The Newell Post

Well, A Bronx Boy’s Tale is available on Amazon and you can also read it on you Kindle. In order to set the mood, I have put together a suggested play list. Enjoy.

A BRONX BOY’S TALE

THE PLAY LIST

I thought it might be fun for readers of A Bronx Boy’s Tale to have a play list prepared for their listening pleasure. Each selection has specific meaning to me and captures the spirit of the time to which it is associated. As you read A Bronx Boy’s tale, you will, no doubt, want to add or substitute your own songs which may hold special significance to you. Please do and share with all of us.

Chapter 1: Romantic  Musketeers.

My Back Pages by The Byrds

I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonight  by Randy and The Tamerlanes

Then He Kissed Me by The Crystals

Candy Girl by The Four Seasons

A Teenager In Love by Dion and The Belmonts

Chapter 2: Then There’s Christmas

Louie Louie by The Kingsmen

Darling Can’t You Tell by The Clusters

My Guy by Mary Wells

Chapter 3: For All You Boys And Girls

I Want To Hold Your Hand by The Beatles (all the songs will be by The Beatles)

She Loves You

All My Loving

Twist and Shout

Chapter 4: It Was A Fair Day Indeed

PS I Love You by The Beatles

Rag Doll by The Four Seasons

Chapter 5: Dancing In The Dark

Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying by Jerry and The Pacemakers

Thank You Girl by The Beatles

Chapter 6: Is Commencement The End?

Needles and Pins by The Searchers

Glad All Over by The Dave Clark Five

Chapter 7: It’s Summertime

I Get Around by The Beach Boys

Under the Boardwalk by The Drifters

A Hard Day’s Night by The Beatles

If I Fell by The Beatles

And I Love Her by The Beatles

Chapter 8: Desperate Times

The End Of The World by Skeeter Davis

Chapter 9: I Hate That Robert Hall Song

It’s Alright by Adam Faith

Bits and Pieces by The Dave Clark Five

Chapter 10: Dominoes Used To Be A Game

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by The Platters…you’ll get it when you read it.

I Feel Fine by The Beatles

Chapter 11: One Boy’s Heroes

Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones

Norwegian Wood by The Beatles

Chapter 12: I Feel A Draft

Draft Morning by The Byrds

Chapter 13: The Summer Of Love

Light My Fire by The Doors

Purple Haze by Jimmi Hendrix

With A Little Help From My Friends by The Beatles

A Day In A Life by The Beatles

White Rabbit by The Jefferson Airplane

Chapter 14: What’s Going On?

Abraham Martin And John by Dion

Chapter 15: The End Of The Sixties

Come Together by The Beatles

Chapter 16: We All Want To Change The World

Ohio by Crosby Stills Nash and Young

Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones

Chicago by Crosby Stills Nash and Young

Chapter 17: September 3, 1971

Younger Girl by The Lovin Spoonful

Reason To Believe by Rod Stewart

Chapter 18: Love Grows In The Bronx

Finnegan’s Wake by The Clancy Brothers

Here There And Everywhere by The Beatles

Chapter 19: Epilogue

New York New York by The Chairman Of The Board Mr. Frank Sinatra

A Bronx Boy’s Tale…The Reviews.

GoodReads   https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18759123-a-bronx-boy-s-tale?ac=1

Amazon

I had a physical in August, 2000. I had just turned 50 so it was time. I guess it was time when I turned 40 but you know.

Anyway, fifteen years ago today I got a call from my doctor with the results of the physical. Getting a call from my doctor was initially confusing. He was usually so busy that he barely had time for you when you had an appointment. The fact that he was calling me and not one of his staff got my attention. But when he told me I had Chronic Lypmphocytic Leukemia or CLL I am not sure if I was still paying attention.

So many things were going through my mind. I know I heard the word leukemia and I knew enough about that to know it was not a good thing to have. People die from leukemia. After the initial shock I did hear my doctor say that if you were to have cancer then this is the one you would want. I didn’t want cancer. He then went on to say that most CLL patients die from something else all together and that many never get treated at all.

He gave me the name of an oncologist and I hung up. I immediately went to the web, we didn’t have Google in 2000 but I did a search and read up on CLL. I wanted to know something about this before I called Eileen.

What I learned about CLL was basically what the doctor had told me. I can’t say I felt good but I did feel better. I was now able to call Eileen and give her the news.

I don’t remember much of the call to Eileen except trying to be as optimistic as the doctor had been.

” I probably will die from something else and won’t even need to be treated” are some of the things I said. I am sure she didn’t buy it. As bad as email is to communicate things like this to loved ones, the telephone wasn’t much better. I gave her the name of the oncologist that the doctor had given me and she knew him. As a nurse in the same hospital where he attended it turned out to be a blessing. She got me in to see him the very next day.

So began my fifteen year relationship with Dr. Louis Avvento and his team at Eastern Long Island Hematology and Oncology.

