11 Years Old

Today, I have two 11 year old daughters. Bebis turned 11 today. She's a set of Irish twins with Loni, who turns 12 in 4 weeks. And if you've been reading this blog, you can probably guess what I got Bebis for her birthday. Yup, you guessed it...an Ipod Shuffle. I guess I better get out into the backyard and start digging a second hole.

I don't remember too much of my eleventh year. I remember Star Wars coming out that year, my brother Frunkel was born and my maternal grandmother dying at the year's end.

My most lucid memory of that year (1977) is the NYC blackout in July, when the lights were out for over 24 hours. That was the year the hated Yankees were vying for yet another World Series title (while my beloved Mets seemed to be just as hapless as always), the Son of Sam killer was lurking in the shadows, killing young girls (my older sister wasn't allowed to go anywhere unattended) and it was hot as hell that day, much like the rest of that summer. I remember my Mom getting us ready for bed when the lights went out, so it must have been around 9 or 10 PM.

After the lights went out, it seemed like pandemonium hit throughout the city. I lived in an Italian neighborhood and everyone was on their porches the second the lights went out. I guess a few people had radios that reported that there was already incidents of looting occurring all over the city especially in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan. All of us kids were told not to go anywhere alone that summer for fear of the "Son of Sam". At first there seemed to be a general panic in the neighborhood. We had no idea what to expect and even the adults seemed very insecure about safety. As the adults congregated in the streets, us kids were told to stay indoors.

And then something wonderful happened. The adults got together and decided that it would be best to stay awake, patrol the nieghborhood and have a big sort of block party. Adults were dispatched to either side of the block with baseball bats and an assortment of weapons to make sure no undesireables wandered onto our street. Cars were parked across the entrance and exit of our street to block off any road traffic. Grills were fired up and the street was lit up with the lights from candles, trashbin fires and flashlights. It didn't sound like the power was going to be on anytime soon, so people started emptying their fridges and cooking on their grills. No one went to bed that night. Us kids got to play in the street all night. I never remember being happier as we played, ate great food and helped the adults patrol the neighborhood. We played until we passed out probably sometime around daybreak. Us kids all secretly hoped that the blackout would last another night but the electricity did end up coming on late the following evening.

I know that the 1977 blackout was different for many other people in NYC but I will always remember it fondly as one of the best parties I remember. Our Italian community really came together and made a nice memory out of a potentially disastrous one for us kids.