LETTER FROM FITZ - 2015

​

"Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement ... get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible. Never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed."

​

- Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

(Theologian and civil tights activist)

 

December 17, 2015

​

Dear Friends:

 

I was at the opera last night. That's hardly news! But instead of my familiar standing room spot at the top of the SF Opera house, I was seated in a comfortable movie theater. It was for one of those wonderful Met Opera in High Def telecasts of Mozart's THE MAGIC FLUTE (the amazing production Julie Taymor created for The Met, full of fantastic puppets and other surprises). I was worried. My grand nieces (Rowan, 7, and Teagan, 4 )were with me. Wasn't sure they were up to the challenge. (I still remember taking 8 nieces and nephews, many years ago, to THE NUTCRACKER at Airy Crown Theater in Chicago. Four bars into the Prelude, Dan's son, Tim, leaned over and asked, "Uncle John, how much longer is this going to last?"). But Marykay's two granddaughters were champs last night, not just enduring the performance but leaning forward with wide­ eyed joy and delight. Sitting on the side of my bed, hours later, reviewing the day, it occurred to me just how well these two, darling girls personify Rabbi Heschel's thoughts, above. And, of course, I remembered another Rabbi, the itinerant, radical one from Nazareth, who warned us that we weren't welcome in the Kingdom if we couldn't learn, somehow, to see the world around us through the eyes of children. That's a tough challenge -when that world is full of homeless veterans desperate refugees, daily gun violence, and fear-and-hate mongering politicians. Nevertheless, here are some people  who widened 

my eyes and melted my heart this past year.

​

Boo Anthony went home to God, after a long, twilight ordeal of physical ailments and dementia. Years ago she and I helped persuade a bunch of our fellow citizens in Morton Grove and Niles to elect a liberal, Jewish Democrat (Abner Mikva) to Congress from a district which had been represented previously only by WASP Republicans. We also shared a lot of music together, including Maria Callas' farewell 

concert in Chicago. Sigh. 

 

Rene' Rottigou has a new address in heaven too.  He was a San Francisco native, but the very embodiment of his French ancestors. Served as a Marine in WW II, came home and met a fellow Marine at a USO dance. He and Marguerite lived a long life together. When she died a couple of years ago he added a second day a week to his volunteer schedule at St. Anthony's Dining Room. (Did I mention that at that time Rene was 92?) He was a lovable rascal and everyone at the Dining Room adored him!

​

Phyllis and I volunteer in the Dining Room every Tuesday.  We've become friends, and regularly joke about our very different backgrounds (the Irish Catholic boy from Chicago and the Jewish girl from Brooklyn). Phyllis has had a hellish couple of years, with all sorts of health issues assaulting her. She's on a bunch of medications. Over lunch one day she told me that if I were to call Central Casting and ask for a neurotic Jewish Brooklynite she is what would arrive at my door. Went to visit her when she was recovering from breast surgery and she told me, "Fitz, we've talked about this before but I'm finally ready. Please baptize me." Weeks later, shortly after she'd returned to her regular Tuesdays at St. Anthony's, she was making her way there on a Muni bus and succumbed to a full-fledged panic attack, wailing and sobbing uncontrollably. A large African American man took her in his arms and held her tightly in a hug until she was calm. She thanked him and asked, "Who are you? Do I know you?" He smiled and said, "Yes. You serve me lunch every week at St. Anthony's." 

 

I had a bunch of favorite moments this year. The one I keep holding on to was from the day Pope Francis was in New York, joining in an interfaith prayer service at the Ground Zero memorial. As the rituals concluded, he turned to the Imam and the Rabbi on either side of him and shared an embrace. And then a children's choir emerged from the shadows behind them, singing "Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me." I still get teary just thinking about it! 

 

And here are the wisest words I came across in 2015, from an Environmentalist on the Marin side of the Golden Gate Bridge, (Paul Hawken).

​

When asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: if you look at the science about what is happening on earth and aren't pessimistic, you don't understand data. But if you meet the people who are working

to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren't optimistic, you haven't got a pulse! What I see everywhere in the world are ordinary people willing to confront despair, power and incalculable odds in order to restore some semblance of grace, justice and beauty to this world!

 

 

May you have a Christmas and holiday season full of blessings and renewed hope and lots of childlike, magical delight!

-Fitz