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From: Paul Goldstein
Date: 17 Oct 2007
Time: 11:58:28 -0500
Remote Name: 85.200.29.114
Hi, David! Thanks for a most beautiful and inspiring article! Many events in your life of which you wrote have parallels in my own, and your writing deeply resonated within me, bringing back memories, emotions, and feelings. It was very impressive how you have overcome the adversities in your life, and have transformed them into elements of positive motivation. I also had a dog for close to 17 years (mine was a French poodle named George), who was probably the only living being on earth who I knew I could always, without exception, speak fluently to. Your recounting of the fears and difficulties of asking girls/women for dances and dates (especially over the phone) brought back vivid memories to me, as well as all the comments from teachers and others that "You'll never be able to ____ " (with the blank being filled in by many different words and phrases). Your paragraph on your inability to have a Bar Mitzvah, and subsequent confirmation with a saxophone solo was quite interesting. For my own Bar Mitzvah I had an understanding rabbi who waived some of the usual customs of the ceremony, such as reading a Bar Mitzvah speech or conducting responsive readings with the congregation. But at that time I had the ability to chant fluently, once I was able to get my voice started. So I chanted the entire service (in Hebrew) without any speaking, and that flowed perfectly fine and fluently - just as soon as I was able to blurt my way through a massive /b/ block on the very first word, "Baruch" ["Blessed"]. As a fellow musician (pianist-composer), I could really relate to the idea of expressing oneself through music when expressing with speech is difficult and frustrating. Once again, David, thanks for a superb article. My wife Liv and I have been in touch with you for years, and hopefully someday we'll have a chance to personally meet! - Paul