07/15/2024
So it has been a very long day for a Monday that followed an unsettling weekend so I wanted to end the day on a nostalgic note.
Below is a picture of Dr. Ruth and me from 2008 when I was her chauffeur and assistant for four days in Florida when she visited for speaking engagements, a PR tour and book signings.
She was one of a long list of VIP's we took care of during my time at Ambassador Limousine, but the only one who insisted on calling my mother to tell her what a gentleman she raised. Certainly the only one to name me her "Minister of Transportation and Protection". Also the only one to give me her address and phone number and make me promise to call her when I came to NYC.
I did call her when I visited NYC in 2010 and we were able to meet for coffee in her neighborhood. We discussed her early life (tough), Israel, my business and the Yankees (She was a huge fan). She told me stories about when she served as a commando in the Israeli army (apparently mandatory service). I asked her if she was afraid of dying and I distinctly remember her saying "Maybe then when my life was new, but now (age 84 in 2010), I have done everything I ever dreamed of and much more- now I look at death as a friend who could drop by any day" I remember her pinching my cheek and hugging me when we said goodbye. "Kennit" take care of yourself.
She past away last week at 97 years old, certainly a life very well lived, Meeting her was an absolute joy.
