tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17719185594412057562024-03-18T04:48:02.171-04:00Jerry Wolkoff BlogJERRY WOLKOFF BLOG-IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY SON STEVEN NATHANIEL WOLKOFF, MY FATHER SAMUEL WOLKOFF, AND ALL THE OTHER VICTIMS OF INJUSTICE, EVIL IN THIS WORLD.THEY DIMINISH YOUR RIGHTS,THEN THEY DIMINISH YOUR EXISTENCE, THEN THEY LIE ABOUT IT, SAY YOU NEVER EXISTED, AND THE PROBLEM IS PEOPLE FORGET THE SUFFERING THAT LASTS FOREVER, NEVER KNOWING THE TRUTH BY WHOSE HANDS, OR HOW YOU WERE KILLED.Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.comBlogger362125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-86539752205304807032024-01-30T00:42:00.004-05:002024-01-30T01:13:06.797-05:00THE BLOOD OF MY ANCESTORS CRIES OUT TO ME<b><span>“I never was close to my Grandmother, Chaya Sara. Sure, I lived next door to her
most of my life and saw her every day. She was an, undeniable, imposing and
impressive presence in my childhood and early adulthood, but I never understood
her. </span></b><div><b><span><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span>My view of her was bias, since she was the proverbial mother in law who
called my mother every morning at 6:30 am, to make sure that my father had ample
food provisions for the day at the knitting factory she ran. </span></b></div><div><b><span><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span>My grandmother
could even unnerve the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who she knew before anyone did, since
she was BFFs with his mom. When my father had his tonsils out, the Rebbe was
just on the cusp of becoming THE Rebbe and called the house to see how my father
was feeling. He simply said this is “Mendel Schneerson”. </span></b></div><div><b><span><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span>You see the previous
Rebbe had sent her husband all over the world and she was left to raise the kids
all by herself. Essentially, she was a single mother. She was tough, resilient
and a handful. As she used to say about herself, “I’m trootful”. </span></b></div><div><b><span><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span>To be brutally
honest, I never got a hug or an acknowledgement of “love” from her. I struggled
to understand that, but on a day like today, I understand. </span></b></div><div><b><span><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span>MAN, DO I. This woman
lost a mother and two brothers in the Vilna Ghetto. People were being massacred
and murdered. If they weren’t running from Stalin, they ran from Hitler. </span></b></div><div><b><span><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span>Everyone wanted to kill Jews and they did. My grandfather was in and out of
prison, just for being a pious Jew. </span></b></div><div><b><span><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span>She gave birth to her eldest alone and sent
a messenger with the name of her firstborn “Frieda”, which is Yiddish for “Joy”.
I can’t wrap my limited brain around how a woman who is suffering can still
hope. </span></b></div><div><b><span><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span>When pain and trauma is so embedded in the recesses of your soul, you MUST
detach or it kills you. She needed to be there for her family, so she toughened
up. This, I can relate to. A bit too much. </span></b></div><div><b><span><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span>She traveled through Russia, deep
into Asia to save her family. All the while she had to earn money. </span></b></div><div><b><span><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span>Since she was
“on the lam”, there wasn’t much employment to be had, so she became a bartender
to support her family. She procured false papers and after the war, she met my
grandfather in Paris. </span></b></div><div><b><span><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span>She had smuggled her four children with her and
miraculously was reunited with my great grandfather and he moved in
with her until he passed away in the 1970’s. </span></b></div><div><b><span><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span>I was named “Shaina” after his wife
who had been murdered by the Nazis. </span></b></div><div><b><span><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span>But, you see. The Phoenix does rise out of
the ashes. </span></b></div><div><b><span><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span>I lost many of my relatives in the Holocaust. When I was younger, NO
ONE would talk about it. The branded numbers from the concentration camps were
on many arms of the people I knew and loved. It was everywhere and a “normal”
part of my childhood. </span></b></div><div><b><span><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span>I thought that I had more of a chance of seeing a unicorn
on Eastern Parkway, than see people murdered and attacked for being Jewish. </span></b></div><div><b><span><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span>And
those murders being celebrated. </span></b></div><div><b><span><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span>The blood of my ancestors cries out to me. My
grandmother, Chaya Sara does too. #NeverAgain #October7Massacre"
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</div>Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-79454634330895408862023-12-21T18:02:00.009-05:002023-12-21T19:08:31.136-05:00 YAFFA ADAR-85 YEAR OLD ISRAELI HOSTAGE VICTIM GETS CONCERT INVITATION FROM ANDREA BOCELLIThe 85-year-old former Hamas hostage and Holocaust survivor Yaffa Adar whispered songs of Andrea Bocelli to herself every morning while in captivity to give her courage for a new day. The granddaughter Adva Adar of released hostage Yaffa Adar (85) is reading the letter Andrea Bocelli wrote to Yaffa.Happy tears ❤️. Bocelli has invited her to one of his shows and or perform a private concert for her. He will pay for her to travel to wherever he is for the concert. “I wish I could hug you,Bocelli wrote".
