Hi Steve,
I hope you had a nice week, and continue working on that new album of yours. I think it's awesome that you can re-invent yourself as many times as you like with music, for a whole lifetime. I mean, look at David Bowie, and Elton John, their styles and tastes have changed and yet they are still UBER-cool. That's exactly how it'll be for you too, no matter WHAT you decide to record.
Pete and I got up early yesterday, to drive 4.5 hours to Washington DC. We visited for a couple hours with my former roommate (home owner), David, and got the tour of the newly remodeled house. My old bedroom is now a storage room full of junk!! SIGH. Ah well, it was nice to see him.
Then we made our way into the downtown area, to my old Museum where I once worked.
I've been anxious and nervous for over a week, about going back there. But I am glad I went. I met up with several people whom I once worked with, but have now moved on to other jobs. One of my friends moved to the Capitol Building Visitor Services department, another to the Smithsonian, and several others moved on to work for the military.
I kept cringing when asked "So what kind of job are YOU doing now?"
That rather hurts my pride actually.
I've never NOT had a job. And to say, "I'm a stay-at-home full-time caregiver and housewife," really doesn't sound all that impressive to me, or anyone else for that matter.
My friend Mike V. took this photo of Pete and I entering the theater.
I'm talking with Manya Friedman, one of my favorite Holocaust Survivor Volunteers that I've known for many years. She was very happily surprised to see me, and was very happy to meet Pete too. The theater was full of people who came to pay their respects to my recently deceased friend, Mike Robinson, a much-loved coworker of many. In fact, this is only the second memorial service EVER that the Museum has held for one of its own employees. The other was Officer Stephen T. Johns, the security guard who was shot and killed at the entrance a couple of years ago.
They had a nice slide show of photos of Mike, hard at work, goofing off, being silly, being serious, and just being himself in all sorts of situations. It was awesome to see that. I cried a lot.
Here is Sara Bloomfield, the Museum Director, introducing the program for the evening. One thing she said that really got me teared up, was that everyone who has worked at this Museum, past and present, are all thought of as a second FAMILY. The jobs are difficult, stressful, and some days impossible. Working with the public is NOT an easy thing to do every day, but Mike did it with finesse, with dedication, and with professionalism. She said she had a "Mike Robinson sized hole in my heart."
We all do.
So being there was like being at a family reunion for me, of sorts. And those are never really easy to go to, especially if you've lost touch and they really don't know you very well anymore.
Several other people got up on the stage to speak about Mike and tell funny stories about him. Arthur Anderson, aka: "Handsome Man," aka: "Buff Daddy," told the story of how they went to a casino together, and Mike put in 2 nickels and won $2,000! Art said, "I told him I was gonna mug him on the way out the door!" He also said he was like "my twin brother from another mother."
Then Steve Buscemi (I think that's his last name), got up on the stage to sing one of Mike's favorite songs of all-time: "In My Life," by the Beatles. I cried. They showed the slide show at the same time, and it was really very moving and touching and just sad as hell. Steve's a great guy, and a pretty good singer too---he used to work in the Survivors Registry when I was there, and I always thought he was good looking. We used to have a lot of chats about the screwy stuff that went on in the Museum.
Then Mike's daughter took the stage. I don't remember her name, and I could kick myself for it. She was with her husband, and most of her siblings live on the west coast area, or in Arizona I think, so she talked about how they all reacted when Mike told them he was going to DC to work at the Museum. They thought he was crazy for going so far away, but they were happy for him. He brought his daughter Brittany with him, (she was diagnosed with Batten's Disease, which is a non-curable neurological disease that really is a mystery in the medical world). She's in her mid-20's, and lives in a nursing home, unable to care for herself, or live alone. Mike would work all day, and then go to see her in the evenings, every night. He was the most devoted father in the world, she said.
