A Long Way from Didama Street

I’m attempting to trace the source of the most satisfying development of the past few years – the renewal of many old friendships from childhood. (I count all the years through high school as part of childhood, mainly because it’s impossible to describe our high school years as having any relation to the concept of maturity.) I think it’s related to the annual gatherings we’ve had at Andy’s home in the Berkshires; but they originated because we all wanted to see Fran one summer when she returned from Israel, and we decided that one common visit would be more fun than having Fran schlep all over the country trying to visit each of us, one at a time. And working back further from that first reunion in Great Barrington, Susan and I met with Fran and Gidon in Neve Tzedek on our first trip to Israel in the fall of 2003.

In any event, the latest chapter of this saga takes place in Coconut Grove, Florida. This too stems from Great Barrington, because my son Mike came to Andy’s for one of the reunions, I think in 2005, and happened to meet Lew Freeman. At the time, Lew was just a face in the crowd, another geezer whose misbehavior amused Michael no more or less than anyone else’s. But the following winter, when Mike was accepted to the University of Miami Law School just as he was staying in south Florida with his grandparents, he drove to Miami to meet Lew, who then introduced him to most everyone who was anyone at the law school. Mike and Lew became fast friends; I think Mike admires Lew’s foul language; and Lew likes Mike for the gigantic Jewish star he wears outside his shirt.

Last Saturday we all went to Joe’s Stone Crab, and then back to Lew’s home in the Grove to shoot pool. I remember Lew’s home on Didama Street, just a few doors down from the G-men. You could fit that Didama Street house into Lew’s and Eddie’s bedroom suite.(Just so the uninitiated don’t get the wrong idea; Eddie is Lew’s wife. In this case, it’s a girl’s name.)The pool table used to be down in the basement; it was cool, with those green lampshades hanging down over the felt. But in those days, who had a place big enough to fit a pool table anywhere but the basement? Not any more. Now the pool table is on the old sun-porch, a room bigger than our old living rooms, with a flat screen hanging on the wall, so we didn’t have to miss a moment of SportsCenter while we played eight-ball. There were almost as many bedrooms as in our hotel, and as I recall, more dining rooms. Who eats in all these dining rooms anyway?

Meanwhile, I feel a bit vindicated, because the other two teams which had no business getting bids before the Cuse got beaten in the first round also. Georgia Tech, with an 8-8 conference record, and a 52 RPI, lost to UNLV. And more importantly, Arkansas, with its 21-13 record, 7-9 in the SEC, got trounced by USC. Stanford, Arkansas and G. Tech were the last teams in from their respective conferences, and I think they only got their bids because the committee wanted to spread the bids across the country more, or conversely, because the NCAA wanted a more distinctively eastern character to the NIT. I know these theories have been dismissed by all the pundits; and I also know that, with the seeds winning almost all the first round games, the selection process looks even more reliable. Still, I can’t get over the idea that we were robbed.

It's St. Patrick's Day, in honor of which, we drank Black Bush and Irish Mist at Max's last night. Maybe a glass of Connemara with breakfast, what do you think?