I say BRAVO!
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Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-8075901158926084302023-12-11T18:18:00.009-05:002023-12-21T18:27:39.343-05:00NAAMA LEVY-ISRAELI HOSTAGE-BRING HER HOME<a
href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2023/10/07/gaza-hostages-jeep-woman-amanpour-israel-vpx.cnn"
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The mother of a 19-year-old women held hostage in Gaza published a heartfelt
plea Friday for her daughter’s release and warned time was running out. Naama
Levy was seen in a video from Gaza on October 7 following her kidnapping with
her hands tied and bloodied sweatpants, giving rise to widespread speculation
that she had been sexually abused by her abductors.
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“You have seen the video of my daughter Naama Levy,” Ayelet Levy Shachar wrote
on the Free Press website. “Everyone has. You have seen her dragged by her long
brown hair from the back of a Jeep at gunpoint, somewhere in Gaza, her gray
sweatpants covered in blood. “You may have perhaps noticed that her ankles are
cut, that she’s barefoot and limping. She is seriously injured. She is
frightened. And I, her mother, am helpless in these moments of horror.” Levy
Shahar underlined fears that Hamas terrorists are continuing to abuse her and
other women in captivity, as mounting evidence points to multiple instances in
which terrorists on October 7 raped and sexually assaulted women before
executing them. “There are seventeen young women still in captivity. They range
in age from 18 to 26. I think of what they, and my Naama, could be subjected to
at every moment of the day. Each minute is an eternity in hell,” she wrote. “On
Monday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that one of the reasons
Hamas doesn’t want to release the young female hostages is they don’t want these
women to be able to talk about what happened to them during their time in
custody. Everyone knows exactly what he means,” Levy Shahar continued.
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“What would you do if your daughter was being held hostage by violent rapists
and murderers for two months? Perhaps the better question is: What wouldn’t you
do?” she asked. Levy was taken captive by Hamas terrorists from the Nahal Oz
army base. She had just finished her course the previous Wednesday to become an
observation soldier at Nahal Oz, tasked with monitoring the border. She arrived
at the army base on Thursday and was taken hostage on Saturday morning. Long
before Hamas’s October 7 onslaught — when thousands of terrorists streamed over
the border, killed some 1,200 people, the majority of them civilians, and
kidnapping some 240 more — surveillance soldiers from Nahal Oz reported signs of
unusual activity along the tumultuous Gaza border, situated a kilometer from
them.
Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-46926768611009592722023-11-09T02:42:00.017-05:002023-11-09T03:31:39.242-05:00THE MASSACRE OF 1500 JEWS IN ISRAEL BY TERRORISTS ON OCTOBER 7TH, 2023-NEVER AGAIN IS NOW!<h1 style="background-color: white; clear: both; outline: none; text-align: center;"> <b><br /></b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbdsjJFJm0kJXL4zk-G6RZIWCd3MuVQEROKV_V_t5_G46hWxoluG6qU4ENyxHVgPpHijh0m89i6eSM5m60uNbumIBgdE6ZkzdLSAiRVI4Qphl8byem-jDpJNaYgK2h5Y7F1VRoc3_FOWCE3faJUd2_JlI2y7Tte8QXGm4xP7mdn6mULEMkGU2qYSZgzE5u/s160/mail%20(1).gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbdsjJFJm0kJXL4zk-G6RZIWCd3MuVQEROKV_V_t5_G46hWxoluG6qU4ENyxHVgPpHijh0m89i6eSM5m60uNbumIBgdE6ZkzdLSAiRVI4Qphl8byem-jDpJNaYgK2h5Y7F1VRoc3_FOWCE3faJUd2_JlI2y7Tte8QXGm4xP7mdn6mULEMkGU2qYSZgzE5u/s16000/mail%20(1).gif" /></b></a></h1><h1 style="background-color: white; clear: both; outline: none; text-align: center;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjd-7rGAx2wb70b9a3qhOXaAfa2G5DElNYXg7HxYeiltT63IbG_kbXz5W-1f9J1KMcGdEZ0fM-uZhT9UTp83nBKQ97FiQ8jNrzOJT5FMJNQgTH9CPQpzuebmVPd4yt8MGC2lGAWpTfL4MTg59kyuS0eV3Wyn2qanHzQzogZRFo3cTnYq_kRljx0dGU1ivRB" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="951" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjd-7rGAx2wb70b9a3qhOXaAfa2G5DElNYXg7HxYeiltT63IbG_kbXz5W-1f9J1KMcGdEZ0fM-uZhT9UTp83nBKQ97FiQ8jNrzOJT5FMJNQgTH9CPQpzuebmVPd4yt8MGC2lGAWpTfL4MTg59kyuS0eV3Wyn2qanHzQzogZRFo3cTnYq_kRljx0dGU1ivRB=w186-h240" width="186" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></b></h1><h1 style="background-color: white; clear: both; outline: none; text-align: center;"><b><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyrFlSQzLNLOJy-OVxLm8q_Krypj3aCbOLObZRRjWsW3f3DOJuP2_gHXTMuBWQwnxDIxE_74FkWMQy5LqK9bQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></b><b><br /></b><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #050505; outline: none;"><span style="font-size: medium; outline: none;"><b><br /></b></span></span></h1><h1 style="clear: both; outline: none; text-align: center;"><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">REMEMBER THEIR NAMES</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">!</span></span><br /></b></span></span><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><b><span class="ydpf3ab97fx3nfvp2 ydpf3ab97fx1j61x8r ydpf3ab97fx1fcty0u ydpf3ab97fxdj266r ydpf3ab97fxhhsvwb ydpf3ab97fxat24cr ydpf3ab97fxgzva0m ydpf3ab97fxxymvpz ydpf3ab97fxlup9mm ydpf3ab97fx1kky2od" style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large; margin: 0px 1px; min-height: 16px; outline: none; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"><img alt="🚨" class="ydpf3ab97fxz74otr" data-inlineimagemanipulating="true" height="16" referrerpolicy="origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/te4/2/16/1f6a8.png" style="border: 0px; outline: none;" width="16" /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">One month ago today on October 7th,2023 over 1,400 Israeli men, women and children were brutally massacred by Hamas terrorists. </span></b></span></span></h1><h1 style="clear: both; outline: none; text-align: center;"><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Some of the victims have still not been identified </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span style="font-size: large;">because their bodies were so mutilated</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span class="ydpf3ab97fx3nfvp2 ydpf3ab97fx1j61x8r ydpf3ab97fx1fcty0u ydpf3ab97fxdj266r ydpf3ab97fxhhsvwb ydpf3ab97fxat24cr ydpf3ab97fxgzva0m ydpf3ab97fxxymvpz ydpf3ab97fxlup9mm ydpf3ab97fx1kky2od" style="font-size: large; margin: 0px 1px; min-height: 16px; outline: none; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"><img alt="🙁" class="ydpf3ab97fxz74otr" data-inlineimagemanipulating="true" height="16" referrerpolicy="origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/t6a/2/16/1f641.png" style="border: 0px; outline: none;" width="16" /></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></b></span></span><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; outline: none;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium; outline: none;"><b><br style="outline: none;" /></b></span></span><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; outline: none;"><span style="font-size: medium; outline: none;"><b><br /></b></span></span></h1><h1 style="clear: both; outline: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #050505; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><b style="background-color: red;">Remember their names. </b></span></span></span></h1><h1 style="clear: both; outline: none; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; outline: none;"><span style="outline: none;"><b>May their memory be a blessing but they will never rest in peace becau</b></span></span><b style="background-color: white; color: #050505;">se they suffered such horrific deaths by the terrorists whose only interest is to murder all the Jewish people in the world</b><b style="background-color: white; color: #050505;">.