Kenny & The Peace Corps

Kenny and Moe, pictured before my wedding to Sonnet at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. That would be August 24, 1996 unless you review my marriage certificate .. but then, that is a longer story. Kenny is Moe's oldest friend from St Louis and remains one of his closest to this day. I first became aware of Kenny and his family from the 1970s when we holidayed together occasionally. Kenny is a pulmonary doctor in Los Angeles and teaches at UCLA. He is also a Rhodes Scholar. I think both he and my Dad had a need to get out of their confines to reach a higher potential. Moe signed up for the Peace Corps (the first Peace Corps, mind you) after hearing President Kennedy announce the program at Michigan University in 1961. Then, Moe was a law student and did not particularly care for the Kennedy family and especially the anti-semite Joe Kennedy; nor was he overly impressed by JFK in the televised Nixon debate. He was, however, mesmerised by the President's vision and decided on the spot to be a part of it. Since '61, more than 195,000 people have served as Peace Corps volunteers, one of them being my mother - Moe and Grace met in training camp and off they went to Malawi, Africa, to get to know each other. How cool is that? This a story I tell often BTW and still to this day - from the Peace Corps to Berkeley, California, in the late '60s. My parent's liberal credentials are deep, man. What an adventure that must have been for two very cool spirited youthful people.

Eitan refuses to do homework. I tell him: "OK, I am going to talk to [Head Teacher] Mrs England and tell her you suggest more homework for the school."
Eitan: "I am going to talk to Mrs England and tell her that you are mad."

Eitan's class prepares for an overnight and today his teacher fields questions and concerns. Eitan volunteers that he once peed down the stairs while sleep-walking.

Me to Madeleine: "What on earth are you doing?!"
Madeleine: "I have no idea."

“to promote world peace and friendship through a Peace Corps, which shall make available to interested countries and areas men and women of the United States qualified for service abroad and willing to serve, under conditions of hardship if necessary, to help the peoples of such countries and areas in meeting their needs for trained manpower.”
John F. Kennedy