Violet's Retirement to The Villages, Florida (with Ira, of course)

This is the fifth in my "Virtual Sitting Shiva" series of Blog postings of memories of Violet (Stark) Glickstein, my dear wife of 57 years, who sadly passed away November 27, 2021. [The first posting in this series is Here]

NOTE: If you are reading this on a cellphone, some of the text may extend over the edge of your screen. If that happens, turn your cellphone sideways, and all should fit. Also, if photos are too small, double click (or tap) and they should expand. Sorry for these issues, but my Facebook and Blogspot apps seems to have minds of their own. Ira

VIOLET'S RETIREMENT TO THE VILLAGES, FLORIDA

Violet and I have made many momentous decisions while raising our children and in our professional lives. Nearly all of them turned out very good, as if someone was watching over us and nudging us in the "right" direction.

In 2003, a couple years after retirement, we sold our home in Apalachin, NY and moved to The Villages, Florida. This turned out to be exactly the right thing to do at that time.

The Villages is known as "America's Favorite Retirement Hometown". There must be something in the water or the air, because, like almost all of our neighbors, we can't help saying "It's a beautiful day in The Villages" every chance we get. 

The photo montage below depicts our active retirement.

OUR HOUSE IN THE VILLAGE OF CHATHAM

RIGHT: We built a house in a wonderful location on a golf course pond. We installed a hot tub for our grandchildren and other visitors to enjoy.

TOP LEFT and MIDDLE:  I (Ira) joined the excellent bicycle club and participated in weekly rides. I also went on two bike/barge trips, the first to the Loire River area of France and the second from Brussels to Bruges in Belgium. 

TOP: Vi was active in photography, giving talks about the then-new topic of digital photography to the photography and computer clubs. She also joined a knitting group.

BOTTOM LEFT: We were founding members of Temple Shalom, a Reform congregation.

We both enjoy other activities in The Villages, such as water aerobics and visiting the town centers, dining at restaurants, and going to the movies. 

VIOLET HELPS FOUND A KNITTING CLUB

    

Violet met several fellow knitters, and they founded a very active knitting Club. The image above appeared in our local newspaper, The Daily Sun, on October 22, 2003.

OUR GRANDCHILDREN LOVE TO VISIT!

As our daughter Lisa suggested, choosing a retirement location near Disney would encourage visits by our children and grands. 

During their first visit, in 2004, Alex, Samantha, and Michaela posed with their "Uncle Toffee" (our Golden Retriever) by our golf cart, a photo that was published in the Daily Sun, our local newspaper. 

To the right is the ceramic dish Violet made for "Uncle Toffee". (After all these years it still exists!) Behind the dish is Violet's opinion of Toffee, which has adorned our refrigerator for many years, "My Golden Retriever is Smarter than Your Honor Student."

ACTIVE JEWISH COMMUNITY 

One of the first groups we joined was "The New Jewish Congregation," a Reform Jewish group then meeting in various locations, particularly the Oxford United Methodist Church. Soon after we arrived, plans were under way to purchase land easily accessible by both road and The Villages golf cart paths.

The new building was ready for occupancy in November 2006. Violet and I participated in walking the Torah from the Oxford Church to our new "Temple Shalom". The local authorities provided horse-mounted police as well as squad cars to block road traffic and ensure our security. 

The Temple Shalom lobby features a large plaque listing the Founding Members, including ours.

 

We have sponsored a number of Onegs (refreshments following the Friday Evening service) at Temple Shalom. The image below shows the Oneg to honor Violet on her 65th birthday. Our daughter Lisa and our triplet grands (Alex, Michaela, and Samantha) participated with Violet and me during that memorable Friday evening service.

VIOLET PADDLING WITH ME

Our good friends in The Villages (as well as those in New York) know I enjoy outdoor adventure quite a bit. Violet, not so much!

So, here is Violet on the beautiful Rainbow River (in Florida, August 2005) paddling with me in my kayak! (THANKS Joi for talking her into it! Also Joi's husband Tom, and our good friends who moved away to Georgia, Nancy and Bill, for joining us.)

SOME OF VIOLET'S ACTIVE NATURE PHOTOS

Most of Violet's photography tended towards impressively beautiful flowers. Nice, but not that exciting to me!

However, the following photos, taken right behind our home, are quite exciting to me.

Every year we got to see a family of Sand Hill Cranes behind our home. A male and female and their offspring walking and squawking around the golf course pond. 