On that first visit in August of 2000 I was assured of a 10 year survival rate. ( I didn’t write anything five years ago because he was treating Eileen and, thank God, just as successfully as he treated me.) Well, I am still here and still going to ELIHO. Over the years Dr. Avvento has become much more than a clinician to me and my family. We talk as much about the Yankees and especially the New York Rangers as we do about CLL. He has treated me not just the disease. His staff have been wonderful. Can you imagine feeling good about going to your oncologist? I have more angst getting a hair cut. That is because you feel so cared for and appreciated when you enter the office.

Everyone smiles and is so reassuring and uplifting. You are immediately put at ease,

One of the things that naturally happens when you are in a treatment setting for several hours is that you meet other patients. Some don’t always respond to the treatment the way you do. There have been people that I got to know that have passed. It’s a reality check that you don’t like to dwell on but is there right in front of  you, nonetheless.

I was treated with chemotherapy in 2000 and again in 2007. I have been in remission since 2008. My numbers have been going up, specifically my white blood count but not nearly where it was when treatment was required. So far everything else is right where I want to be. But you don’t take anything for granted.

The other thing I try not to take for granted is people. Family and friends have been with me through all of this journey. The same group was there for Eileen and me when Eileen was going through her journey.

Sometimes I do wonder “Why Us?”  But then I look around and realize that I have nothing to complain about. On the contrary, I have so much to be grateful for.

We have been blessed with so many people that have cared for us. Our circle of friends has expanded just at the time of life when it usually recedes. To complain about what life has presented would just seem silly.

Jet fans hat the Patriots much in the same way Yankee fans hate the Red Sox and Met fans hate the Yankees.

For me it’s not so much of a vicious, venomous type of hatred for the players or the fans as much as it is for their coach. I won’t even use his name. I despise him so much.

One of the things that resonates with me either in a good book or television show is loyalty. I loved when in West Wing Leo tells Josh that as long as he had a job Josh would have a job. I loved in The Return of The King when Strider, after pumping up the troops to storm Mordor, he turns to his cohort and says, “For Frodo”, at which the army burst through enemy lines.

Loyalty is Man Love in action. I love loyalty in the sports arena as well.

Every Yankee fan will remember when Armando Benitez plunked Tino and the benches cleared and even Jeff Nelso and Graeme Lloyd raced in from the bull pen and got a few belts in protecting their man. Bernie then followed with a homer, no better revenge. Now, the 1998 Yankees went on to win 125 games but I always felt that moment when the entire team had Tino’s back was their defining moment as a team. Oh, by the way, Tino repaid the favor by hitting the grand slam in Game 1 of the World Series…but I digress.

Getting back to the subject at hand, the hated Patriot, the man of Inflated Ego and Deflated Balls.

It is well known by Jet fans that this man was to assume the head coaching job after his friend and mentor, Bill Parcels, stepped down. Now the year before this guy was paid an extra mil to stay on as defensive coordinator and was going to get the head coaching job. Finally the day came and Parcels was leading this SOB to the podium to introduce him as the new coach when as they were walking a note was passed to Parcels. “I just accepted the Patriot job” or something like that was on the note and the news conference entered the land of fiasco.

That is why all Jet fans hate this man and hope more than his balls get deflated.

Loyalty? Not from him. He can win this year’s Super Bowl and ten more and he will still  be a BUM to me.

It had been a bitter cold week in New York so, when the temperatures broke the thirty degree mark in East Quogue,  it felt like a heat wave.

Sunday morning started off like most Sunday mornings except that instead of getting up around 6:30 AM I got up around 9:00 AM. Despite my Sunday morning sloth, I got up and dressed and out of the house earlier than most Sundays.

In addition to getting out earlier, I refrained from wearing one of my many New York Yankee hats or New York Jet hats. I didn’t wear a Yankee or Jet sweatshirt or a Yankee or Jet jacket. I cannot say I was happy about any of this.

Eileen and I were determined to get out in the sun and do something other than chores and food shopping. We were in the car at eleven and made our way to Roses and Rice, our local florist. It’s a great store and the owner has been selling my book for a couple of months. I spoke with her Saturday and suggested a special combination sale, flowers and a book. Look on Facebook later this week. Anyway, I was going to drop off ten copies of A Bronx Boy’s Tale. Unfortunately, the store was closed when we stopped by. Now it was off to the Quogue Library.

We checked out the library, sat in a lovely sitting room in front of a roaring faux fire place. It was really faux, consisting of a red light bulb for the roaring part.

We talked and then decided to head for the beach. We went over the Quogue Bridge and thought about go to the private Quogue Beach but I thought better of it. I had no desire with having to explain myself to the Quogue Police and so we opted to go a little further west on Dune Road to Rogers’ Beach in Westhampton Beach. This proved to be an important decision.

We pulled into the parking lot and it was just a marvelous day. It was so sunny my sunglasses were mostly ineffective. There was no wind which made the 31 degrees seem mild. We started up the stairs and walked on the short boardwalk to a patio. From there we could see the expanse of the beach and the nearly waveless ocean beyond. I was struggling to take a picture and could not make anything out by looking at my phone. Then, almost out of nowhere, a figure on the beach made his way up toward us.

