Happy Easter! The daffodils and forsythia are in full bloom, and the magnificent fragrance of magnolia trees heralds spring's arrival. I am reminded, too, of the fateful day nine years ago when I had my stroke on Easter Sunday morning on Interstate 95. My Stroke in the Fast Lane: A Journey to Recovery opens with the dining room table set in a seasonal theme of pastels with a porcelain bunny "... sitting on a patch of fake grass amidst chocolate eggs and jellybeans. The night before I baked a lemon-blueberry cake ... A ham was diagonally scored, each diamond studded with a clove, and put under a crown of aluminum foil in the refrigerator. All we needed to do was put it in the oven when I returned." Little did I know that I wouldn't return for months. I replay practically every minute of going to pick up my mother and all that ensued as I took a diverted route to Stroke Land. But here I am! A badass, warrior STROKE SURVIVOR who savors every moment of being alive. Am...
After my stroke, Andrew officially created the position of "Cultural Director." My coming to the razor-thin edge of almost dying affected all of us. In this new post, he wanted to take advantage of living closer to the city. No longer tucked away in the country, where the city was a good hour and a half by car, now, on a good night, we are only 36 minutes from midtown. (Andrew times it.) We regularly shoot into Manhattan to hear concerts at Carnegie Hall and Geffen Hall, attend the opera at The Metropolitan, see Broadway shows, and visit museums. In our town, we also have a Music Hall from the 1860s and Jazz Forum. I like to boast that this venue is on Downbeat Magazine 's list of the "100 Best Jazz Clubs in the World." For upcoming concerts, I'll get a text: "Listen to Sibelius violin concerto and Dvorak 7. Later in the month we hear Beethoven quartet 15. His late quartets are extraordinary." Next text: "Also Silbelius symp 1 and Grieg p...