Down to Two

Today at 6, off goes Number One. Judy is flying to Vienna, via Heathrow. She will arrive tomorrow in the middle of the day and then has one night to polish her speeches for the conference. She speaks FIRST on Thursday morning and LAST on Friday afternoon. Then she will go to the airport hotel and take the early (first) plane from Vienna to London.

That leaves me and Boef at home. I just got a phone call from the Miami Cat Boarding Co that they thought I was bringing him there this morning. But, all is well and I will bring him there on Thursday morning. The Cat Boarding is perfect! They have individual cages for each cat, as well as a large "play room." The cages have one wall that is made of wire and faces a little brook with bushes and plants. Of course, birds and lizards and bugs of all kinds live and play in the brook and the plantings. This is very exciting for a cat. I'm sure that Boef won't sleep for days on end. He will love "hunting" and watching. The cages are open to the natural air, except when the shutter is closed, so this is also good for Boef. And, inside the cage, there are climbing posts as well as a "Cat House," where he can sleep and rest. The houses have themes, for example, The Western House which is designed like an old-fashioned Western barroom. There are castles also. This is a very thoughtful pension for cats and we know Boef will love it.

I have tonight and then all day Wednesday to prepare myself for my trip. You know, cleaning the apartment, organizing the neighborhood boy to check on the mail and water the plants. Other neighbors have keys and will drop in to make sure all is well. I will put on the burglar alarm and tell the office downstairs about our travel plans. So, FUN. (but lonely)

So many technical questions: which suitcases to take? which medicines to take? how to get to the airport(I will take Judy today)? I'll probably take the number 37 bus to the airport (it is FREE because I am over 65 years old). It leaves from our corner and goes directly to the Departure Gates at the airport in an easy 25 minute drive. The only problem is that it may say that it will leave at a certain time at the corner, but we have had to wait for 30 minutes sometimes before it arrives. All that means is that I will catch an earlier bus. The family will tease me and say that because of my nervousness, I should take a bus the night before and sleep at the airport, just to be sure. Ha, ha on them.

Huibert van Dorp

We met Huibert in 1968 when we moved to The Hague. He was 19 years old and had 5 brothers and 1 sister. Huibert was a student in the Royal Academy of Art. He introduced us to his mother and we were invited to participate in many van Dorp family parties. It was our introduction to Dutch culture and family life. Huibert's sister, Eliane, became a baby-sitter for our sons and his mother, Mevrouw (Mrs) van Dorp taught us how to behave like real Dutchmen. At her house, we learned to take ONE cookie when the cookie jar was passed at coffee time. We learned to eat sandwiches with a fork and knife and not with our hands. We learned that children (even adult children) spoke to their parents and teachers with a formal version of the word "you". We watched the annual TV New Year's Program with the van Dorp family, laughing at a famous comedian make jokes that we sort of understood. We learned to say, "Prosit" as a toast when we drank.

Huibert was studying to be graphic designer and would receive a diploma at the end of the four year study. Which, by the way, he didn't complete. Not for him. Huibert became a painter, sculptor, wood-worker, model-maker and etcher. Since then, he has become a well-known artist and has works in private collections all over the world. He is a family friend. Many of our family have paintings by Huibert hanging in their homes. Michael and Rikki have a beautiful breakfront painted by Huibert as well as many etchings and lithos. Peter and Rie have a child's desk and chair made for their daughter and several paintings. Huibert has become a member of the family in fact.

Several years ago, we commissioned Huibert to design and build a globe of the world in the style of the historical globes in museums. The result is spectacular. A rotating globe with places like the island group: Petite, Tiny and TinyTiny; the Mare Incognito; the Freedberg Family peninsula; the Bo Diddley Divide and poems by Dylan Thomas. It is filled with humor. Above it, he designed and built a Star Map with constellations that light up: Telescopium, for example. At night, in the dark, when we turn all the lights out, and turn on the globe with its heavenly lights, it is magical.