</b></span></h1><h1 style="clear: both; outline: none; text-align: center;"><b style="background-color: white;"> <br /></b><b><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: red;">NEVER AGAIN IS NOW</span><span style="background-color: #cc0000;">!</span></b></h1>Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-3306403254790446872023-09-23T00:05:00.010-04:002023-09-23T00:05:00.204-04:00ANOTHER BIRTHDAY-STEVEN NATHANIEL WOLKOFF<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh61a5LvCkev8ZfaxXSRqOJseZ4utJzw9_lEQkfRZSzH-DVpExkzvcaWjQ4FlkrzkHTLlpQnW641XLeqGTSVkqawGbYhd75euHb_J1T2ftIGZl5or3x0KMB12M9Ko__YjYS27HgoGIvGt24/s1600/candle-sm.gif" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 17.424px; font-weight: 700; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="55" data-original-width="54" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh61a5LvCkev8ZfaxXSRqOJseZ4utJzw9_lEQkfRZSzH-DVpExkzvcaWjQ4FlkrzkHTLlpQnW641XLeqGTSVkqawGbYhd75euHb_J1T2ftIGZl5or3x0KMB12M9Ko__YjYS27HgoGIvGt24/w75-h76/candle-sm.gif" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="75" /></a></div><p> </p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 17.424px; font-weight: 700;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 17.424px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 17.424px; font-weight: 700;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDW09mmT-1-puwg2lTFMOSYvK_mdtwxAC5ZsG9jXdKizCEwqHDp0eod1UdACK7tzvtsNjet4Qtitm2p3dwKo0h6CjSOMysgCFFMTgCTqmUs8EOJYmVCsQ955oPvsuIyDmoQZJhKSEpNo0F/s1600/Great+Smile.jpg" style="clear: right; color: #771100; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="378" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDW09mmT-1-puwg2lTFMOSYvK_mdtwxAC5ZsG9jXdKizCEwqHDp0eod1UdACK7tzvtsNjet4Qtitm2p3dwKo0h6CjSOMysgCFFMTgCTqmUs8EOJYmVCsQ955oPvsuIyDmoQZJhKSEpNo0F/s320/Great+Smile.jpg" style="border: none; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicWABSNqjVzTzT6Pb7jSN_OXiXmdapcCEvXaI_VpHgDXmn12O4Oy-Euz6uNvo42V5F-ItXy7j_lu9IFK5_LmyuTcU9UpMeba_87V_sqWvY8g5R6Gd3riPuSY76ivOI46m2rT1LzijY0wZK/s1600/steven+grave.JPG" style="color: #771100; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicWABSNqjVzTzT6Pb7jSN_OXiXmdapcCEvXaI_VpHgDXmn12O4Oy-Euz6uNvo42V5F-ItXy7j_lu9IFK5_LmyuTcU9UpMeba_87V_sqWvY8g5R6Gd3riPuSY76ivOI46m2rT1LzijY0wZK/s320/steven+grave.JPG" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 17.424px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 17.424px; font-weight: 700; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 28.8px;"><b style="text-align: start;"><u><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #cccccc;">ANOTHER BIRTHDAY</span></u></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 28.8px;"><b style="text-align: start;"><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 28.8px;"><b style="text-align: start;"><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 28.8px;"><b style="text-align: start;">My older son Steven Nathaniel Wolkoff would have been 46 years old today.</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 28.8px;"><b style="text-align: start;"><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 28.8px;"><b style="text-align: start;">What can a parent say on the birthday of their dead child?</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><b style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87);"><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">A living child asks for a birthday party. </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">As they become older, you, as the parent, ask them what they want for their birthday. There’s dialogue. </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">It’s tradition to remember your child's birthday, to not do so ignores that they lived.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87); font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">But what exactly is a parent supposed to do on the birthday of their child when he is gone?<br /><br />Not gone, as in out of town or at the beach, or out of the country. Gone as in, no longer alive.</span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87); font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">A dead child doesn’t want. </span></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">A dead son asks for nothing.