State College, Pa.
Traveling Companions: None
Event: Lunch with mom and dad.
Today was the first day of school in much of the country, which is an anniversary in our family: 85 years ago my mother and father met. It was the first day of kindegarten and the children were told to line up according to height, then walk into class hand-in-hand. She was the smallest girl; he was the smallest boy at the public school in Rockaway Beach, Queens. (I come by my stunted Kleinitude naturally). They have been together ever since, except for a period when dad went off to war in the Pacific. They were married soon after he returned. He built a business, a printing company; I started working for him when I was 14, joining my mother, who did the payroll each week and my Aunt Rose, who was dad’s assistant. I was a subway messenger and then promoted to assistant shipping clerk. Dad did fine lithography; among his customers were some of the best known graphic and commercial artists of the time–including the geniuses, Milton Glazer and Seymour Chwast at Push-Pin studios. (I brought packages to such offices–and more than a few advertising agencies–in the early sixties, which is why Mad Men is a particularly powerful experience for me.)
Both my parents turned 90 this spring. Mom is blind now, can’t walk and has drifted off into her own sometimes startling world–today she told me that she had a boyfriend who slept in the bed next to her until he brought in three paramours and she had to kick him out. What about dad? I asked. “Oh, he has his own room.” Dad is unsteady on his feet and having trouble remembering. A stone perfectionist, this annoys him mightily. He and I went to lunch and talked about his grandchildren. I showed him some of my electronic equipment–and how I could edit my print column on line. He still wants to know where the internet is.
Mom and dad have never been overly political although, like many of their generation, they are chronic voters. Dad finds it hard to keep up: he’d never heard of Joe Sestak or Pat Toomey–although as an old Naval officer, he was impressed that Sestak,a former Admiral, would deign to run for office. He was amazed to learn that Sestak had defeated the eternal Arlen Specter.
I wish they had chosen to live closer to home–it’s a long story–but they have lovely 24/7 home health care. I could only stay a few hours: fascist trip wrangler and fact checker, Katy Steinmetz, is keeping me hopping, which is why she has been designated this road trip’s official fact checker. A very interesting Congressional race in western Pennsylvania is next, 3 hours away…But Happy Anniversary, mom and dad. I love you.
This post is part of my Election Road Trip 2010 project. To track my location across the country, and read all my road trip posts, click here.