My Lidda Geeel

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IF YOU ARE NEW TO READING MY BLOG... PLEASE START AT THE BEGINNING... LOOK FOR ARCHIVES... GOTO AUGUST 2004 AND START AT THE BOTTOM AND WORK UP. THANKS.

On TV, Archie Bunker (remember his New York accent?) used to call his daughter Gloria his lidda geeel... So do I, I call my daughter Rachel Ann ... lidda geeel. (little girl)

Fathers can talk about their kids, but Jewish fathers talk and exhibit (if they are lucky,) what we call "nochus" (pride, extreme pride and joy) From a pig tailed little one, Rachel blossomed into a wonderful, caring and intelligent young lady. Growing up with 3 guys, 2 brothers and Dad (as her Mom passed away when she was only 8 years old) was tough...But she made it through and has made me so proud.

Before she turned 18, Rachel told me she wanted to become an EMT, like me. She took the certification course and just after her 18th birthday became an EMT, like me...

During Rachel's first year as an EMT she helped save a life (using CPR) and bring a new life into this world, helping to, on an emergency basis, deliver a beautiful baby boy in the front seat of a car. These are the "up" parts of being an EMT.

Rachel has known happiness and sadness being an EMT. The events of September 11th shook all of us. But, like so many others in our local volunteer ambulance company somewhere on Long Island, NY. Rachel pitched right in and helped gather and deliver supplies for the rescue efforts at ground zero in New York City in the days following 9/11. The left picture below (while not a very good one, click on it to enlarge) shows Rachel helping the Transit Police unload supplies (water, food, clothing, sundries) for the rescue workers. Our Corps collected four truck loads (18 wheeler size) of supplies and delivered them directly to where they were needed. Rachel was part of that effort.

After the work was done, a police captain took us around ground zero. Words cannot describe what we saw. It was a good feeling to help those who were helping in the search and rescue efforts.

The other 2 pics show my ever smiling Rachel. The one on the right was taken on the Ernestina (tall ship mentioned in other posts here) the day we visited her brother Jay.

While a volunteer EMT, Rachel works for a paid ambulance service as well. I am so proud of her. I love you liddle geeel.