I went up to her with Pete after the memorial ended, to introduce myself. I had never met her before. I said, "Hi, my name is Becky---" and before I could say anything more, she got this surprised smile on her face, and said, "OH!! My dad talked about you a LOT--you're the girl who always wore sexy clothes to work all the time!" (HA!! I didn't realize what I wore was considered "sexy" by anybody)!!
I was embarrassed, but yes, I guess that was me.
He flirted with me all the time, I told her, and would say things like, "Santa's gonna kidnap you little girl," or "Come sit on Santa's lap and tell me what you want..." and fun things like that,
and she nodded and laughed, "Yep, that's my dad."
And then I had to go see Manya again....there we are, together, after the memorial was over. They had a nice reception for awhile, so everyone could mingle and talk about Mike. He would have enjoyed the food. He was totally into food, and everybody loved that about him.
Then there's Ted....Ted Shealy is one of the most dedicated people in the Museum. His grandparents were both survivors of Auschwitz. He loves to do re-enactments of World War II and travels to Europe for those events all the time. (I don't know how the HELL he can afford it on such a pittance working at the Museum, they really did NOT pay all that great when I was there). But he has moved up in the federal system obviously, and so he goes all over the place to do that.
What surprised me was when he met Pete. He shook Pete's hand and said, "This girl is the MOST dedicated and passionate person I've ever known when it comes to teaching the history of the Holocaust. She is amazing, and I miss her."
I was flabbergasted, and said, "TED! That's what I say about YOU!" and we laughed.
This is Lisa Kaus, she works at the Capitol now, but she stood up on that stage and gave the last speech of the evening, talking about how they had personal discussions about Mike's family, and how he was so proud of all of his kids, and he was a professional coworker that she enjoyed knowing. She then handed me a photo, one that I apparently took myself, of her with Mike at the Museum Holiday Party in 2007 when I attended...that was the last time I attended. She cropped herself out of the photo, but wanted me to have the photo of Mike in a frame, because she knew how much he meant to me.
I thought that was the nicest thing Lisa has ever said, or done, for me EVER.
Then there were the 2 Mike's....(well, there used to be 3 Mike's)....but these two characters were HILARIOUS and I loved working with them. I still keep in touch with them too, because they were so fun to hang out with and joke around with. The Mike on the left is Mike Rubin, who now works at the Smithsonian. Mike V (Valdievioso) is on the right, and without that beard, resembles Danny DeVito! I suggested that he cut out the middle part, and wear his beard like Mike Robinson did, but he said, "Nooo, he might come back to haunt me!" One time while working with Mike V, he was shouting out instructions to a group of loud kids who were entering the museum. He had to tell them to put their belongings on the conveyor belt to go through security. He yelled, "Put all of your PLAYBOYS and GAME STATIONS on the conveyor belt..." and the kids HOWLED with laughter that he told them to put their PLAYBOYS somewhere, and he did a face-palm and said, "Shit, well that's it, they're worthless now." And they were. Damned kids, but we laughed about that for a long time.
He and Mike Robinson HATED working at the Groups desk!!
I said, "Well, you guys both should know that...(my voice cracked, I was going to cry)....that no matter how far away I live, I would still be here for you too, if you ever died or anything...." and Mike Rubin burst out laughing, "Well isn't THAT comforting! Thanks Becky, you're so GREAT!"
and I laughed too, even though that's NOT exactly what I meant!
I just meant that, if I lived clear across the globe, I would be there for them no matter what.
Lisa Kaus, Kathy Fargey, Dan Jordan and Mike Rubin. All were my coworkers, 3 of whom have moved on. Dan still works at the Museum though. In fact, he married another coworker of ours, Jennifer, and they are still happily married after 10 years. Kathy is the one who moved on to work for the Army.
Ya know, we were all nerds, (can you tell)?!, but the truth is, we really are like a family. Lisa was tough to work with sometimes because she's so prim and proper, always doing things "by the book," and MAJORLY Type A personality, which drove me nuts. Kathy was fun, she was quiet, but she joked around a lot under her breath so nobody could hear her (except those of us near her), and she was pretty easy going most of the time. Dan was one of those conservative Republican-types, nice to work with in small doses...but totally NOT the type of guy I would joke around with.