We had a real treat in November 2009 when a pair did their mating dance for us immediately behind our house. Fortunately, Violet was photographing them as they got into the dancing mood. 

These are good sized birds, three to four feet tall with wingspans of five to seven feet! (For comparison, my height is five feet ten inches and, in the above photo, I'm further away from Violet's camera than they are.) These birds seem unconcerned as they walk around, often coming quite close. 

If you walk towards them, they will back away or fly off. Several minutes after we went out to see them and take some photos, they began weaving their bills towards each other and jumping and charging in a very impressive mating dance! (Or perhaps it was merely a domestic dispute? :^) Quite exciting as well as impressive! [Click on photos to make them larger.] 

MY PERSONAL BLOG

In 2007, I started my personal Blog. Although Violet was not directly involved in creating the Blog, she is a frequent topic. (Indeed, you are, right now, reading about Violet on the very Blog I referred to!)

Click https://tvpclub.blogspot.com/ for the latest ideas and opinions posted there.

*********************

So, please join me in thinking about your good and eventful times with Violet. Read subsequent postings on this Blog about events I remember. If you'd like, you could put on some slippers, sit on your couch, and join me and others in a "virtual" Shiva for Violet.

Love to all, and specially elevated kisses and hugs to Violet, from her husband,

Ira Glickstein

Click for LAST posting

Click for NEXT posting     

NOTE:  This is the fifth of our "Virtual Sitting Shiva", the traditional Jewish custom of relatives and friends devoting seven days to specially remembering the deceased.

Violet and Ira Glickstein were married in 1964. See our 50th Anniversary memories in the following postings include highlights of our life together.

CLICK THE HYPERTEXT BELOW TO JUMP TO YOUR TOPIC OF CHOICE

1. Wedding and Farm Days 
2. Passing the Genes and Memes
3. Computers R Us (Ira and Vi's careers)
4. Retirement in The Villages, FL
5. Our 50th Anniversary Baltic Cruise (Air Travel and Shipboard activities)
6. Our 50th Anniversary Baltic Cruise (Land-Tours)

50th-0 CELEBRATING OUR 50th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY (tvpclub.blogspot.com)

Violet's Return to College and Her Amazing Career at IBM/Loral/Lockheed-Owego

This is the fourth in my "Virtual Sitting Shiva" series of Blog postings of memories of Violet (Stark) Glickstein, my dear wife of 57 years, who sadly passed away November 27, 2021. [The first posting in this series is Here]

VIOLET'S REMARKABLE CAREER AT THIS OWEGO IBM/LORAL/LOCKHEED-MARTIN FACILITY

When Violet retired, in 1999, from her position as Lead Software Engineer for the HH-60D Night Stalker Helicopter project, she left behind a remarkable record of 16 years of amazing accomplishments at this Owego, NY facility.

However, let us start at the begining, when ...

WE BOUGHT ONE OF THE FIRST APPLE II COMPUTERS

In February 1978, we purchased one of the first 3000 Apple II home computers, a momentous decision fully supported by Violet. She and I, and our three girls, quickly learned to use the Apple II.

Thus, in 1980, when the Owego Free Academy (our local public high school) purchased their first Apple II computers, it was natural for the teacher to turn to our oldest daughter, Lisa, for help in demonstrating it to other students. The Binghamton (NY) newspaper ran a story in May 1980 titled "Computer age arrives in Owego", featuring a photo of Lisa doing just that.

A follow-up story, in June 1980, titled "Computer has family plugged in" featured a photo of our younger daughters, Rena and Sara, using our Apple II, along with Violet's positive comments fully justifying the expense. At the time, Violet was taking programming courses at Broome Community College, 

LEFT: Lisa demonstrates a computer at her school in Owego, NY.

RIGHT: Rena and Sara demonstrate our Apple II at home.

BOTTOM: Violet, Rena, and Sara were interviewed about our computer.

I (Ira) was using our Apple II at home, experimenting with simulations of Artificial Intelligence. It wasn't long before I started lugging our Apple II into the IBM facility to teach a course on that topic. Thus, in 1981 when IBM (finally!) came out with the PC-1, I was assigned the job of teaching engineers how to use this new tool and was the first person at the facility to have a PC in his office.  

WE BOUGHT AN IBM PERSONAL COMPUTER

We also purchased one of the first IBM PCs for home use.

Meanwhile, Violet switched from Broome Community College to Binghamton University for graduate courses that led to her earning her 1983 Master's degree in Computer Science (20 yeas after earning her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry undergraduate degree).

