Recollections of growing up in the 1960s and 70s in Ridgewood, NJ.
"When time passes, it's the people who knew you whom you want to see; they're the ones you can talk to. When enough time passes, what's it matter what they did to you?"
John Irving (The Cider House Rules)
Doug Fromm, former Reverend of theCommunity Church at Upper Ridgewood, helped me clarifywhat inspires this blog. Please read an excerpt from a 2009 letter to the congregation:
"Our identity is dependent on having a story that tells who we are.We learn about one another by listening to each others story.We understand life by listening to the story that tells us what the world is like and where it is going.
A story gives a community its identity.To be a community is to have a narrative that is acquired, sustained, and told and retold.It gives a common memory.It gives a common vision.It gives us common rituals and shared symbols and actions.As we live in community our stories become part of the common story and the common story becomes part of our personal stories."
. . .we’re all in it together, no matter what. -Paul McCubbin