FROM DENNIS BRODKIN

My wife (a New Yorker)and I recently celebrated our 40th anniversary. Like many other Adath Israel alums ,Rabbi Newberger officiated at our wedding. I'll check to see if I can find a good pix or two to send of that great event. I'll also dig through my Bar Mitzvah slides and send to you so you can use your new scanner. We live in Mission Viejo, CA having left NJ in 1999. We moved out here to attend to some health issues that my Dad was going through. He passed away in 2000. My Mom is 86 and doing well; she lives in a nearby Leisure World community. I've kept her up to date on all of the postings and on her next visit to our house, I'll let her see for herself. I told her about the 2 pix of Bart( by the way, I tried to post a comment to those 2 pictures but it hasn't appeared; not sure if I did it properly) . Very bittersweet. She loves hearing about the "old days" at the center-what a special place. Judi and I are both still working. I'm a non-practicing attorney (did 20 years of practice in NJ) working for Wells Fargo Bank; Judi is an executive assitant with a local engineering compay. We have 2 daughters-both married and each has a daughter under the age of 2. We enjoy being grandparents ( the Woodbridge kids!!!), but unfortunately our kids don't live close by. Our older daughter lives in Portland, OR; both she and her husband are college professors. Our other daughter and her doctor husband live in Grand Rapids, MI.She is an elementary school library-information specialist who is taking a break from her career to raise her family (she's also pregnant with #2). They have both been regaled with my tales of Adath Israel so I have shared some of the blog with them. With all of the Chodosh women now living in SoCal, we often have opportunities to talk about Woodbridge. Not too long ago Thea had a dinner party and Alan Jacobsen and Nancy Deinstein were there as was Harriet Bernstein (and Thea's sisters). I've seen Ellen once in the last 40 years, just after her Mom died, but I believe she is coming out here this spring and hopefully we'll get a chance to see her again. We do chat via the internet, along with Marc Winograd and Bob Gottdenker. I'm also in touch with Norman Kline. Keep up the great work you are doing with the blog and I hope to send you some stuff soon. Take care. Dennis