Girlfriends

Peggy Kordic, Me, Alex Kordic, Fern Grunberger and Lynne Goldman

I visited Cleveland earlier this month to help host a shower for the lovely Alex Kordic who will be getting married in March.  I met her mom, Peggy, and another woman, Fern, in grad school at Case Western Reserve University shortly after I moved to Cleveland in 1977.  That move was a low point in my life - I think it snowed the first three months straight, I didn't know a soul and I moved away from a city I loved.  I remember that the interior of the entire house we purchased in Shaker Hts. was painted beige, the carpet was beige and the view from the front yard was dirty white.  It was a colorless time those first few months!

However, I met these women as well as other wonderful people and neighbors over the next year, and fell in love with Cleveland.  I had lived down the jokes about the "mistake on the lake" and the Cuyahoga River burning, etc. when my ex got his job offer there, and I moved with a real dread.  But, the city turned out to be full of interesting things to do; culture, beautiful parks and neighborhoods, beaches, and much more.  If only it didn't have the most lengthy and dreary winters in the universe I would say it was perfect.

Peggy, Fern and I bonded and have been friends now for about 35 years.  That is longer than I have been married to one person!  We originally had a "women's group" which was all the post bra-burning rage.  A group of us sat around an evening a month detailing our current issues and problems.  Since most of the group were therapists, we had free counseling to deal with life's ups and downs.  Then we settled into normal girlfriend relationships and have helped each other through every conceivable life event.  In fact, I have often thought a book would be quite juicy in details.  Relationship problems, divorces, births, deaths, and every imaginable thing in between.  I have laughed at how the conversations at our dinner dates have paralleled women's aging issues.  Greying hair, wrinkles, pregnancy, gynecologic issues, etc.  When we started having to whip out reading glasses to see the menus, and fan ourselves through a hot flash I knew it was downhill slide! 

I saw Alex the day she was born and have watched her grow up.  Now she is getting married to a great guy and we have all hopes that she will have a wonderful married life blessed with healthy children and joy and peace.  And, I hope that the young women at the shower who are in her bridal party will always be there for her - to hold her up during hard times, to listen when she needs an ear, to help her analyze her problems and create her own solutions, and to share her joy.  And most importantly, to laugh with her all along the journey she has ahead.

Paper Overload

I have deforested about an acre recently in the amount of paper products I have used responding to the million projects we are involved in.  Voluntarily?  No, not really.  I just finished a 75+ page response to the lawyer who has sued us regarding ADA (Americans for Disabilities Act).  Harry has made our motel more than 100% compliant by doing work not required until 2013, and has done a beautiful job after weeks of non-stop labor.  We want to be compliant but who knew we were not?  An older property has so many issues to fix and the rules and codes (which are Federal and State) are so complex, and difficult to understand, that it was like solving the Rubik's cube blind and one handed.  But, it is done.  And, we fully expect the court to make this lawyer pay for our legal fees, because he is frankly, a douche bag.  Sorry, just couldn't resist saying that.  That expression is so inanely stupid that it is fun to say and for some reason, just fits! 

And, just when I finished, I got a fax with the forms from the electric company to fill out because their power surge last week fried our entire guestroom telephone service.  So this means, estimates, hire someone (Sam!), and file a claim which looks to be pages long.  Perhaps they make the forms so daunting so people will just say "screw it" and toss them in the trash?

Everyone knows how complex just living and dealing with mail, email, forms, documents, bills, warranties, taxes, etc. can be.  Add a business to that and it seems like we will never be ahead.  Harry always has his irons in so many fires and what I didn't realize was that before he had an office with endless file cabinets and a secretary to bark orders to who would file, ignore or burn all of the crap that he collects and I never saw all of it. Just his shirt pocket alone houses enough data and things that he could probably build shelter if we ever get stranded somewhere.  I mean, I find the most odd items around the house.  I thought I would share a couple with you, and if you can guess what they are, I will bake you a pie next time I see you.