2024 Thanksgiving with the Friedmans

We were invited to celebrate Thanksgiving this year with Lillian's in-laws again. This time we met at Louis Friedman and Leslie Vogelman's beautiful home in Sandy Springs. It is the home our son-in-law Jordan grew up in with his brothers Adam and Daniel. (Last year with also celebrated with the Friedmans -- at Dan and Rosie's.

This ranks among the greatest Turkey Day feasts of my lifetime! We started with a salad made by Rosie (wife to Dan, Jordan's brother). Rosie had "massaged" the kale -- I didn't know that was a thing! -- with lemon and oil. She sprinkled it with nuts she had fried in olive oil and infused with honey. Delicious. 

Sheila brought a cranberry relish the she makes from orange zest and fresh cranberries and that we keep around the house throughout fresh cranberry season. She also cooked a delicious cranberry sauce. Everyone (except me) seemed to enjoy Sheila's deviled eggs that were garnished with fried shallot crumbs that Lillian had prepared. 

Lillian brought a big pan of Mac & cheese that was to kill for. She also had plain mashed potatoes as well as a dish of mashed potatoes toped with very nice sour cream topping. Lillian also brought a pot of those wonderful green beans in a tomato sauce.

Jordan's brother Dan was in charge of the turkey. It was cooked to perfection. So moist and good.  And the huge quantity of homemade stuffing/dressing was delicious. 

In looking at the pictures I realized that I somehow missed Leslie's sweet potato casserole, but Sheila said it was very good. Don't worry about me though. I still managed to eat myself into a near coma.

The desserts included two different pecan pies by Lillian. She claimed one didn't turn out quite right, but the one I tasted was about as good as anything that I've ever eaten. There was also Leslie's traditional and tasty apple cake. Leslie also made some wonderful toffee bar/cookies.  Sheila brought along some of her delectable ginger snaps and Lillian had a bowl of "Expresso Cream" that made a topping for the cookies (or anything else) that was to kill for.

I am aggravated that I failed to get some organized pictures of everybody. 

After the meal we gathered in the Friedmans' music room and enjoyed some singing and playing by Jordan and Dan and Lillian. Lillian sang a gorgeous rendition of "Feed the Birds" from Mary Poppins. I remember us singing "I'll Fly Away", "Vincent" and several other songs, including a little song requested by two-year-old Graham "Bim Bam." Here's an online version I found of that:

Lillian with baby Neil.

Lillian & Jordan get in some practice with Neil -- they are expecting their own baby in May!

Lillian helped Sheila prepare her deviled eggs. The two cranberry dishes are also in the picture.

Finally they garnished each egg with a few pieces of fried shallot.

I thought the Dan's turkey was mighty tasty looking and was wonderfully moist.

It is grossly unfair to Graham that I have so many pictures of Neil. Somehow my Graham pictures are all a blur.

Clockwise from the green casserole dish: Mac & Cheese Kale and Nut Salad, Turkey, bowl of stuffing/dressing, sweet potato casserole, deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, mashed potato with sour cream and chives topping, green beans in tomato sauce.

Jordan and Lillian singing.

Charlie Yates 1946-2022

When you live to 77 in the age of the internet you often discover too late that you should have made another call to that old friend sooner. At least three times now I have discovered the obituary of an old Teacher Corp friend well after the fact by searching for their contact info online. 

I met Charlie Yates when I joined the Teacher Corps in June of 1969. We both found rooms on the main drag near Marshall University where our Teacher Corps classes were held. Mine was a true dump -- one room in a dilated second floor of a victorian carcass of a house. There was a busted window at the head of my bed, but it was summer and the ventilation was needed. I shared a messy bathroom with other send floor boarders. Charlie had a right nice place in the home of an older lady just down the street a block or so. Charlie was a good guy and a bit of an odd duck. 

When we got our assignments for the the fall we were both sent to Putnam county. Living on a Teacher Corps stipend was a challenge so Charlie and I with Eliot Smith went in together to rent a two story log cabin between Buffalo and Eleanor, WV from the Davis family of Buffalo.  We lasted there for a few months before frozen pipes, and a general lack of upkeep ran us out and we found different and separate accommodations.

From June of 1969 till June of 1971 her and I and the other Teacher Corps interns of the Marshall University cohort of those years -- especially those of us in Putnam County -- were constant companions and dear friends. Except for each of the several pairs of married interns, none of us had known each other till we gathered on the Marshall Campus the first time, 

But during those two years we were, in some ways, as close as family. We taught together, often ate together, studied together, planned our graduate level projects together, went on swimming trips, rock climbing exploits, went camping together, protested the Vietnam war together, played board games together, drank and smoked together. 

But, sadly, when we left West Virginia in June of 1971, we spread across the country in every direction and rarely saw each other again if ever. Since 1971 I have had real contact only with Russ Nelson and Charlie Yates. Russ has visited Sheila and me here in Rome a couple of times and we have met up with him and Ruth to tour the Grand Canyon together once. Russ and I exchange phone call once or twice a year. Charlie and I have talked by phone three or four times over the years. He attended our wedding in 1971 and we ran into each other by chance at the 1981 National Education Association convention in Minneapolis!

Here are a few pictures that Ruiss Nelson took that include Charlie from those Teacher Corps days.

