Page 8 - Boca ViewPointe - October '24

Page 8, Viewpointe October 2024
Too Old To Change?

By Robert W. Goldfarb of them every day. Old friends invited me to dinner. I From the moment I met her, Muriel helped me become
read everything I could find on grief, loss and loneliness. the man I am, someone who, at times, has become my
When my wife died shortly before our 70th anniversary, But this didn’t require much of me. I was always close to hero. Muriel might not be alongside me, but she made it
I was certain of two things, that I could not survive without family and old friends and frequently read deep into the possible for me to survive. She has done something else,
her and that I had to survive without her. I was 90, but too night. Losing Muriel tore from me her fearlessness and she helped me make my way with courage and pride on
healthy to simply will myself to give up and die. My children joy. Grief made breathing more like gasping. Was I too the road deeper into old age.
and grandchildren had suffered too great a loss to endure broken to survive without her. I remember how acts of kindness from family and
another. Muriel would have wanted me to go on, thinking not If I chose to survive, I would have to be a different friends, sometimes from strangers, helped me begin to
of what I lost, but of all we had together for all those years. man than the one I became the day Muriel died. That heal. I now try to touch others with acts of kindness.
Going on without her called on resources within me I would mean reassembling all the broken parts of me into I welcome change and happily accept invitations I
wasn’t sure were there. We had been together as though in someone who could go on alone. I would try to build once rejected, I compete in three-mile races and fly to
embrace from the time she was 17 and I was 22. Without her I my life as Muriel and I had long ago built ours from the California to visit my new great-grandchildren, I say yes
felt incomplete. My confidence flickered; her’s blazed. I found strongest parts of each of us. more than no. I’m a gentler man and a kinder one. All
comfort in the familiar; she treated change as an adventure. Her confidence powered our life and I would bring it this because her presence has taken my hand.
From our first days together we saw life as something into mine. My intuition--my gut feel for the integrity of Muriel often told me she was proud of the man she
physical we could build from parts of who we were. I others--kept me alive on battlefields where other soldiers helped me become. I know she is proud of the man who
wanted our life to be lit by her joy. She was confident fell. Muriel would want me to do that. During the many has somehow found a way to go on without her.
my discipline would get that life built. But, she was gone sleepless nights I began rebuilding myself. As I began
and the light was beginning to dim. I would have to find adding Muriel’s strengths to mine, I felt her presence. She Bob’s articles have appeared in The New York Times,
a way to go on before it became too dark to find my way. might not be physically alongside me, but she was in my The San Francisco Chronicle and in Next Avenue, the
In the early months, my children, grandchildren and I being, my consciousness. It was not only her strengths that publication of the Public Broadcasting Service. His
met regularly to comfort each other. I still talk with one would carry me ahead, but her voice that began comforting book, “What’s Stopping Me From Getting Ahead?” was
me in the midnight moments. published by McGraw Hill and is in five languages. 
Attention Move Over LAW (FS 316.126)

Boca Pointe Residents!

Flatten All Your Boxes! By Elyse Weintraub Brown, and then safely move over so that the
Community Education
emergency vehicle can pass.
Our recycling trucks do not pick up your Specialist, Palm Beach Are you unsure about what you
are supposed to do when you are
County Fire Rescue
cardboard boxes if they are not flattened. Instead, (561) 616-7051 or driving on a roadway with multiple
they go to trash and are burned with regular refuse.... ewbrown@pbcgov.org lanes, and you see a fire truck or rescue
lost revenue for residents of Boca Pointe.  truck working an emergency ON THE
This message is brought SIDE OF THE ROAD? The Answer is….When it is safe to
to you by your friendly do, merge away from a vehicle working on the side of the
Firefighters from Palm Beach roadway to provide an empty travel lane for the emergency
Are You Watching County Fire Rescue…. worker. If you are not able to safely move over, you must
slow down to a speed of 20 MPH below the posted speed

Every day firefighters and
Your Speed? other emergency responders drive to emergencies. What’s limit unless directed otherwise by a law enforcement officer.
On a two-lane roadway…Where there is NO lane of travel
more, oftentimes the emergency they are driving to is actually

in the roadway. Although they are helping others and rendering
in the same direction to merge over to, you are REQUIRED
aid, they are also at risk of being injured and killed on our to slow down to a speed that is 20 miles per hour less than
Please obey all posted speed limit roadways by motorists. Help protect them…because if they the posted speed limit. If the speed limit is 20 miles per hour
signs throughout Boca Pointe for the can’t help you in your time of need…who will? or less, you must slow down to five miles per hour.
safety of our residents. As a reminder, Learn the Move Over LAW (FS 316.126) In the State of Florida, drivers must also move over for
the speed limits are as follows: Are you unsure about what you are supposed to do when sanitation vehicles and utility service vehicles performing
you are driving on a local roadway, and you see DRIVING
tasks related to their services, and wreckers displaying amber
Boca Pointe Drive 30mph BEHIND YOU a fire truck or other emergency vehicle rotating or flashing lights performing a recovery or loading
Via de Sonrisa del Norte 25mph with lights flashing and sirens wailing on the way to an on the roadside.
Promenade Drive 20mph emergency? The Answer is …you must yield the right Violating the Move Over Law can result in a fine and points
SPEEDING FINES ARE of way. When it is safe to do so, move over as close as on your license; and worse, because it puts rescuers, civilians,
BEING ENFORCED!!  reasonable to the closest edge of the curb of the roadway, and other motorists at risk of serious injury and even death.
clear of any intersection and then stop. When this happens For everyone’s safety, share the Move Over Law with others.
on highways and interstates, rather than stop, slow down Help us…help You! 

33rd Annual Alicia & Jeff Spero
Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center
Phyllis & Harvey Sandler Center

Book & Author

Luncheon

LEAH'S PET CARE Presenting four best-selling authors

My name is Leah Goldberg, a full time
resident of Villa Sonrisa for the last six years. Tuesday, November 12, 9:00 am
I have been working with dogs of all sizes Boca West Country Club
for over 15 years. Services I provide include
daily walking, administering medications,
veterinary and grooming runs, or just plain
spending some time with dogs that are home
alone during the day. I am bonded and
insured through Pet Sitters International.
I would love the opportunity to take care
of your pet. P.S. I will also take care of cats
for anyone who needs that service. I can be 561-464-3086 • levisjcc.org/bookandauthor
reached 7 days a week at 561-849-8191.

Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center • Phyllis & Harvey Sandler Center • Toby & Leon Cooperman Campus
21050 95th Avenue S., Boca Raton, FL 33428 • Ph 561-558-2520 • levisjcc.org/sandler