It is hard to picture the years from 1968 to the present without Huibert van Dorp. He used to spend vacations with my parents in Boston, and used my mother's best china to mix his paints. She called him "the Oaf", a term of endearment, which he uses nowadays to describe himself. "Ah yes, the Oaf is hungry," he will say. Lucky us to know Huibert as a married couple. He made Judy a beautiful sculpture when she graduated Law School at Leiden University with Mickey Mouse, and two bottles of Advocaat, a Dutch liquor, but making a joke of the word Advocaat, which means Lawyer.

Marriage and Art

All through our marriage we have collected art. It is hard to know why we started or even why we did it. It just seemed the right thing to do. Luckily we moved to The Netherlands after 7 years of marriage and the art buying climate there was very supportive and friendly. The Dutch government had a program where you could purchase art and they would pay immediately to the gallery and the artist. You would pay the government back the full amount, but with NO interest. You could choose to pay the money up to three years, so it made it easy to buy art, especially on a tight budget.
The first piece of art we bought was a sculpture by an English lady who worked and lived in Amsterdam: Maggi Giles. It was a "map" tower of the world, showing the oceans at the bottom and the trip to what she called The Perfect Planet. It was filled with upward energy and very strong colors. Since then, we have become close friends with Maggi and her partner, Mieke Hille, a professional art photographer. Maggi's works are in many museums in the world, but now she has "retired" from making sculptures because of poor health. Maggi has a funny sense of humor and she is a wonderful cook, having created Mr. Piggy, the chef, and famous for her lunches, including decorated menus.
In 1976, for our 15th wedding anniversary, we commissioned Maggi to make us a set of dinnerware. She told us that she would make it, but on the condition that we used it and not displayed it. It would, of course, be unique and in her style. We agreed.
The original bill from 1 March 1976 shows the pieces and prices of the dinner set, which we now display in a glass case (sorry Maggi) and use for special parties.
This beautiful piece(s) of art inspire us and give us joy and happiness. Since then, we have had the luck to buy many more pieces of Maggi's work, and, in fact, she has "forced" us to get others. She would telephone and say, "I want you to have this piece. Please buy it." Or, she would give us something special, like a mirror and, for Judy, a set of tomatoes (her favorite).

Head Table at our wedding

This is the head table at our wedding. Next to Judy is her mother, Marion, who left Russia at age 16 with her twin sister and emigrated to the United States. Behind her is Judy's father, Charles (everybody called him Charlie). Behind Judy is my maternal grandmother, Esther Gordon, standing beside my maternal grandfather, Louis Gordon, the head of the family. Both of them were born in Poland and came to the States as young adults. Next to me is my mother, Beatrice (call me Bea) Gordon Freedberg and behind her is my father, Abraham Stone Freedberg.

My grandparents were the only grandparents still living at that time.

September 1962

We were married by two rabbis in Temple Israel, Swampscott, Mass. Why two? Well, because one was the "new" rabbi of the Temple and the other was the "old" family rabbi who was allowed to help in the ceremony in honor of the family.

In the photo, you can see my wedding ring on my left fore finger, which follows Jewish tradition. We are entering the dinner room of the Temple after being kept hostage in another room. We had had nothing to eat and one of the ladies "guarding" us, finally left for a couple of minutes and returned with a couple of snacks.

There is a very old-fashioned look to the picture. A classical tuxedo and top hat for me and my brother (the best man). From today's perspective, this is too formal a look, but it was common in 1962. From the wedding at the Temple, we got in the rented station wagon and drove to a motel near Fenway Ball Park in Boston before leaving the next day for college in Pennsylvania.

