Memories & Well Wishes

Dear Lori and Bert (Buddy):

Let me first wish two of my dearest friends a very happy 50th Anniversary. We have shared both wonderful and often trying times over the years, but our friendship remained steadfast. Not only were you wonderful to each other and your children, but you never would forget your great loyalty to extended family and friends. You brought me through times that I doubted I would get through myself.

Then came the laughter. No one laughed like the three of us having our morning coffee at Artie’s. Our Sundays together, after I came back from Brooklyn, with a call from you saying "come over for dinner". Lori would then take her evening shower and get ready for her favorite TV shows and politely say, “Good night Eric and Diane.”

We knew that meant it was time to go home. I could go on and on about the both of you and the love I have for you but we will save that for another time. Enjoy this wonderful occasion knowing you are so loved.

-Diane 

I can't believe they have been married 50 years how time flies. My favorite memories were going to New York every summer when I was a teenager and visiting family, in Long Island. We would go to the city and see a couple of Broadway Shows. Your mom and dad hold many fond memories in my heart. 

Lori was my matron of honor in my wedding. 

I love them so much. 

-Lisa 

Dear Lori and Bert,

Wishing you both a very Happy Anniversary! I always looked forward to seeing you at all the family events. You are both a darling couple. May you enjoy many more happy healthy years together.

All my love,

-Ethel 

Lots of memories surfaced when I saw this. Your dad somehow thinking it would be a good idea to let my dad try out the new motorcycle, leading to a crash in the backyard that somehow didn't discourage anyone enough to prevent the crash in the driveway. Watching the Fathers Hirshberg play music while standing with your mom at my bar-mitzvah. Your mom saving your life, Gregg, by pulling you out of the surf on the day I tried to show you the wonders of the ocean drowning you. So many things.

But I think the memory that has always meant the most to me is a very quiet one. The weekend that I graduated college, my Uncle Judah, the Rabbi, insisted on throwing a "party" for me at his swanky Park Avenue apartment. The baked goods were terrific, the gesture incredibly well-intentioned, but the atmosphere was over-formal, awkward, a little strange. We didn't invite many people--it wasn't really our party--and we didn't think your parents would be able to come (it wasn't one of their easy years). But they did come--they have always come--and the moment I remember actually occurred in the hall outside the apartment, when they took me out for just a moment, looking simultaneously proud of me and sad, and made it clear to me that I mattered to them. It wasn't any big deal, just a three-minute conversation. But it touched me very much that they made the effort to come, and to express themselves, at a time when they had so many more important things to worry about it.

They have, in truth, done that all my life.

Except on the occasions when your dad forgets who I am, but, you know...

-Glen 

The first memory that comes to mind related to Buddy and Lori is the thing I actually CAN'T ever seem to remember—which is that "Buddy" now officially goes by "Burt." I think this has less to do with my memory (which, admittedly, has its flaws) than it does with how I think of him. For me, the name "Buddy" has always been inseparable from the man. Casual, approachable, funny, fun, kind and alive, Uncle Burt will always be Buddy to me. 

Buddy and my dad look so much alike, that when walking up behind either of them, it is easy and common to mistake one for the other. The "Hirshberg Pelt" of silver hair, Lil's arrow-straight posture, the barrel chest, the, lets be kind and say, compact frame. But while they look, act and seem a lot alike in many ways, their differences are also key. For instance, Uncle Buddy actually knows how to PLAY the guitar, not just how to hold it such that it LOOKS like he knows how to play it. It was at Uncle Buddy's house that I first discovered that guitars aren't always tuned to open chords, and sometimes require you to place more than one finger on the neck at a time. Uncle Buddy was the Keith to my Dad's Mick, both on the stage and off, I would imagine. 

Then there was the fact that Buddy was always my "cool" uncle. He rode a motorcycle (and let his kids ride on the back.) He smoked (seemed cool at the time.) He had a guitar on a stand in his living room. He was just…cool. I remember the day he proudly showed us all his new motorcycle,which had a fire engine red gas tank and a black leather seat. He rode it up and down the block, even popping a little wheelie along the way. Upon returning to the driveway, he asked my dad, "You want to try it, Jer?" My dad, never one to know (or perhaps acknowledge) his own limitations, accepted the invitation. After a few brief instructions from Buddy, ("This is the throttle. Twist it slowly. This is the clutch. Release it SLOWLY...") my dad saddled up--for a very brief period of time. Within seconds of Buddy stepping away, my dad pulled the throttle all the way back, released the clutch completely, and hurtled the front wheel of the bike ten feet in the air, and himself straight onto his ass. Once we established that my dad wasn't hurt, we all had a laugh—which hasn't really stopped since. 