Everybody milling about after the memorial ended.
I talked with several others---Bruce Levy (Film and Video Dept), who once worked in the bookstore, and I would bug him all the time too---about whether or not there would be another new Anne Frank book, and when, and by whom, etc., and I'd ask for extra discounts and stuff!!
I talked with Warren Marcus (Education), too, and when I told Pete, "Yeah, I used to go and BUG this guy all the time about wanting to work in his department," Warren said, "Ya know, you NEVER "bugged" me at all, I never thought of it that way, I really liked having you come around to see me and talk about working with us. You were never "bugging" me about anything!" So that was nice to hear. But I know I did bug him!!
I wanted to work in Education SO BAD, and continually pestered the poor guy about it.
Alas, I never got the chance work with him in that department.
I was saddened and shocked to see just how SICK looking the Chief of Staff looked.
I don't know what happened to him, but his head is all bent over, and his speech was slurred and high-pitched, almost like he had had a stroke or something!!
I know Bill Parsons aged at least 50 years on the t.v. that day when I saw him talking with the press about the murder of Stephen Johns inside the Museum. I think maybe the stress
of working at this place is slowing killing him. He looked awful.
And that's a heartbreaking thing too, because he really took a liking to me and I to him.
I don't think he even knew who I was though. I didn't get a chance to talk to him.
So, there you have it, my Museum family.
So, it was a bittersweet evening, to say the least. Then we had to leave.
I miss them all so much. I was disappointed that Nesse Godin didn't show up, though. She volunteers at the Museum every Wednesday. I think of her as my most beloved Survivor, and like a grandmother almost. She is awesome. I wish I could introduce her to you, I think you'd love her just as much as I do.
Well, I survived the anxiety and the nervousness, I saw other people that I didn't say much of anything to because they were my "arch-nemesis" and people I didn't really get along with very well, but I know they saw ME and knew who I was, so that's perfectly fine. HA!! The one chick I loathe the most, (Kris Donly), has been bitten by KARMA, right on the ass, because it got MASSIVELY HUGE.
Yep, she's a heffer, that one. I just love karma. :)
My friend Kenny was there too---Ken was always hilarious, always goofing around and cracking jokes, and he told me the BEST story about Mike Robinson that NOBODY else had heard at this Memorial because, well, it was X rated...apparently Mike and Ken and Art all went to Vegas once, with 2 other intern friends (one of whom was gay). Art and Ken rode in the car in front, and M-Rob was in the backseat with the 2 interns. Ken turned on a movie for them to watch, which was a PORN because that's what Mike asked him to get---but Ken snuck a GAY PORN into the thing, and it was HILARIOUS because the gay intern was LOVING IT, and whooping it up, whereas M-Rob was yelling, "OH MY GAWD!! DID YOU SEE THAT?!! WTF WAS THAT?! What IS this?! Ohhhhh NOOOOOO, he DIDN'T!! EWWWW!!! AAAAUUUUGGGHHH!!!"
And all the while Mike is having his fit in the backseat, Ken and Art are falling all over each other in the front seat, because next to them was a car full of big mean-looking Mexican guys, WATCHING THE MOVIE TOO, and talking among themselves in Spanish about it, very animatedly, apparently, and so Ken rolled down the windows and turned up the volume as high as it would go, and M-Rob is shouting, "ROLL THE WINDOWS UP!! ROLL THE WINDOWS UP!! OH MY GOD!!"
I laughed so hard I nearly peed my pants.
God I loved Mike Robinson so much. THAT was the highlight story of the whole evening, in my opinion, because it shows ya just how NAUGHTY and FUN Mike really was.
I'll never forget him.
Bye for now. Have a nice weekend Stephen, and thanks for listening to my grief.
It is good to know that you understand me, even if it's only in my imagination.
Love, Rebecca
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