Such a loving era that still lights up my memory bank, when the Goldsmiths and the Gilberts were two families on the same voyage.  Thanksgiving feasts, a well-preserved vacation at Montauk Point, visits back and forth in Jackson Heights where we first discovered each other, on to Syosset, Great Neck, Wilton, a few Fifth Avenue parades, and whether there was a good reason or not, we sat around tables and just plain adventured together. Carol and my mother were, as my mother proudly reminded me after the Goldsmiths passed, very best friends, nudging each other on to taste life beyond the tribal...

It felt so incredibly natural staffing a table for Brian at the Kona 4th of July Dems Picnic.  I hadn’t seen our young senator  since we drove to Hilo for his HQ opening back in spring — At home, we watched him prevail over his debate opponent via internet streaming.  But having a chance to tell him that I tweeted one of his boldest and most successful debate jabs, and then seeing his smile light up, truly made it feel like old times again in a new place, here on our precious island. Oh, all those mainland Fourths and community events I still remember in Oregon…  mingling with...