Happy Birthday Red!

After a long hiatus...I am back. Not only am I back with one post, I am back with two very different, simultaneous entries. I compare it to Bruce releasing Human Touch and Lucky Town on the same day in 1992. Enjoy.

So as some of you may know...I call my mother Red. I guess it's something I picked up from my stepfather David, and it just stuck. Well, today, January 12, 2010 is my mother's 60th Birthday. Bruce wrote a song for his mother called The Wish...so I figured the least I could do was write a blog post about my mom.

To know my mother is to know that she spends every minute of her days, every fiber of her being, doing things for others. She gave up a corporate career in the food service industry to work at The WindMill...partially because her father wanter her to...and partially because it would allow her to put her family first before her career. She takes off every Friday so she can cook Shabbat dinner for anyone and everyone who wants to show up and dinner usually includes two soups, two main dishes, three sides, and at least one dessert. Then on Saturday, she treks down the shore, fighting shore traffic during the summer...all so we can be together Friday night. She invites the masses for Rosh Hashanah and Passover, year in and year out...cooking everything from scratch. She makes dozens of holiday baskets...again...everything made from scratch for people that she works with, people David works with, people I work with, people she met 20 years ago, etc.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg. My mother will drop anything, any time for anyone she cares about. She flies to Florida at a moment's notice to take care of my grandparents, she used to take my car to be serviced for me because it was on her way to work, she goes to doctor appointments with my sister, and she happily took my daughter to gymnastics recently. She lets people live in her house...really. She will do anything.

She is the first one on the dance floor at any party, usually dragging or coaxing the rest of us with her. And when our family has had hard times, she is our rock.

My mother loves without limits, strings or guilt. She got that from her grandmother, Mama. She told me a long time ago that different children need different things. My sisters and brother needed more of her time, but any time I need her...she somehow knows. She used to tell me a story about how when she was in college and had no money, somehow a letter would show up from Mama with some cash in it. How did she know? My mother doesn't send me money...but she is in tune with what all of her children need from her at any given time. It's amazing.

I could go on and on, but I will just say this last thing before I finish. I live my life every day hoping to make my mother proud. She tells me all the time that she is proud of me...and even at 35 with two kids of my own...it means the world to me.

So...I will leave you with a quote from The Wish...

"And if it's a funny old world, ma, where a little boy's wishes come true

Well I got a few left in my pocket and a special one just for you
It ain't no phone call on Sunday, flowers or a mother's day card
It ain't no house on a hill with a garden and a nice little yard
I got my hot rod down on Bond Street, I'm older but you'll know me in a glance
We'll find us a little rock 'n roll bar and baby we'll go out and dance"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RED!

JN

Lukas (Luke) Nolan Neuer

On November 3rd, my wife delivered our son, Lukas (Luke) Nolan Neuer.

While it has taken me a while to write a blog entry, it wasn't from a lack of thought, or a lack of desire. So many thoughts have gone through my head when I have sat down to write this entry that I have had a hard time organizing them in my mind, let alone on the screen.

Some quick thoughts:

- Luke was born in between Games 5 and 6 of the World Series. We watched the first four innings of Game 6 together and his first home run was Matsui's shot off of Pedro.

- The first song I sang to him in the hospital was Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready". Not sure why...it just popped in to my head.

- Avery and I gave him the nickname "Buddy Buddy" the first week. Not sure why...but that's what we came up with.

- The Saturday night after he was born, Bruce was playing at the entire The Wild, The Innocent, and The E Street Shuffle album at The Garden. This is my favorite Bruce album. Right around the time the show started, Luke and I sat down on the couch...he layed on my chest...and we listened to the entire album...front to back. I couldn't imagine being anywhere else.

- The kid pukes...a lot. Seriously. A lot.

- As an infant, Avery really liked Jackson Browne. I think Luke likes Elvis Costello.

The rest of it, I really guess I covered in the short speech (longer because it was hard to get through without stopping to compose myself) I gave at his bris. It was a pretty emotional day and I hope I never forget the feeling I had that day. His whole world was ahead of him. It still is. I have so many things I want for him...to experience, to know, to want, etc. It's amazing to think that Christine and I are responsible for Avery and Luke...to teach them, to help them experience life, to pick them up when they fall...and to know when not to pick them up...it's a HUGE responsibility. I can't think of a bigger one. Can you?

Anyway...below is the speech from the bris with a few minor edits.

First, I’ll start with the thank you’s. To my beautiful wife, none of this could be possible, literally, without you. I love you more every day.