1983 was also the year that I earned membership in the IBM Federal Systems Division "Golden Circle" for my innovative use of the IBM PC to develop the Rational Cockpit and Multi-Purpose Display Concepts, as well as being the Lead Systems Engineer on the HH-60 D Special Operations Helicopter Technical Proposal.

TOP LEFT: Ira used the PC to develop and demonstrate Advanced Visionics concepts for helicopter pilots.

RIGHT: Ira's innovative use of the IBM PC to develop and demonstrate Multi-Puirpose Computer Display concepts, and his role as the Lead Engineer for IBM's HH-60 Technical Proposal, resulted in an IBM Federal Systems Division Golden Circle Award that included a trip for Violet and Ira to Hawaii.

BOTTOM LEFT: In 1984, an issue of the IBM Federal Systems Division "Technical Directions" magazine was devoted to "The Rational Cockpit and Advanced Automation" based partly on Ira's work.

VIOLET STARTS HER SOFTWARE ENGINEERING CAREER AT IBM-OWEGO

Violet's Master's Degree in Computer Science qualified her for a Software Engineering job at IBM-Owego in 1984.

TOP LEFT: As a result of our getting an Apple II home computer, Violet earned her Master's in Computer Science from Binghamton University, taught there, and then got a job at IBM Owego. (Keeping up with Violet, Ira earned his Master's in System Science in 1990 and his PhD in System Science from Binghamton University in 1996.)

BOTTOM LEFT: IBM Marketing award.

MIDDLE: Violet was the Lead Software Engineer for the Army Special Operations Project and received an Appreciation Award.

TOP RIGHT: Ira and Violet on vacation in Tahiti.

BOTTOM RIGHT: Lockheed-Martin Recognition Award.

LEFT; Violet and Ira in the Owego Artificial Intelligence laboratory in 1986.
TOP RIGHT: An issue of IBM FSD's "Technical Directions" included an article by Ira about "AI Aids for the Pilot".
BOTTOM RIGHT: Ira taught a course on "Artificial Intelligence and Artificial Life" at the Brandeis University (Boston) "Summer Odyssey" in 2000 and 2001.

While working and after retirement, we each taught online graduate courses for the University of Maryland University College up until 2013. (Ira in System Engineering and Violet in Software Engineering).

VIRTUALLY EVERYONE WHO WORKED WITH VIOLET AT OWEGO RESPECTED HER. THE ABSOLUTE PROOF IS IN THE NOTES DOZENS OF HER FELLOW EMPLOYEES WROTE IN ALL FOUR MARGINS OF THE PHOTO OF THE OWEGO IBM/LORAL/LOCKHEED-MARTIN FACILITY. 

DOUBLE-TAP EACH OF THE FOLLOWING FOUR IMAGES SO THEY EXPAND  AND FILL YOUR SCREEN. THEN PLEASE READ THEM!

POST RETIREMENT ADVENTURE

Violet retired in 1999 while I continued to 2001. In 2002, with both of us retired, we were able to have a wonderful 8-day raft adventure through the Grand Canyon. 

We were on a 15-passenger raft with a crew of three and camped along the Colorado River, like this.   

Of course, everything brought into the canyon had to be brought out, including all garbage from food service and even our poop! At each stop, the crew set up two poop stations, one in a tent and the other in the open. 

The photo on the left shows me on the "scenic" poop station, which I preferred because it had fewer flies and smelled better.  Violet (no surprise) preferred the tent poop station. However, like all of us, she peed and bathed in the cold (48 degree) river (women upstream and men downstream). 

 

The more I think about my wonderful life with Violet, including her willingness to step outside her normal lifestyle (that we might call "civilized"), as she did on this Grand Canyon adventure, the more I miss her.

So, please join me in thinking about your good and eventful times with Violet. Read subsequent postings on this Blog about events I remember. If you'd like, you could put on some slippers, sit on your couch, and join me and others in a "virtual" Shiva for Violet.

Love to all, and specially elevated kisses and hugs to Violet, from her husband,

Ira Glickstein

Click for LAST posting

Click for NEXT posting     

NOTE:  This is the fourth of our "Virtual Sitting Shiva", the traditional Jewish custom of relatives and friends devoting seven days to specially remembering the deceased.

Violet and Ira Glickstein were married in 1964. See our 50th Anniversary memories in the following postings include highlights of our life together.

