Exclusiye 0 er
lassman Oldsmobile
Mother's Day,
Without O.J.
The 1997
Eighty Eight
Royale
ERICA MEYER RAUZIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
by Oldsmobile
s newspaper columnists
go, I have shown great re-
straint, and I hope you
Om' appreciate it. The entire
O.J. Simpson mess has been in
our faces for more than a couple
of years now, and I don't think
I've even mentioned it more
than once or maybe twice.
So much for restraint. In the
light of Mother's Day, I will
spend a little ink on O.J.
O.J. Simpson's children are
om., going to have a crummy Moth-
er's Day, just like last year. Just
like forever. Just like Nicole
Simpson's mother and Ron
Goldman's mother and step-
mother. Contemplating the hu-
man relationships remaining in
the wake of this tragedy is al-
most unbearable.
Remember the poignant
yahrtzeit appearance made by
h. the Goldman family last sum-
mer? Anyone who could listen
to Goldman's father discuss his
late son's hopes and plans with-
out a catch in the throat has lost
sight of the fact that this circus
is about death, and families, not
about money and.fame, appear-
ances to the contrary.
The people lost in this saga
are the people Mother's Day re-
h.
r— ally focuses upon: not mothers,
even brutally murdered moth-
ers, but children. The two small
children of O.J. and Nicole
Simpson didn't ask for this.
They didn't ask to grow up in a
home of contention and §hout-
ing. They didn't ask to be jolt-
ed out of bed by strangers and
taken to the police station in the
middle of the night. They didn't
Os ask to be left motherless, bereft
of a woman who, for all her re-
ported faults, seems to have
been devoted to her children.
They didn't ask to be spotlight-
ed at her funeral or at custody
hearings, to exist in the glare of
notoriety.
They didn't ask to be virtual
orphans. They didn't ask to grow
up with an infamous father, who
OD has now been found liable in a
- civil court for their mother's
death. They will ask him, one
day, whether he ever once con-
sidered them before he lost his
temper.
I think all children of abusers
ask that.
Justin and Sydney Simpson
are fortunate to have grand-
, parents and aunts who care
pl. about them. Even their inex-
plicable father seems to love
them in his own way. How sad
that these children, no matter
where their lives lead them, will
always be identified as victims
48-MONTH LEASE, 25 IN STOCK
AVAILABLE FOR IMMEDIATE DELIVERY
Dual Air Bags • Anti Lock
Brakes • AM/FM Stereo
Cassette • 3800 V6
Engine • Full Power
Including Windows &
Locks • Aluminum
Wheels • Tilt • Cruise •Air
MUCH, MUCH MORE!
s2
9 month
LEASE FOR 48 MONTHS
CHOOSE FROM A
RAINBOW OF COLORS:
of violence, children of murder
victim and murderer.
Recently, I finished editing
a book written by a woman who
had been abused, a woman who
finally fled from her abusing
husband, choosing a life of safe
poverty alone with her children
over a life of luxury amid dread-
ful hurt.
She read my manuscript and
called me. "You did a great job,
for a normal person," she said.
What she meant was that I
understood as much of her saga
as anyone who hadn't been
abused could understand, but
not all of it. The outrage, hurt,
invasion, survivorship, damage,
relief ... the emotions she felt
were beyond what I could cap-
ture, try as I may. Thank God,
I have not had to cope with her
level of tragedy.
I feel that same blessed hand-
icap in trying to grapple with
the O.J. Simpson case. I have
a decent handle on it, for a nor-
mal person.
The Simpson children have
been robbed of being normal.
The entire court circus, pro-
longed and distorted by televi-
sion cameras, projected them
light years beyond the humble
grasp of normal. The poison
of abuse, which seeps into every
community, including ours, is
a thief of the normal, of a hap-
py, balanced family life, absent
the presence of victim or viola-
tor.
So if I am to wish you, and
your family, your wife and your
mom, anything extra special for
Mother's Day, I wish you the
blessing of the ordinary. If you
are together, and well, and lov-
ing, you have the greatest gift of
all, a gift beyond fame and for-
tune. You are normal. Cherish
it.
❑
aadsmoblle
• Dark Cherry Red Metallic
• Champagne Metallic
Demand Better
• Medium Garnet Red Metallic
• Silver Teal Metallic
• Light Gray Metallic
• Light Adriatic Blue Metallic
• Dark Green Metallic
48 month lease, $1459 cap cost reduction. Option to purchase at lease end for predetermined amount.
• Dark Green/Gray Metallic $425
sec. dep., tax, title, dest., acq. fee and plates due at inception. Lessee responsible for excess
• Black • White
wear & tear. 15e per mile over 12,000 miles per year. To get total obligation multiply monthly pymt. x 48
mo. Excludes GM Option I & II.
Glassman Oldsmobile
Telegraph • At The Tel-12 Mall • Southfield
810-354-3300
1-800-354-5558
HAPPY MOTHER'S
DAY SPECIAL
Jolt's
teller
Beauty Salon
5562 Drake Rd. (comer of Walnut Lake Rd.)
West Bloomfield (8 10) 661-1880
Send Someone
Special A Gift
52 Weeks a Year.
Send a gift
subscription to
THE
JEWISH NEWS
(810) 354-6620
20% Off
Any Service
New clients only
GIFT- CERTIFICATES
AVAILABLE
_Wifftyt Ciatv
Exclusive Dealer of
PETROF
tianapporks
Consultation • Sales • Service • Concert Rentals
23225 Woodward Avenue • Ferndale • (810) 541-6334
ti
rn
0,
C
>-
.CC
53