 

L-R: Rhoda Moore, Charlie Yates, and Laura Nelson

Rhoda and Charlie

Charlie caught a ride to Tallahassee with Rhoda and Kevin to attend our wedding:

Sheila talks with Rhoda and Charlie in the receiving line after our wedding.

Charlie, Rhoda, and Kevin enjoys refreshments during our wedding reception.

L-R: Charlie, Kevin Moore, Sheila, me, Judy Cox, and Carol Shaw Johnston at lunch before the wedding.

In 1981 Sheila and I traveled by train to Minneapolis where I was a delegate to the national convention of our union, the National Education Association. I had no idea that Charlie was also a delegate. It was a great joy to see him almost exactly 10 years after the wedding pictures above.

NEA was working hard to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. What a shame that we fell just a little short. The Shirts read "Equality Day, July 7, 1981, NEA ERA.

Me and Charlie on the floor of the convention.

I found these pictures of Charlie from about 2014 on his Facebook page.

Here is the obituary for Charlie that I would find online in the fall of 2024, six years after my last phone call to Charlie. Once again I am disappointed in myself for not keeping in touch with an old friend. And I am saddened at the loss of memories that he was so good at reminding me of.

Charles Yates Obituary

Yates, Charles Hunter

August 14, 1946 - December 2, 2022

Charles Hunter Yates, age 75, of Fayetteville, NC, died on December 2, 2022. He was born on August 14, 1946 and was the son of F. Hunter and Ruth Bain Yates of Fayetteville, who predeceased him.

Funeral services will be held at at Sullivan's Highland Funeral Home at 610 Ramsey Street in Fayetteville, NC on Sunday, December 4 at 12 p.m. with a family visitation one hour prior to the service at Sullivan's. Burial will follow at Lafayette Memorial Park on Ramsey Street.

Surviving is his sister, Joyce Yates Price of Eden, NC and a niece, Diane Fisher McDowell of Greensboro, NC, and with additional cousins.

Charles was a 1964 graduate of Fayetteville Senior High School and a 1968 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After his Carolina graduation, he attended Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, where he earned his master's degree in education. He was honored to be recruited by the Teacher Corps and taught two years in Japan in 1971 and 1972. He returned to Fayetteville after this job and taught in the Fayetteville City Schools until his retirement.

He was a lifelong supporter of causes related to the handicapped and served on local, state, and national groups to promote the ideals of special education and was chosen as "Teacher of the Year" at Edgewood School in Fayetteville.

In earlier years he was active in theater arts and worked on productions with the Fayetteville Little Theater and the Fort Bragg Playhouse. He enjoyed growing plants, listening to jazz music, loving his cats, and helping others to achieve.

The family would like to thank the staff of The Carolina Inn for their loving care for the past few years.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Community Home Care and Hospice, 2800 Breezewood Avenue, Suite 100, Fayetteville, NC 28303 or to a charity of the donor's choice.

Sullivan's Highland Funeral Service & Crematory
610 Ramsey Street, Fayetteville NC 28301

Published by Greensboro News & Record on Dec. 4, 2022.

Second Annual Collard Festival

 Sheila and I decided we'd walk over to the Collard Festival. That took us to Fifth Avenue, the Town Green, Broad Street, Branham Ave....

 ...past Myrtle Hill ...

...to the South Rome Community Garden on Pennington Avenue ...

...for the Second Annual Collard Festival.

There was a good crowd with about a dozen collard contestants and several other food booths as well as booths for arts and crafts and such.

We ran into lots of friends including these good friends who were involved with us in trying to save America from the Trumpists.

We have such warm memories of our former neighbors the Gordon family. Left to right are Jeri and Reginald Gordon, me and Sheila, and Zelda Gordon Buford. Zelda and Reginald's brother Justin was in my fifth grade class at McHenry School in 1971-72 and Justin's twin sister Justina was in Georgia Clayton's class. When we moved to Cedar Avenue in 1976 the Gordons' backyard on Evergreen Street adjoined our backyard on Cedar for the next quarter century. We have loved and admired the Gordons for over 50 years.  

The first three collard chefs were friends of ours. Chloe Fielder had good collards and even better collard casserole!

Our friend Adrienne Askew was last years winner and was no doubt a contender again this year. (I have not yet heard who won the contest this time.)

LaTonya Burrell is another long time friend who was competing for the Collard championship.

Rita Lawler and her friend show off some of the sunflowers from the community garden.

for our walk back home we took West Main to Broad and back to the Town Green where Ellen Axson Wilson watches over the pedestrian bridge all decked out for the holidays.

Library Amphitheater

For our walk today we followed the Riverwalk to Fifth Avenue, then crossed and walked to the library.  And look there! The new amphitheater on the banks of the Oostanaula at the library is under construction. I hope that I'll have a chance to tell some stories there, one of these days.

After the library we walked back to Yellow Door Antiques and Sassy Salvage and the new shops in the old H&H Wholesale building on Fifth. 

Atlanta Jewish Storytelling Festival

Our trip to the very first Atlanta Jewish Storytelling Festival was a last minute affair. We purchased our tickets online. We call Lillian and Jordan to see if they'd put us up for the night. Actually two nights because we had also reserved an appointment with the Apple "genius" folks at the Perimeter Mall on Monday morning -- trying to find a way to preserve some voice memos. Long Story.

Anyway we actually managed two arrive a little early.

The skyline in Atlanta is always changing. It seemed so big back in the sixties when Peachtree Center was new... it is so much bigger now.