CLICK THE HYPERTEXT BELOW TO JUMP TO YOUR TOPIC OF CHOICE

1. Wedding and Farm Days 
2. Passing the Genes and Memes
3. Computers R Us (Ira and Vi's careers)
4. Retirement in The Villages, FL
5. Our 50th Anniversary Baltic Cruise (Air Travel and Shipboard activities)
6. Our 50th Anniversary Baltic Cruise (Land-Tours)

50th-0 CELEBRATING OUR 50th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY (tvpclub.blogspot.com)

Violet and Ira Meet, Marry, and Multiply

This is the third in my "Virtual Sitting Shiva" series of Blog postings of memories of Violet (Stark) Glickstein, my dear wife of 57 years, who sadly passed away November 27, 2021. [The first posting in this series is Here]

THE BROOKLYN POST OFFICE DELIVERS!

The photo below shows the miraculously delivered letter I mailed to Violet, back in June 1963, in what turned out to be a successful attempt to contact her.  The address I had was off by over a mile! Yet, some dedicated Post Office employee went out of his or her way to correct the address and deliver it! (I'm proud to be the son of a Brooklyn Letter Carrier who walked miles each day, in all kinds of weather, with a mail sack on his back.  My Dad taught me to respect every person who earns his or her keep in a lawful occupation.)

Violet wrote the following letter in reply.

THAT WAS IN JUNE 1963.  

ONCE I HAD HER CORRECT PHONE NUMBER AND ADDRESS, I TURNED ON THE CHARM.

AND -- LONG STORY SHORT, -- WE WERE MARRIED A YEAR LATER!

Some necessary context is called for here. After graduating from the City College of New York, in January 1961, with an Electrical Engineering degree, I was working in North Plainfield, New Jersey and renting a room in nearby Westfield. On weekends, I'd stay at my parent's home in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, NY, where I pursued my social life.

WAS IT MY POETRY THAT WON HER OVER?

Starting in June 1963, we'd date on most weekends. Starting on July 22, 1963, and each month thereafter, I composed a love poem for Violet. This continued until we got engaged on Thanksgiving Day, November 1963.

Here we go!   

What do you think so far? Pretty good poetry considering that I'm an Engineer?

NOTE: In previous Blog postings, I've stated that I have no literal belief in Judaism, or any other religious system based on a Superior Being external to the Universe. For me, "God" or "Lord" or "Cupid" and similar names are merely short-cuts that refer to an essential NATURAL (not in any way Super-Natural) self-organizing feature inherent in the Universe.

That is what the Founders of our great experiment in free people governing themselves were referring to when they wrote about "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" in our Declaration of Independence. [Note capitalization. Do not put your trust in any source that pretends to quote the Declaration yet fails to capitalize these words.]

The poem below refers to the "Parachute Jump" in Coney Island, an easy boardwalk stroll from where I grew up in Brighton Beach. I've searched for the first photograph of Violet and me together, and I believe it was taken at this location in September 1963. 

OK, here it is! Thanksgiving, November 1963, when I formally asked Violet to be my wife.

Readers familiar with the poetry and prose of Lewis Carroll, particularly "Through the Looking-Glass", a sequel to his "Alice in Wonderland", will remember The Walrus and the Carpenter, who trick a bunch of fat Oysters to trot along to a beach party, only to discover they are to serve as the main course! (click for lyrics)

The photos below may be the earliest surviving pictures of Violet and me in the same place (just not in the same snapshot). We are with my first "Toffee", a very smart and streetwise dog who was some kind of a terrier mix. We got him when I was still living with my parents in Brooklyn and attending City College in Manhattan. 

Years later, when Violet and I lived in Apalachin, NY, I purchased my second "Toffee", a purebred Golden Retriever who had much better papers than me, see The Virtual Philosophy Club: Search results for toffee (tvpclub.blogspot.com).

Toffee was (at least in my opinion, and Violet's) the world's best and nicest dog. We went through obedience training, tracking, and agility together.

He knew lots of tricks. In the morning he would fetch his collar, my pool shoes, and the newspaper. He would follow hand signals or voice signals and stay, come, sit, roll over, and so on.


One of his best tricks was balancing a dog biscuit (or four, see photo) on his nose until you snapped your fingers.







I wrote to our daughter that "Toffee was so smart he must be partly Jewish!" She wrote back that she thought Toffee was telling his dog friends that his master "Ira was so smart he must be partly golden retriever."

Our granddaughters loved him and called him "uncle Toffee". Vi made him a food dish with that appellation. We were "mommy" and "daddy" to him.

