guess I will have to get it washed again. We will get to visit with Lewis and Nina (and Barbara) another time. I will send pictures which I took sporadically.
3-10-15
Original Format
application/msword
Collection
Citation
Jacob Schlitt, “So Near, And Yet So Far,” Autobiographical stories & other writing by Jacob Schlitt, accessed April 22, 2025, https://tsirlson.omeka.net/items/show/355.