The first stages

Once we decided that a London Theater Extravaganza was the perfect way to spend our celebration, we were give a gift from our sons and their families. They paid for the trip and told us to "have a good time." So, in fact, it was a family celebration.
We decided to combine the London segment with a professional trip by my wife to Vienna to participate in the 2012 VIS Moot Court Competition. Law schools from all over the world send teams to Vienna to compete in this prestigious event. There are prizes for best team and best orator. The test case this year involves the installation of a specialized computer on a luxury leased yacht. It is a complicated and interesting problem with overtones of bribery and suspicious fires in a computer workshop. The VIS competition lasts for three days.
The plan is that my wife will fly to Vienna early via London and will fly to London after I arrive there.
The calendar is for me to arrive in London on Friday, March 30 and her to arrive the next morning. We will then stay in the city until Sunday, April 8.
One major question was where to stay. Usually, we make hotel bookings, but since we are attending so many plays, we like to stay in the theater district and the hotels there are either very expensive or a bit run-down. I wrote to a friend who lives in London and suggested contacting Airbnb for rooms. We had never heard of Airbnb, but other friends here said that they always use it and recommend it highly. We checked the site and discovered that it is a service that joins travelers with people who rent a room in their house, or the entire house, or a room in an apartment or the entire apartment. It is based loosely on the Bed and Breakfast concept. Airbnb has spaces all over the world, and for very reasonable prices, you can find very good accommodations in almost every city. Truthfully, we were a bit apprehensive to move into somebody's house for 10 days, but checked out the site anyway.
Guess what? We found a PERFECT, fully furnished apartment, right in the middle of the theater district. Incredible! The apartment has a double bed, a single sofa/bed, a washer/dryer, stove, refrigerator, shower, internet AND a lovely view of the city. And the price was half the cost of a hotel. Airbnb is a professional organization and they have strict guidelines for the rentor and user of each place. We got in contact with the owner, a young man from South Africa, and he approved of our application and we signed the papers. Since then, we have received many formal letters from the organizing company and friendly and informative emails from the owner. He sent us his private email address, his cell phone number and the details of the apartment. In his last email he said, "Hi, I hope yo have a safe trip to London. Let me know what time your flight will land so that I have a good idea when to meet you. Warm regards." I can guarantee that you don't get this sort of note from a hotel.
Furthermore, we got a lengthy email from Airbnb including this advice: "Print and pack your itinerary. Contact the host before you leave to confirm arrival time. Contact the host to get directions to their residence from the airport. They should be able to recommend the best form of transportation. If you need assistance at any point during your trip, please contact Airbnb Support. Enjoy your trip! The Airbnb Team."
Take a look at the wonderful apartment we rented. It is located about one block from Piccadilly Circus Underground Station and right in the middle of the Theater District. Another great bonus is that the London Tube Train goes directly from Heathrow Airport on the Piccadilly Line to the Piccadilly Circus Station. This makes it so very easy to travel. I'll arrive on the Friday afternoon, go to the apartment and spend the day waiting for my wife. A former student will meet me for a play that night. We will see MASTERCLASS, a play about Maria Callas, the soprano, as she teaches in an opera class. Let the fun begin.

What happened, when it happened

When my father celebrated his 100th birthday, the family made a Time Line of important events during the century. It would be fun to see what went on during the 50 years of our marriage.

In 1962, the big news was The Cuban Missile Crisis, the jailing of Nelson Mandela, the independence of Algeria from France, the hanging of Adolf Eichmann and the biggie: Johnny Carson debuts as host of The Tonight Show.

I can't remember any of these events making an impact on our wedding, although watching the Tonight Show became a serial event in the early years of our marriage. More important were the food prices: it cost 89 cents for 6 cans of Campbell Soup; ice cream cost 79 cents a half gallon; fresh carrots cost 9 cents per bunch; pork chops cost 59 cents per pound and a watermelon cost 2 1/2 cents per pound. We depended on broiler chickens (29 cents per pound) as our staple meat. A loaf of bread cost 19 cents, so a lot of peanut butter sandwiches that year also.

We were married in September and our oldest son was born in September the following year. I went to graduate school in Philadelphia and so we moved into a three story apartment building close to the university. We lived on the top floor and Diane and Harold Fishbein lived below us. On the ground floor was a Japanese family, Dr. Watanabe and his wife and two children. The delicious smells of the cooking in the Watanabe household would float up the central staircase to our apartment and make us wonder what they were eating that smelled so good. We were close friends with the Fishbeins and had a long-running practical joke that we played regularly on them. We had a large wicker basket and would put our baby in a blanket in the basket and sneak downstairs to their door. We knocked on the door and ran and hid. When they opened the door, we would squeak, " Take me, take me, I'm abandoned." They never got tired of the joke (I think).

