Letter From Elba

Author’s Note:  This is my last post until Sunday, November 18, Dear Readers.  I’m heading south towards the sun and will have lots to tell you when I return.  So please be patient and don’t forget about me when I’m gone.

…Monday, October 22, 2018 marked the annual Fall Benefit Luncheon for the Lynn Sage Cancer Research Foundation.

Thirty-three years ago, I had the privilege of serving as this fledgling organization’s very first Public Relations Chairman.

How well I remember the little event I organized.  Twenty or so women- all friends of Lynn’s- found themselves on the floor of the Mercantile Exchange.  Where we were given a tour and duly photographed for the “Society Pages” of the Sun Times and the Tribune.

Wow! What a difference thirty-three years makes. Along with the blood, sweat and tears of practically all of the original gang of twenty.

In loving memory of Lynn, and fired up by the outrage against the scourge of breast cancer, these dynamos attacked the problem head on.

Now the event has grown to over a thousand people. There’s a purse auction as the “amuse bouche.”

And a fabulous speaker as the “entrée.”

Superstars like Maya Rudolph.

(Shown here with Dr. Leonidas Platanias, Director of the Lurie Cancer Center.)

And Diane Keaton.

And last year’s fabulous Kathy Bates.

(Shown here with Terri Lind, Charlene Lieber and Lili Ann Zisook.)

And some thirty-four million dollars later- and an affiliation in 1991 with Northwestern Memorial Hospital- the LSCRF has become a leader in the fight against breast cancer.

On a personal note, let me just add that it’s so much fun for me to catch up with old friends who I don’t get to see throughout the year.  Hence there are hugs, laughter and of course, some tears. In short, a wonderful afternoon.

But this year was made even more special because of some serendipity.  I just happened to know the guest speaker- Jill Kargman.

For those of you who may not have had the pleasure of her company, let me quote just a little from her c.v.

“A born and bred New Yorker, Jill Kargman age 44, is the creator, writer, producer and star of the scripted comedy, Odd Mom Out in which Ms. Kargman played a satirical version of herself navigating the hilarity of raising children on the upper east side in NYC.

…She is a New York Times best-selling author of multiple books, and her most recent book, a comedic essay collection, Sprinkle Glitter on my Grave, was published in September 2016 by Random House.

…Jill hosts the “Jill Kargman Show” on SiriusXM Stars Channel 109. She recently made an appearance in her first Hollywood studio movie, A Bad Mom’s Christmas.

Ms. Kargman recently underwent a double mastectomy due to CHEK2.”

And she went to summer camp with my kids.

And she single-handedly skewed the entire admissions process when my daughter Natasha applied at boarding schools.

Let me explain.

Jill and her brother Will had gone to Camp Laurel in Readfield, Maine with my kids, Nick and Natasha.

Although little known here in the midwest- where summer camps in Wisconsin rule- Laurel was just so great.

A boys and girls camp combined, it featured not only a huge waterfront where Nick could improve his water skiing chops but  a terrific riding program so that Natasha could not only keep up with her equestrian skills but stable her Welsh pony, Napoleon, for the summer.

(Photo by Henry X Arenberg)

(And before you get your jodhpurs in a knot, let me say that trailering Napoleon out to Maine and back was a lot cheaper than paying someone to ride him five times a week for eight weeks.  And Natasha loved having him there.)

Helicopter Equine Parent Sidebar:  Before sending him off to camp, Natasha wanted to know where the camp vet had gone to medical school.  “Natasha,” I said exasperatedly, “I don’t know where the camp doctor went to medical school.  You’ll both be fine.”

And they were.  For five blissful, bucolic summers, Nick and Natasha (and Napoleon) spent eight exciting weeks amongst the pine forests.  They made lots of lifelong friends and developed important life skills like independence, getting along with a peer group and boogie boarding.

Natasha even went one step further during her post camp years.  She worked for Laurel as an adult doing administrative stuff in the office.

Jill was three years older than Natasha. She was Jill Kopelman back then- daughter of the famous- and fabulous- Ari and Coco Kopelman of Chanel fame.

(This power duo had to be a hard act to follow but Jill and her brother, Will, have done it in style.)

…Anyhow, after camp, Winnetka Natasha and Manhattan Jill’s paths did not cross.

Until one day in Spring of  1991.

Bill and I were taking Natasha on a trip touring the boarding schools that she thought she might want to attend.

We saw Choate and Hotchkiss and Deerfield and Miss Porter’s and Middlesex and Pomfret and then there was Taft.

OMG.

All the boarding schools had magnificent campuses.  They ought to.  They are better endowed than most universities.

But The Taft School was special.

It seemed bathed in a golden glow, and when a beautiful, long-legged teenaged girl dashed across the lawn shouting, “Oh my God, Natasha!  You HAVE to go here!” all objectivity about the school search was lost.

My twelve year old was over the moon.  Here was an older girl she knew and admired who was asking her to come to this fabulous place.

Bill and I looked at each other with our hearts in our mouths.  We knew that now Taft would be the front runner in Natasha’s affections- no matter how right or wrong it might have been for her.

As it turned out, Natasha did not attend Taft. She happily went to St. George’s School in Newport, Rhode Island.  A better fit for all concerned.

And I told all this to Jill when I was lucky enough to meet her at the Lynn Sage luncheon.

“I haven’t seen you since you were 15,” I said.  And then I explained who I was.

Jill had not lost her teenaged her enthusiasm.

“Oh my God!  That is so funny!  How is Natasha?  What is she doing?  Send her my love.”

And later, as I sat back and enjoyed Jill’s talk with some proprietorial interest, I was proud and amazed at how clever- and outspoken- she was.

And how brave.

A real credit to her parents, Camp Laurel and The Taft School.

A hard act to follow so I’ll let darling Jill get the last word.

See you November 18.