Aunt Lori was never far away during these exploits. She was always smiling, always warm, always calling us crazy, and making sure everyone was having fun and getting along. My memories of her surrounds her voice—which is gravelly and deep, but still somehow sparkling and bright. I've never heard another voice quite like it. And whenever I hear it, it makes me smile. Lori is one of the most positive people I've ever met. Always curious, complementary, engaged and with nary an unkind word about anyone. She sees the best in everyone around her. I have always appreciated that. 

Buddy and Lori you have always been a great uncle and aunt. You have been models of positivity and perseverance in the face of the adversities that life can throw at us all. And most of all, you have been together, solid and strong, for my entire life.  

I love you both. And I wish you the happiest of 50th Anniversaries. You have earned it!                                       

-Eric

Happy Anniversary Bert and Lori. 

Wow.  50 years.

I have so many great memories of being with the two of you!  Early days in Cleveland, visits to Detroit and some very nice times on Long Island while I was in college.  Always a warm smile from Bert and a bubbly hug from Lori greeted me.  I have some foggy memories of the old wooden boat and hanging out at the cottage on Lake Erie.  Many great visits at Lil and Ed's home.  Basking in the glow of the Hirshberg men.  Clearer memories from the visits to Detroit, where I first learned the true meaning of Ketchup and its importance in this world.  Still feel a bit bad about the night I was sleeping on a cot in the living room in Detroit and had a bit of a stomach issue and did not quite make it any where close to the bathroom and left the contents of my stomach splatted on your living room walls.  Lori was so kind and gracious about my mess.  Visiting in NY during college was a wonderful warm home away from home.  Bert was so kind to arrange an interview for me at E for M after college as I came through NY.  They were a bit surprised when I was called back for a second interview, I showed up of course, but had flown in from Denver.  I think they thought I was still in the hood.  With great appreciation to both of you for all the times you have "showed up" at family events.

With much love and gratitude.  Best wishes for many many more anniversary celebrations.

Love, 

-Mitch (and Ben of course)

Dear Bert and Lori,

It’s your 50^th Wedding Anniversary, which makes me think of your wedding, which makes me think of when I first heard you were dating, which makes me think of how long we have been both relatives and friends.

Lori, you and I have talked many times about (to paraphrase the song) “all the boys we’ve loved before”.  If a guy wanted “short”, “cute” and “fun”, he usually picked one of us.  And many times picked us both!

I was never jealous of anybody you dated until it came to my cousin Buddy.  When Jerry, Buddy, Brenda and I played cops and robbers as kids, Buddy and I were always a pair. Unfortunately, the strong influences of moral codes, strict laws, and Tilly and Lilly prevented me from ever asking him to the movies. (If we had only been born in Appalachia…!)  When I heard you had a crush on him, I well understood.  And then, when I heard you were getting married, I was thrilled.  Because I knew I wasn’t losing a cousin, but gaining a forever friend.

The two of you have proved to us all that young love can be “right” love.  You have been through it all together, and are an example of how to keep your sanity and sense of humor in this life.  

We salute you.  Celebrate you.  And love you.

-Susie and Arthur

The Hirshbergs, the Farrers, plus the Susssmans were out for brunch one day and had a little too much to drink. That being the case, we decided we should book a trip to Paradise Island for a long weekend. Right from the restaurant we went to a travel agent and booked the trip! The Farrers eventually dropped out, but the Hirshbergs and the Sussmans did go and had a good time…even though Lori got a little sick after dinner on the first night.

We actually thought we weren’t going to get to the hotel at one point. The minivan taking us to the hotel had some other passengers in it. One of the passengers was a local guy who I think we dropped off where he lived. Although he was in a suit, the place they dropped him off at was very suspect looking. A gathering of small houses (more like huts) with burlap covering the windows. We thought it was all over for us and that at the least we would all be robed. Of cause nothing happened, but we got a good scare out of it anyway.   

