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Familiar Faces
NMB, Florida September 28, 2001 A.H. Schectman
THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on Issues, Ideas and Reflections on the Times. Published Now and
Then. Opinions Pro or Con Are Welcome.
FAMILIAR FACES
It is funny how this occurs. Over the last two days I sat in the Choir up
near the Ark and Bema facing the congregation in Temple Sinai. I couldn't
help it, but I kept seeing familiar faces. These were mostly the people I
knew from Temple Beth Miriam in Elberon in New Jersey. For some reason I
also saw Rudy Giulani walking busily around the congregation meeting and
greeting.
I have the ability to see other people in the faces of the people I am
seeing. I saw Adele, who is dead now these last ten years. I saw Pat, the
Catholic wife of Jack. She sat three rows away and the likeness was
striking. They have an interesting marriage. He and their son are Jewish
and she and their daughter are Catholics. It seems to work.
In fact, I saw many faces that were familiar that I could not put a name to
although I thought - I know that person, and why is that person here? I
sometimes nudge Carol and try to tell her what I see but she cannot switch
off her interest in the service to see what I see.
Perhaps it is a function of age. My mother-in-law as she approached her
hundredth year kept mentioning talking to her sister and that she saw her
beloved David. As I grow older, I find that the new and younger generation
increases as the older generation decreases and I am comfortable with
thoughts of those things that were most familiar - old faces.
I have always been comfortable with classical music. The atonal stuff was
interesting for a while but you can't sing it. I was never one of those
lucky ones who knew all the melodies and words of popular songs. I love the
old soft music - not the harsh screaming kind. The familiar faces of Bing,
Frank, Perry, and Barbra with their lovely voices cannot be replaced with
the make-up of some devilish freak who smashes his instrument in the
love-hate relationship that seems to be the marketable kind of
"entertainment" today. But, then again, this marks me as a child of my age
who looks for familiar faces.
Carol's Evaluation: 10 out of 10.
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