S.O.H.

I've decided to have a Trump-free Zone this morning.  I've been writing SO much about the growing depth of his egregious scandals lately that one does need some time to decompress and let others cover the topic for a while. So, instead, we're going with beneficence. 

When my father passed away a couple years ago, I packed up a lot of items and shipped them to my place in Los Angeles.  A couple of the bigger boxes I left packed because I knew at some point I'd be moving and it didn't make sense to unpack so much stuff that I had no room for, only to repack it reasonably soon. 

For reasons I'll write about soon, I finally opened one of those big boxes the other day, and started going through what was inside.  Among many other things, There were some books, and I couldn’t figure out why I’d saved this one in particular.  It was very old, wasn't in great shape, and didn't seem like something I'd have any interest in reading.  Then it occurred to me to check the face plate and see if there was in inscription of some sort.  There was. 

The inscription was from my grandfather, Morton Leviton, who was born in Odessa in the Ukraine, but came to the United States early on and got his naturalized citizenship in 1912 at the age of 27, where he later became an architect though he passed away long before I was born.  He was my mother’s father, and she absolutely, totally adored him, in fact she would still tear up in her 80s when talking about him dying when she was in her early teens.  (My brother John’s middle name was after him.)  As I said, I never knew him, but his wife, my Grandma Rose, was one of the utter joys of my life.  Under any circumstance, the inscription is glorious.  Considering the times we're in right now, it is all the more so.  But given the profession and career I've chosen, it reached an even higher level for me. 

What I also just noticed, going through some papers to fill out some of the details here, is that he and my grandmother were married in May 26, 1922 -- which means the book was something he gave her two weeks before their wedding.  This is what he wrote to her (in such beautiful penmanship…) and very understandably is why I kept the book –
 
 
To my beloved Rose
 
Life is serious, but at
the same time it is full of
fun and humor.
 
Happy and blessed are
those who possess a sense
of humor (“S.O.H.”) and can
see the funny and cheering
side of Life.
 
Morton
May 13, 1922