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Discussion: Just remembering: JTA, JML

I didn't really know justtheaunt.  But I knew Laura in person and yes, she was someone who could find a positive in just about any situation.  I sometimes wonder what she'd be saying right now.  Pretty sure she'd have one of those pink hats.

Here's a story about Laura, who ran a catering business.  She catered a bat mitzvah for the child of a local physician who works with international adoptions, including some pretty high-profile names.  At this event there was a somewhat well-known celebrity with his family.

Laura was working hard getting the reception hall ready as the service was going on. As she was doing something with a table in the hallway outside she realized that the service was ending and people were starting to head for the reception area. She needed to move the table, and there was a family coming down the hall and she just quickly asked the dad to help her move the table.

She only realized after it was done that Hugh Jackman has just helped her move a table.  (Apparently quite cheerfully and without any question).

I still have an orange lei I got at her memorial service where I see it every day, but thanks for the reminder Joanne.

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Discussion: 2020 - Candidates

nan said:
Evidently, some Democrats would vote for Trump before they would vote for Bernie.  Wonder if we have any of those on MOL.  

 I expected to be taken to "Morning Joe", but I was taken to Jimmy Dore.

I did not watch long enough to see what Joe Scarborough actually said, but he is not a Democrat. He is an ex-Republican former Congressman.

There may be some voters registered as Democrats who would vote Trump over Sanders just as there are some registered as Republicans who would vote for Sanders over Trump.

I would vote for you over Trump. Would you vote for Sbenois over Trump? 

I just watched the Dore clip. Neither the host, Scarborough or the guest, Deutsch, said they would vote for Trump over Sanders. In fact when Deutsch said he would vote for Trump over a "socialist" (never mentioning Bernie, Scarborough said , no you wouldn't, you would never vote for a Bigot like Trump.

Jimmy Dore lied and you, Nan, repeated the lie. 

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Discussion: Automatic Weapons Will Be Banned In New Zealand

They didn't even give thoughts and prayers a chance to see if they would work.

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Discussion: What is being said in the Rose Garden? What's happening in Washington?

i usually avoid commenting in this thread but 

It’s redundant to say R’s or D’s do things for political or partisan reasons.  

Republicans do things to support the wealthy and their businesses at the expense of the common person. Republicans ally themselves with racists and religious zealots to carry their messages of division and they play this divide and conquer game to the detriment of us all. 

Democrats play in the same pool as the republicans and for the past 40 years have been carried on the current more towards the right. Occasionally a great progressive idea would take hold in a democratic administration and relief would be eased our daily lives, whether from a law like the ACA or from the creation of an oversight organization like the CFPB.  

Now we have a new wave coming of younger Democrat’s with bigger ideas and i hope they succeed in making change as fast as possible. 

Anyone who supports republican ideals also by association supports racism, voter suppression, inequality, and the give away of our tax dollars and social safety net to the wealthiest

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Discussion: 2020 - Candidates

DaveSchmidt said:
Or where Deutsch gets out more than a syllable of “company” before correcting himself.

 Or where Dore actually plays a clip to the end of a conversation.

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Discussion: What is being said in the Rose Garden? What's happening in Washington?

South_Mountaineer said:

You’re saying we should give him a pass on all his other faults so he’ll stop being petty about infrastructure necessary for our long-term economic well-being. 

If there is one thing we should have learned by now it is that you can't negotiate with terrorists.

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Discussion: Just remembering: JTA, JML

It suddenly hit me that it’s 4 years since we lost JTA and JML. 

I really can’t believe it’s been so long; MOL has changed so much (not all change is bad), people have moved away and interests have changed. Everyone’s lives have changed in so many ways, small and not-so-small. 

The outside-world has changed too. 

But I miss them, keenly. I miss the way we all were when they were with us. I think they helped us to laugh more, and reminded us to wield our passions with kindness as well as steel. Their love for their families and their community were so strong, it was just so inspiring; and I honestly don’t think there wasn’t anything JTA wouldn’t do if an animal needed help. 

A candle burns in my living room for them; I’ll wear a touch of orange for the rest of the month. 

Feel free to share a memory below. Or maybe revive the one-line-at-a-time storytelling thread ;)

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Discussion: When to start putting down fertilizer and grass seed.

Just a pitch for minimizing grass and all the work and chemicals that necessarily go into it.  We've been planting wild flowers over time and cutting back on the footprint of the lawn, front and back.  They look good and basically take care of themselves once they grow in.

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Discussion: Just remembering: JTA, JML

When my son broke his neck 6 years ago Laura was right there to donate her delicious pulled pork sliders for the auction.   My brother had the highest bid and won the sliders.  He called Laura to see if she could make them for his New Years Eve party, and even though that was an extremely busy day for her she still said yes.  She had a heart of gold. 

The first time I met  JTA was when I gave her a check from the South Orange Elks.  She was helping her nephews with a fundraiser by putting out donation jars 

at local establishments.  Apparently some low life stole the money from one of the jars.   She was very upset (and mad) about that.  When I heard about it I asked the S.O. Elks (I was an officer at the time) to make a donation to the cause that would cover what was stolen.  When I gave her the check she acted as if I had given her a million dollars. 

Both of them are missed.

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Discussion: Just remembering: JTA, JML

JTA wrote a post that, at least in my mind, was one of the most memorable I have ever read and right up there with other favorite and memorable posts like the Maplewood mousy theater one and the account that ctrzaska wrote about the bats. Except JTA’s story was not funny.

I’m hazy on the details and open to correction, but I remember her writing an incredibly poignant account of the night that 4 (I think?) young teens died on the train tracks in South Orange. She spoke about how her family was alerted to the deaths and wondered if her brother was among the dead. And while he wasn’t, his friends were. And she wrote about her brother’s struggles with addiction and his early death and how she wondered if the loss of his friends shaped his life. I remember the tears streaming down my face as I read it. It was such a vivid account, and so beautifully written that I think of it often. She deleted the post not long after writing it because someone told her she was over-sharing, I think.  I’ve always regretted she deleted it – it was a beautiful, sad, poignant story.

And I miss Laura’s presence in our community all the time!  Her courage and positive energy and sharp edges and cooking are unmatched.  I still have a bowl I was supposed to return to her, and think of her often. 

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