Although I am not a literal believer, I have no doubt Toffee is now in a beautiful park just outside of Heaven, restored to his youthful vigor and playing with all the other dogs.

Every once in a while, one of the dogs stops playing, sniffs the air and perks up his ears ... and then runs to greet his master. Together, they cross the crystal bridge into Heaven.

God be with you Tof - See you on the other side

HOW TIME FLIES WHEN YOU ARE HAVING FUN!

50 YEARS OF MARRIAGE - FLAG DAY, JUNE 14th 1964 to 2014

TOP: We were young and foolish when we got married on June 14th 1964. 
BOTTOM: But look at what 50 years together has done! Lower middle photos are distorted using iPad "twisted" camera feature, but that is how we really feel! Ira (and Vi)

PILOT AND CO-PILOT FOR LIFE

Fifty years ago, a few days after our wedding, I rented a Cessna 152 and flew my new wife from Chatham Airport in NJ up to Niagara Falls, NY, stopping in Binghamton, NY for fuel. (Little did we know that less than two years later I would accept a job at IBM Owego, in the Binghamton area, and we would live and work there for nearly 40 years!)

TOP LEFT: Vi and Ira, Co-Pilot and Pilot for life, prepare to depart from Chatham Airport in Morristown, NJ. 
MIDDLE: We stopped in Binghamton, NY to refuel.
TOP RIGHT: Inflight on our "Honeymoon Special" adventure! 
BOTTOM: We rented a car and spent the night at the aptly named "Honeymoon Motel"on the Canadian side. 

We flew home the following day but the weather got bad so we had to spend the night at a hotel in Binghamton, returning the rented airplane in NJ the following morning.

OUR "GREEN ACRES" FARM DAYS

Early in our marriage, I took a job at IBM Federal Systems, Owego, NY, not far from Binghamton!

We purchased an old farm house with three barns and 88 acres of land in Newark Valley, NY, about 12 miles north of Owego.

TOP LEFT: Vi's parents, Gilbert and Clara Stark, visit our farm where we raised sheep. We had a kerosene heater in the kitchen and propane heaters in two other rooms. Our bedroom lacked any heater at all. I can still imagine what they were thinking "What have you done to our daughter?"

BOTTOM LEFT: Ira's parents, Morris and Ruth Glickstein, visit our farm. With the help of the New York State Agricultural Extension Service, we built a 1/4 acre pond on our land above the house and barns. We sometimes camped there.

RIGHT: Vi and Lisa get close and personal with one of our Angus beef cattle.

Some more views of our "Green Acres" FARM DAYS (1965-1973). 

TOP: In addition to the very old house and barns, the purchase included Trixie, our loyal dog. We built a dirt road up to the pond we put on the land above the house and barns.

BOTTOM LEFT: Me with my Dad Morris on road overlooking house and barns. Dad enclosed the front porch and made major improvements inside the house.

BOTTOM RIGHT: I'm in the middle, shoveling the chicken manure left over from the hens raised for eggs by the previous owners. Steamy and pungent, but great fertilizer!

ALSO SEE:

1. Wedding and Farm Days 
2. Passing the Genes and Memes
3. Computers R Us (Ira and Vi's careers)
4. Retirement in The Villages, FL
5. Our 50th Anniversary Baltic Cruise (Air Travel and Shipboard activities)
6. Our 50th Anniversary Baltic Cruise (Land-Tours)

So, please join me in thinking about your good and eventful times with Violet. Read subsequent postings on this Blog about events I remember. If you'd like, you could put on some slippers, sit on your couch, and join me and others in a "virtual" Shiva for Violet.

Love to all, and specially elevated kisses and hugs to Violet, from her husband,

Ira Glickstein

Click for LAST posting

Click for NEXT posting     

NOTE:  This is the third of our "Virtual Sitting Shiva", the traditional Jewish custom of relatives and friends devoting seven days to specially remembering the deceased.

Violet and Ira Glickstein were married in 1964. See our 50th Anniversary memories in the following postings include highlights of our life together.

CLICK THE HYPERTEXT BELOW TO JUMP TO YOUR TOPIC OF CHOICE

1. Wedding and Farm Days 
2. Passing the Genes and Memes
3. Computers R Us (Ira and Vi's careers)
4. Retirement in The Villages, FL
5. Our 50th Anniversary Baltic Cruise (Air Travel and Shipboard activities)
6. Our 50th Anniversary Baltic Cruise (Land-Tours)

50th-0 CELEBRATING OUR 50th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY (tvpclub.blogspot.com)