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