-Mark & Marilyn

My Hirshberg memories are mainly from childhood.... when it was   'A Given' that there was family, close family, right down the street.   I remember playing Superman with Bert [aka Buddy], Jer, and Susie on the wonderful bouncy hassocks that were always in the living room.   We bounced off them on Saturday mornings -- as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and whoever else was popular -- and invincible, at that time.   

I remember that we all prepared joint lemonade stands at the corner of Northcliffe and Scholl Roads intermittently all summer.   This COST our patient parents plenty.   I think that we offered two options:  pink and the traditional [at that time] yellow.   Or maybe it was [at Lill and Til's prodding] with sugar or without.... hard to remember.   But the big thing that I recall about these lemonade stands is that, from time to time, we anointed ourselves Junior G-Men and 'stopped suspicious characters'   as they wandered down Northcliffe.   I am not sure how we determined who was 'suspicious' and who was not, but i do remember that we had the chutzpah to do this!!  I can/t imagine children doing this in our neighborhoods now!

I remember taking a giant extended Dann family trip to Niagara.... where all seven young cousins slept in ONE bed.... sideways, so that we could all fit.   What fun!  And do i ever remember Madison and the cottage!  Often, when Richard and I are driving through Iowa,  I will see a cottage by the side of some small state road.... and reminisce.  

As for being with Lori and Bert in my adult years,   I think that you visited us on Stockwell years ago.... with small children in tow.   Great fun!   And I know that Richard and I had a few super-fun visits with you in the Kansas City area when we  all lived relatively closeby.   These days our biggest pleasure with Bert and Lori are the phone calls that we often share.   Hopefully, we will get to Arizona during a frigid Nebraska winter.  I know that you have been urging this.... and of course, you are right!

Happy 50th dear cousins.   I know full well what a Milestone Anniversary this is.   I/we love you both.... along with your family.   Richard joins me in wishing you and your kids all of life's goodness.   Enjoy a great celebration in the Kansas City area.... And feel loved. 

-Brenda & Richard

Dear Lori and Bert.

We were asked us to write a few memories of you to be included in a memory book on your 50^th anniversary...  Can’t believe is been 50 years.  It was only yesterday when we were looking for a size 3 wedding gown.    But that’s another story.

I am the only person alive who still remembers the day you were born and, Lori, I loved you then and I still love you.   Unfortunately geography has kept us apart but even with that, we have remained close and loving.  But we did manage to visit you in Detroit, Cincinnati, Long Island, and Kansas.  Did I miss any?

Where do we begin with you as a couple?  I remember when you came over to our house to tell us that you were engaged.  How thrilled we were.   I said let’s have a drink, and I made coffee.  You expected champagne?  Typical of me to serve coffee and cake.  We remember your wedding and my how you danced.  The hotel staff the next day felt that Bert had overdone the first night thing by the way you walked, didn’t realize is was the dancing that did it!!!!

Our sons are not that much younger than you but you were “mature” enough to baby sit for us.  It ending up your playing with the kids and we can remember coming home one night to find Bert on the garage roof looking for the balls.  They loved the kids’ toys and our kids loved them.  You were the first people that our kids visited on their own when you lived in Detroit and traveled by their selves.  They had a ball.   We vacationed together at Mackinaw Island (where I tried to ride a bike with Marion).  You watched Uncle Sam make a wrong turn on the highway and could do nothing about it.  But we made it. 

And many years later, we planned David and Debbie’s wedding to coincide with Jill’s Bat Mitzvah so our families would not have to travel twice.  We planned this beautiful weekend with an expensive and wonderful tent and it POURED and washed away the floor and the tent.  But we managed to have a beautiful Bat Mitzvah and a beautiful wedding. 

Do you remember your 25^th wedding celebration we planned somewhere in Pennsylvania. It was a convenient place for all of us and we arranged for a dinner celebration.  It was wonderful that we were together but the food was lousy and the special cake that I ordered was served frozen.  But we were together and we loved it.  (Wish we were with you celebrating this one.)

We may not have spent a lot of time with each other over the years, but every time was special and wonderful.  Like all families, there has been tragedies and joy but through it all we think that we have been blessed with loving you and being loved by you. 

So enjoy your simcha, and your loving family.  Stay healthy and enjoy every minute of life.  And know that we love you both so much. 