I would take classes in the afternoons and my wife would drive to her college in the mornings, so we never needed a baby sitter. But honestly, we were complete novices when it came to being parents. We decided to build our own special baby bed, after all, why should we have a "common baby bed" like everyone else. So, we bought a low, three-drawer bureau and two hollow doors. One door became a flat bed for the matress and was attached to the top of the bureau. The other door became a standing wall after I sawed in half. Then, we attached three horizontal hollow curtain bars from door to door. After the matress was put in, it became a cozy bed. UNTIL the little baby figured out how to stand up holding the bars and one day, he squatted down, pulling on the bars. We saw him rocket up into the air like from a cannon and land, bump, on his head. Magic. But that was the end of that bed.

How to celebrate

First of all, what does a family do to celebrate 50 years of marriage? The first guesses are: Let's Have A Big Family Party. Let's go on a cruise. Let's go to a resort. Let's go to a theme park. Let's rent a restaurant and throw a bash for the family and friends. Let's have the family gather and have fun.

For us, these choices were very complicated. Our sons and their families lived in separate cities from each other and from us. So, it meant choosing a city or location which allowed all three of the groups to get together. Our oldest son and his wife both work and their sons are busy High Schoolers with lots of after-school activities. So they wanted to party at a school vacation time. Our youngest son and his wife both work. He is a Speech Pathologist for a public high school and so school vacations are perfect times to meet. BUT....his wife is a professional ballerina and her working schedule is very demanding, so there are many "normal" vacation times when she is dancing two performances. Their daughter is almost 3 years old so it is hard for them just to pick up and travel.

Of course, to complicate things even more: we live in a third city, luckily in the same time zone. We soon decided that theme parks and cruises were not for our family. Taking a small granddaughter AND two big grandsons didn't seem like a relaxing way to spend a few days together if we were "trapped" on a ship. And, it would mean extensive babysitting to keep the little darling occupied. It seemed the best just to have a small family party at someone's house.

We decided to go to Chapel Hill to the home of our oldest son. We would rent a suite at a nearby hotel and the teenagers wouldn't have to miss school and we would have the baby with us--fun for the grandparents.

It worked out perfectly. Our granddaughter fell in love with our oldest grandson and started flirting with him. He is exactly the right age to be a good role model for her and here they are sitting together as he plays a computer game and she watches.

Who could believe it

1961, September: two youngsters (he is 22 and she is 19) get married. Both of them are still in college; not even the SAME college. He is entering his Senior Year and she is entering her Sophomore year. Their parents aren't wild about the marriage, but very supportive. Just think about the year. It was a time of complete innocence for them. None of their friends were married. They had a honeymoon, of sorts. After the ceremony on Saturday, they drove on Sunday from Boston to Philadelphia in order to be on time for the Monday start of the college year. Her college was Bryn Mawr and the saying went, "Only our failures get married." The station wagon (rented of course) was loaded with clothing, gifts, pots and pans, dishes, sheets, all the things a young couple needed to set up home. They rented an apartment in a building that was once a private home and had a realtor's office on the ground floor. To get to the upstairs apartment, you had to walk up a metal fire escape in the back parking lot. It was "cool, man." All their friends came for dinners. They ate chicken and rice A LOT that year. They walked to classes.

50 years later, they get a call from their sons: "Mom, Dad, it is TIME TO PARTY!" All the years have flown by, just as you think. Both graduated from college, both went to graduate schools and both started out as teachers in a small country day school. She graduated from college having had two sons, so now the family was complete. They moved into a small ranch house in a tiny town, Unionville, with a population of about 300. Life was rural and pleasant and easy. All that changed in 1968, when they decided to have an adventure and move for ONE YEAR only to The Netherlands where he would teach English to Grades 7 and 8 and start a theater program in The American School of the International Schools of the Hague (TASOTIS). They sold their house, packed up the furniture, and took the SS Rotterdam from New York City to Rotterdam Harbor. The year turned into 39 years before they knew it. The fun had begun.