To our family with their never support, love, food, and shopping addictions, we can’t thank you enough.

To our rabbi, Mark Kaiserman, this is the fourth major event that you have officiated for our family and we hope there are many many more.

To everyone that came today to celebrate the bris of our son, Luke, it really means a lot to us that you took time out of your work day to joins us. Tuesday mornings are tough and we truly appreciate it.

Last…I must must must thank my daughter, Avery, who has welcomed Luke with open arms, shared her birthday week for this event, and puts 1000 smiles on my face every day.

If there was ever a day to make promises, this is probably the day. So…to Luke…we promise to be the best parents we can possibly be. We promise to learn from our parents and all of the wonderful things they did for us. I promise to teach you how to win with class, lose with grace, and always get back up when you fall down. I promise to teach you how to score great tickets, and to keep score at a baseball game. I promise to let your mother and your two grandfathers not named Neuer teach you how to fix things, use power tools, and generally fix things…although, I did do a bang up job on the mailbox. We will teach you to be polite, courteous, gracious, generous and charitable. We will try to guide you the best we can and we hope all of your dreams come true.

A quick story…

On April 8, 1974, when I was 17 days old, your Grampa Philly will tell you that I watched my first baseball game. In that game, Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s home run record and my love affair with the game of baseball commenced. Well, your first game was Game 6 of the 2009 World Series and the first home run that you witnessed was Hideki Matsui putting the Yankee ahead and sending them on their way to their 27^th World Series Championship. So many people in this room today including, but not limited to each of my three parents, my Uncles Steven, Michael and Eddie, my Aunt Peggy, Keith, etc...and my cousin Mike who never let me go without a ticket in the old days before I had season tickets…have all taken me to Yankee games at some point in the last 35 years. It’s one of my passions. I promise that no matter where you find your passion, I will be there with you, driving you, supporting you, cheering with you…whatever it is. If your passion turns out to be the Yankees…well…that’s cool too.

So…the names. Your first name, Luke is not for Luke Skywalker, contrary to popular opinion. Your sister has Aunt Lori’s Hebrew name….well, the L at the beginning of your name is for her also. Another story…in 1987, my grandparents took me and the family to Israel to celebrate my bar mitzvah. When I came home, in my room was my first CD player, and my first CD. Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen. It was a gift from my Aunt Lori…one of so many…talk about shopping addictions…it really runs in the family. So I’ll try to skip the emotional stuff, but let’s just say that she was the one that got me hooked on Bruce a long time ago. As a quick aside, every night Avery and I listen to music and dance and her favorite Bruce song is Working on the Highway and last night, without any prompting, she started singing along to No Surrender…both from the Born in the USA album. Anyway, anyone in the room who has been the beneficiary of Bruce tickets throughout the years, I think you would agree that my Aunt Lori is worthy of being honored in both of my children’s names. As part of our promise to teach you how to be charitable, we will be establishing a small annual scholarship at The College of New Jersey that will go to a student studying to be a special ed teacher. That scholarship will be Lori’s name and you be funding it with your allowance. Just kidding about the allowance part.

Your middle name, again, contrary to popular belief is not for Nolan Ryan. While it may be a happy coincidence, if I was going to pick a name for a pitcher, your middle name would be Mariano. The N is to honor your Grandy’s (that’s my stepfather David for those who don’t know who Grandy is) Cousin Norman. He was a brilliant man who was so generous with his time, and open to our family, and really an amazingly cultured and kind man. He was a very important figure in Grandy’s life and I have such nice memories of Norman and his generosity. Sometimes, quirky…but always generous. I remember him giving me a very odd stop watch that was probably more like a fancy egg timer. I was probably 14 or 15 and he had to explain to me a few times what it was…and I am still not sure I get it.

Your Hebrew name…there are no misconceptions about this one…is Gershon for your mother’s Uncle George. Now many of you may be saying…Christine has a Jewish uncle? This is a joke right? Not a joke. Uncle George was your Papa’s best friend for more years than either of them would admit. He passed away earlier this year and while I only met him once, he embodied the word friendship, something I hope people say about you someday.

So, I know everyone is waiting for the Bruce quote. I am going to quote Bob Dylan instead. Blasphemy I know. The remake of this song by Rod Stewart is one of your Gigi’s (my mother) favorites (and I love this Pepsi commercial).

May God bless and keep you always

May your wishes all come true

May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young

May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young

"It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive..." BS