-Aunt Pauline and Uncle Sam 

Happy 50^th Lori and Bert.  I thank you for being such a wonderful part of my childhood memory.  I always sought out the two of you at family gatherings.  I felt both safe and valued in your company and I thought you were pretty cool for grownups.  All the best on this 50th milestone.  Life brings so many turns in the road that leaves us wondering, so please know that you are so very loved and appreciated.   

-Janet 

I have many wonderful memories of spending time with Bert and Lori as a couple and even before they were married. They are really a devoted loving couple, understanding of each others needs and have grown together, helping each other through difficult and joyous times. When they were newlyweds and in their first apartment (so very pretty) they invited us to Dinner. Lori made a beautiful meal and served it with grace and ease. I will also remember many evenings when these two young marrieds would stop by and visit and we would spend lovely time together. Congratulations on 50 years, I can hardly believe it.

-Bev 

Lori,

How many boys calls you today?

-Marlene

Bert and Lori,    

From the first time we met, you welcomed us as if we were long lost friends. Even after you moved to Arizona, you invited us for a visit and when we came, you made us feel so at home and welcomed. You took us to Mt. Lemmon and to Tubac and introduced us to your friends.

  

We're so glad our kids found each other and brought our families together and we look forward to spending more time with you over the years to come.

 

Love,

Larry and Sue

Dear Lori and Bert,

Happy 50^th!  I don’t know how this happened, but here we are.  Gregg asked us to talk about the past, but it feels almost overwhelming to do so.  Needless to say, we so remember sharing our efforts to raise all of our little children well when we were living close to each other in Detroit.  We have many photos of us attempting to make our way when we were so very very young! 

More important than any specifics I could offer, though, is the feeling I have carried about the two or you and the four of us over all of these years.  With regard to the two of you, you have been special as a couple since the beginning.  I have always seen you as united in all of the most meaningful ways.  As examples, you have had fun together.  You have been respectful of each other.  You support each other, and you seem happy to have shared your lives.

With regard to the four of us, I think I could say much of the same.  While we have not seen each other as regularly as we might have liked, I think we have always known that we could count on one another.  We have cared about what has happened in each of our lives, and we have demonstrated the love and good will that makes for solid relationships!  I think we each know that our sense of rich experiences across the life span would be less if we had not had what we managed to put together between us.

I am so happy to see you two together celebrating this wonderful event.  I do not know of many who have done fifty years of marriage as well.  Here’s to you! You deserve this recognition not just because you have made it this far, but because of time and life together done well!

Love, as always. 

Linda 

I recall Bert and Lor's backyard as extremely spacious, with a forest along the back edge and a yard big enough for a Bert's proud, super-sized, macho motorcycle. Lor and Linda were cooking up one of their superb barbecues of burgers, dogs, and corn. Bert was always good around a barbecue, and I was, well, always willing to help. The kids were off doing what kids did in those days, and I was admiring his macho toy. He, a highly skilled rider, asked if I'd like to try it out since there was plenty of room back there, but I declined, having never been on one and not knowing how to ride one. But Bert had great confidence that he could, with a few instructions, show his brother how it was done. Reluctantly, I mounted the thing. The kids stopped playing. The women looked up, the birds fell silent, and I gunned it. One thing I hadn't been told was that twisting the handle grips hard didn't brake the thing, and instead the engine screamed and the bike instantly reared up on its back wheel like an angry grizzly heading fast towards the forest on its butt and hurled me off backwards while it flipped over and crashed. But for a few nano-seconds, I think everyone thought I'd been faking it and was actually a spectacular daredevil rider showing off...until, that is, the screaming started__ my screaming. Only one person, well, maybe two, knew I was not in control right away. Anyway, the thing I never understood was that, while everyone rushed over to see how I was, the riotous laughing started immediately and continued through the corns and dogs. I'm still pissed off at everyone here that was there laughing then!

There are many other life-threatening adventures we shared involving storms on the high seas of Lake Erie, outboard motors, neighborhood rumbles, vertical cliff climbing, and other life-threatening situations. But I'm so happy I lived through it all so I could be here to celebrate with my favorite brother and sister-in-law on this fantastic occasion. We have lived through more than a half century as true friends and confidants, in spite of also being family! Watching the two of you handling with grace anything life handed you has truly been a source of inspiration for us. You seem happier now than ever, and we are both so happy for you. To the next 50....

Love to you both,

Jar