COMMUNITY VIEWS
The Real Meaning Of Life
LYNN ROSENTHAL
Special to the Jewish News
J
. 26, 1999, was one of the
worst days of my life. My
mom was diagnosed with
breast cancer. June 27, 2000,
was the other worst day of my life: my
dad suffered a mild heart attack.
I am not writing this article for
sympathy or compassion; instead, I
am writing to show how precious life
is and to beg you to savor and cherish
your loved ones before it's too late.
I love my parents, Bev and Gerald
Rosenthal, more than anything on
earth. This article can't do justice as
far as describing to you the love,
admiration and respect I have for
these two incredible people.
My mom, Bev, was diagnosed
with cancer a year ago. The first
thought that popped into my mind
was "death." Most people would not
admit to this. I was scared. I knew I
had to be strong for my mom and
my family, but for the first time in
my life, I was petrified at the
thought that I could really lose my
mom to this disease.
From Day One, my mom
approached this disease with nothing
less than courage, optimism and a
strong will to beat the cancer. She
underwent a double mastectomy,
chemotherapy and reconstructive
surgery, all in less than a year.
j
Lynn Rosenthal, is an Oak Park
resident. Her e-mail address
dsexyvette@aol.com
No Complaints
Not once, did she complain. Instead,
she set such an example for others to
follow. I was always proud of her
before but I can't describe in this arti-
cle how I feel about my mom today. I
have never seen anyone go through
what she did with the attitude,
courage and optimism she displayed. I
don't believe many people would have
handled the situation the same way,
especially with the insurmountable
strength my mom displayed.
One incident that stands out in my
mind was during one of her chemother-
apy treatments, when my mom was
walking the halls of the hospital in her
very "fashionable" hospital gown. My
mom conducts market research surveys
and is known by many professionals in
the medical field.
This one particular evening, one of
the doctors who knew my mom from
her work approached her and inquired
as to why she was in the hospital, in a
gown, instead of conducting her sur-
veys. My mom briefly explained the
situation (as her normal, cheery self)
and when the doctor went to leave,
both he and my mom "high-fived"
each other! My mom gave him a great
big smile, and told him everything
will be fine. She told him she would
be back at work in no time.
What's so ironic is the doctor was
truly in awe of my mom, as were the
rest of us. My mom then-proceeded to
engage other patients in "pep" talks,
which they apparently adored.
Now, you might be thinking, "this
lady is in denial," but I can assure
you, this was not the case. My mom
was well aware of what was going on,
yet she was determined to fight this
disease and not let it deter her in any
manner. I know secretly my mom was
Lynn Rosenthal, her father Gerald and
her mother Bev.
scared to death but she was quite
adamant in displaying nothing but
positivity, and expected nothing less
from the people around her.
Mom's Doing Well
To date, I am so happy to say, my mom
is doing exceptionally well. Her cancer is
in remission and she will lead a normal,
happy life as she always had, prior to her
diagnosis. In fact, she and my dad •
recently celebrated their 40th wedding
anniversary.
Okay now, speaking about my dad ...
In May of this year, my dad went in
for a routine stress test. To his and our
family's surprise, it was found that he
had not one, but three; blocked arteries
to his heart. The first artery was 99 per-
cent blocked; the second artery was 95
percent blocked; the third was 50 per-
cent blocked. Surgery was inevitable.
The first surgery went great. The second
surgery was a different story. My dad
suffered a mild heart attack.
Like my mom, my dad was a real
trouper throughout this entire ordeal.
I wish I could say the same for my
family and me! All I recall is sitting in
the cardiac care unit, looking at my
dad hooked up to all the machinery,
and my life totally stopped.. Here, was
my dad, my Rock of Gibraltar, lying
in a hospital bed, looking so pale and
tired. I could feel my heart beating so
fast; it felt like it was going to pop
right out of my chest. My family and I
gathered all the information we could
about his condition and we took each
day, one at a time.
- My dad, being the practical joker
that he is, kept asking if he could "go
home and water-ski now." That was
his biggest concern! Like my mom,
he displayed nothing but courage and
a strong desire to heal as fast as he
could, so as to resume his normal,
everyday life. He, too, never com-
plained once. All he did was praise the
hospital staff, the doctors and nurses
at how wonderfully he was treated.
In closing, I would like to take the
opportunity to suggest that life really is
way too short. Please think about telling
your loved ones how much they mean
to you before it's too late. Maybe give
your parents a hug if they are with you.
Maybe give your children a hug and tell
them how special they are to you. Take a
second to reflect on your loved ones and
how much they really mean to you. I
know I did! 0
LETTERS
`Land For Peace
Is Flawed
The "land for peace" formula that has
served as a basis for discussing peace
between Israel and the PLO, most
recently at Camp David, is fundamen-
tally flawed. Its use has had a history
of failures.
In September 1938, England's Prime
Minister Neville Chamberlain and Adolf
Hitler met in Munich, Germany, and
agreed, in a land-for-peace deal, to dis-
member Czechoslovakia, providing Ger-
many with more lebensraum [living
space]. Following the Munich meeting,
the prime minister of England
announced to a hopeful world that
"peace with honor ... in our time" had
8/4
2000
3 6
been achieved. One year later, Germany
invaded Poland, seeking more leben-
sraum, starting World War II.
Why, one asks, would a land-for-
peace deal lead to peace between the
Arabs and Israel? Why, one also asks,
does the PLO support a public educa-
tion system that teaches young Arab
children to hate Jews, importing Nazi-
like propaganda to aid the process, as
discussed in the Jewish News articles
by Larry Derfner and Marc Fink
("Winds Of Change," July 28, page
26, and "Maintain The Status Quo,"
July 28, page 35).
In the Wye accords, former Israeli
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu
addressed the issue but, alas, to no
effect.
The basic problem with a land-for-
peace deal, as advocated by current
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, is
its open-endedness. At some point,
Israel, if it is to survive, will have to
say "no" to more Arab demands for
territory as well as demands impacting
its security. At that point, the question
is, will Israel be united and strong
enough to survive another war?
In 100 years from now, it is possi-
ble that there will be peace — a peace
that will allow Israel to elect an Arab
as its prime minister because he is the
best candidate, and similarly for the
Palestinians to elect a Jew as their
leader. The question is, how do we get
from here to there?
If such a gap is to be bridged, pub-
lic education has to play a key role:
teaching mutual respect between
Arabs and Jews. When that process is
under way, the issues that are now
intractable may become less so as
younger and more pragmatic minds
take leadership roles in the peace
process.
At present, there is no credible evi-
dence to show that the PLO is inter-
ested in changing its education system
to promote peace.
Irving Warshawsky
West Bloomfield
Is It Really
A Jewish Cause?
Last week's cover story ("Being Green
and Jewish," July 28, page 6) suggests
that the Coalition on the Environ-