LOOKING UP MY HIGH SCHOOL INFORMATION, I WAS SURPRISED TO DISCOVER HOW MANY CELEBRITIES HAD GRADUATED FROM FOREST HILLS HIGH SCHOOL IN FOREST HILLS, NEW YORK.

TWO OF MY CLASSMATES WERE BOB KEESHAN, LATER KNOWN AS CAPTAIN KANGEROO, AND BURT BACHARCH, WHO STARTED A SCHOOL BAND HIS SOPHOMORE YEAR. OTHER STUDENTS OF LATER YEARS WERE MARTY INGALLS,JERRY SPRINGER, MICHAEL LANDON,JERRY SEINFELD,PAUL SIMON, AND ART GARFUNKEL, PLUS A SLEW OF POLITICIANS.

FOREST HILLS WAS A QUIET TOWN WITH TENNIS COURTS THAT ATTRACTED SOME TOP PLAYERS TO PRACTICE. MY TEENAGE YEARS THERE WERE HAPPY ONES.THANK YOU, FOREST HILLS, FOR THOSE DAYS.

Many years ago, when my daughter was twelve years old, an actor friend took her with him for his appointment with Walt Disney. During their chat, Disney asked my daughter which show she would like to see on his television series. She told him “Ferdinand.” He had only a pad and pencil on his desk and made a note of her reply. Three weeks later, “Ferdinand” played on the series. He listened to children.

One day while at Eddie Albert’s house, I was the only one home when Roald Dahl, author of many children’s books such as “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” dropped by to borrow a hanging fixture over a glass table in the patio, used to work on colored rocks for Eddie’s hobby. As he reached for the fixture, his hand slipped and it came crashing down on the table, scattering broken glass at our feet. Dahl and I looked at each other across the debris, and then he said, “Oh, bad show.” It was the perfect observation.

February is the love month. Valentine’s Day is the time to express it.Rumi says, “Love is the whole; we are only pieces.”

Let us then, as these little pieces, join together to let our love shine as one whole, joined by our common concern for the survival of our species.

As often as you can, say, “I love you.”

As the green grape said to the purple grape,”OMG!Breathe! Breathe! Breathe,! urge you to breathe in all the beauty of our planet and exhale the rest.Breathe in the kindness, generosity, and thoughtfulness of others. Return it with love and gratitude.

We are only here for only one brief breath. Let’s use it well.

Recently, I read a joke. Question: What do you call a row of retreating bunnies? Answer:A receding hairline. A weak joke to be sure, but it made me laugh, and that made it important. We need to laugh more, smile more, enjoy more to maintain our sanity in this science fiction world we now find ourselves living in. Norman Cousins said, “Laughter is the best medicine,” and he was right. So find a few “Ha Has” in your life to make it easier.

i am 93-yars old, and my mind rolls back to my memories starting at the age of a year and a half when i remember sitting in closed swing anchored between the kitchen and living room while my mother cooked. I can recall the apartments we lived in and moments within them of sickness, birthday parties, friends, relatives, and eventually kindergarten and grade school. I remember the smells of cookies and mustard plasters. I recall learning how to roller skate on the sidewalks of Tudor City, New York, and playing hop scotch on the streets of Kew Gardens. I remember the move to California and living on the Harry Carey ranch for a couple of years, learning to ride horses bareback and exploring the surrounding hills of their 1,000 plus acres of land. Those day kindled my lfie-long love of horses and many other animals., from canaries to burros. Then,back to New York, the days at Forest Hills High School, falling in love at age 14 with a horseman I should have married after World Warll, bud didn’t. Greatest mistake of my life.Instead, I entered a mentally abusive marriage that ended in divorce six years later, but gave me a wonderful daughter with home I live today. There were many careers after divorce: secretary, publicist for Desilu Studios, assistant to a songwriter/actor, assistant to another actor, community college teacher, all-boy’s high school teacher and mentor, and now retired. I have lived in New York, California, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Nevada. I have served two years and thee months in the Peace Corps in Slovakia, and have traveled to Denmark, England, Ireland,Wales, Italy, Greece, Yugoslavia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, and Mexico. I have traveled the United States by car, visiting many States along the way.

I consider myself blessed for having so many varied experiences in life, and even contained now by the virus, I can still visit with people in other countries via the internet and continue to learn from them. Thank you all for your kindness and willingness to share you lives. Bless you all.

At this time I am reminded of a story about Harry Truman. He said that when he was making a decision about his life he couldn’t make up his mind between playing piano in a whorehouse or becoming a politician until he realized there was no difference.

Today, October l4,2020, marks the 60th anniversary of the Peace Corps, established on October l4,1960 by then President John F. Kennedy. I had the honor of serving in it for two years and three months in the country of Slovakia. Those were among the happiest days of my life. I am praying the Peace Corps will once again flourish after this pandemic is over.