At first I was concerned as he looks like he was wearing robes of some sort. He also had a beard and stocking hat. But as he got closer I could see that he had a rope belt and was wearing sandals. Clearly, he was a clergyman.

He immediately greeted Eileen and I and was kind enough to offer to take our picture. After he took our pictures we started talking and we introduced ourselves. He told us he was a Franciscan Brother from the BRONX! Eileen and I started laughing and we regaled our story to our new friend Brother Simon.

Remembering the books that we could not drop off at Roses and Rice Eileen turned to me and said, “You must give him a copy of your book.”

Well, we got talking about the Bronx and about the book and he was so very nice to us. We did give him a copy and he asked that I sign it and inscribe a blessing to him, which I did. We told him about the book that Eileen and I are working on and he was so touched that he wanted to pray with us, right there at the beach.

We prayed and then I told him about one of the common themes of Eileen’s portion of the book…there are no coincidences.

Eileen and I did not think that meeting Brother Simon was a coincidence. We needed to meet Brother Simon. He reminded us about what it is to be happy. You see, the moment we met Brother Simon we were both struck by his joy. It was visible. It was palpable. When we told him about our story he took us under his wing and hugged us both. It wasn’t a hug of pity or sorrow but…well, there are no coincidences.

As he left us we went back to the patio and then I heard him calling my name as he was running towards us from the parking lot with something in his hand…

“Here Jimmy take this, you don’t have a hat.”

There are no coincidences.

Well, A Bronx Boy’s Tale is available on Amazon and you can also read it on you Kindle. In order to set the mood, I have put together a suggested play list. Enjoy.

A BRONX BOY’S TALE

THE PLAY LIST

I thought it might be fun for readers of A Bronx Boy’s Tale to have a play list prepared for their listening pleasure. Each selection has specific meaning to me and captures the spirit of the time to which it is associated. As you read A Bronx Boy’s tale, you will, no doubt, want to add or substitute your own songs which may hold special significance to you. Please do and share with all of us.

Chapter 1: Romantic  Musketeers.

My Back Pages by The Byrds

I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonight  by Randy and The Tamerlanes

Then He Kissed Me by The Crystals

Candy Girl by The Four Seasons

A Teenager In Love by Dion and The Belmonts

Chapter 2: Then There’s Christmas

Louie Louie by The Kingsmen

Darling Can’t You Tell by The Clusters

My Guy by Mary Wells

Chapter 3: For All You Boys And Girls

I Want To Hold Your Hand by The Beatles (all the songs will be by The Beatles)

She Loves You

All My Loving

Twist and Shout

Chapter 4: It Was A Fair Day Indeed

PS I Love You by The Beatles

Rag Doll by The Four Seasons

Chapter 5: Dancing In The Dark

Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying by Jerry and The Pacemakers

Thank You Girl by The Beatles

Chapter 6: Is Commencement The End?

Needles and Pins by The Searchers

Glad All Over by The Dave Clark Five

Chapter 7: It’s Summertime

I Get Around by The Beach Boys

Under the Boardwalk by The Drifters

A Hard Day’s Night by The Beatles

If I Fell by The Beatles

And I Love Her by The Beatles

Chapter 8: Desperate Times

The End Of The World by Skeeter Davis

Chapter 9: I Hate That Robert Hall Song

It’s Alright by Adam Faith

Bits and Pieces by The Dave Clark Five

Chapter 10: Dominoes Used To Be A Game

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by The Platters…you’ll get it when you read it.

I Feel Fine by The Beatles

Chapter 11: One Boy’s Heroes

Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones

Norwegian Wood by The Beatles

Chapter 12: I Feel A Draft

Draft Morning by The Byrds

Chapter 13: The Summer Of Love

Light My Fire by The Doors

Purple Haze by Jimmi Hendrix

With A Little Help From My Friends by The Beatles

A Day In A Life by The Beatles

White Rabbit by The Jefferson Airplane

Chapter 14: What’s Going On?

Abraham Martin And John by Dion

Chapter 15: The End Of The Sixties

Come Together by The Beatles

Chapter 16: We All Want To Change The World

Ohio by Crosby Stills Nash and Young

Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones

Chicago by Crosby Stills Nash and Young

Chapter 17: September 3, 1971

Younger Girl by The Lovin Spoonful

Reason To Believe by Rod Stewart

Chapter 18: Love Grows In The Bronx

Finnegan’s Wake by The Clancy Brothers

Here There And Everywhere by The Beatles

Chapter 19: Epilogue

New York New York by The Chairman Of The Board Mr. Frank Sinatra

I wrote A Bronx Boy’s Tale to share my experiences growing up in the Bronx. But it became much more than a memoir. The lesson I learned from writing my book and talking to my readers is that A Bronx Boy’s Tale is as much about life in twenty-first century America as it is about life in the Bronx in the 1960’s and ’70’s.

Families, Friends, and Community helped me through assassinations and social upheaval back in the day and continue to help us all survive ebola scares and ISIS threats and a dysfunctional government.

A Bronx Boy’s Tale is more about now than nostalgia.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18759123-a-bronx-boy-s-tale?from_search=true

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Thank you. Jimmy