</span></div></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 28.8px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87); font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">What does a mom or dad and siblings do?<br /><br />Where’s the rule book for recognizing birthdays of a dead child?<br /><b style="background-color: transparent; text-align: center;"><br /></b><b style="background-color: transparent; text-align: center;">Steven was born on the first day of Fall and died on the first day of Summer. </b></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">There is something odd to me about the the significance of the equinox and solstice in his life and its parallel meaning to the Earth. </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">If the autumnal equinox represents balance, then the summer solstice was most certainly the day we felt our world come to a deafening halt on the longest day of the year.</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px;"><b>Steven lies dead in a grave because of the negligence and indifference of those who killed him, stole his life at the age of 30, and have tried to erase that he ever lived.</b></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b><b>I mourn what was, what could of been, and what will never be.</b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b><b>You deserved so much better my son, it just wasn't meant to be. </b></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Love, Dad </span></div>Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-80988112125942588592023-06-30T00:05:00.007-04:002023-06-30T00:05:00.148-04:00MOM-DOROTHY WOLKOFF<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyhMaBsO27lcImU99uHpZp7KU-XB9hlrrhbHevY-rAYZhbgf_fgiBeORgIhiRacG58CEXrdH6nI9pO7e26ISUj9l9EQV9nbZse1B2O6OBI5hv1iWkx92eFhG-Usxr-NUFC7YoTmwkFwyY3/s1600/Animated+flickering+candle+.gif" style="color: #771100; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: large; font-weight: 700; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyhMaBsO27lcImU99uHpZp7KU-XB9hlrrhbHevY-rAYZhbgf_fgiBeORgIhiRacG58CEXrdH6nI9pO7e26ISUj9l9EQV9nbZse1B2O6OBI5hv1iWkx92eFhG-Usxr-NUFC7YoTmwkFwyY3/s1600/Animated+flickering+candle+.gif" style="border: none; position: relative;" /></a></div><p> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsJGtTx5CIh5Ms4TM67HKUZnyGidUp4h6QAuoW8jFcyOtgt6FjIuhXdlDM4op8qkBL8_eD0Ha44HUQdaoYuDQKnaiy7SrG0NFq410fXHHPnRYpiDZ5-Zh6d0b55xG3JNHqBH2PH5s2ZlSS/s1600/IMG_0229+%25281%2529.JPG" style="color: #771100; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsJGtTx5CIh5Ms4TM67HKUZnyGidUp4h6QAuoW8jFcyOtgt6FjIuhXdlDM4op8qkBL8_eD0Ha44HUQdaoYuDQKnaiy7SrG0NFq410fXHHPnRYpiDZ5-Zh6d0b55xG3JNHqBH2PH5s2ZlSS/s320/IMG_0229+%25281%2529.JPG" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="color: #222222; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">I thought of you with love today<br />but that is nothing new<br /><br />I thought about you yesterday<br />and days before that too,<br />I think of you in silence<br />I often speak your name<br /><br />All I have are memories<br />and your picture in a frame.</span></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="color: #222222; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-size: medium;"><b>Your memory is my keepsake<br />with which I’ll never part<br />I have you in my heart.</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Hug me strongly, and carry me home</span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"></span></b></span></div><div class="ll-10-3" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">Dear Mom, one more kiss again</span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; left: -99999px; position: absolute;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-size: medium;"><b>I thought of you today, but that is nothing new. I thought about you yesterday and days before that too. I think of you in silence, I often speak your name. All I have are memories and your picture in a frame. Your memory is a keepsake from which I’ll never part. God has you in His arms, I have you in my heart.<br /><br />See more at: <a href="http://www.idlehearts.com/?p=24438" style="color: #888888; text-decoration-line: none;">http://www.idlehearts.com/?p=24438</a>I thought of you with love today</b></span></div></div><div style="color: #222222; padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;">Today is the day that my Mother, Dorothy Wolkoff died on June 30th,1997. It was sudden and there was never a chance to say goodbye.</span><br /><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="color: #222222;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;">My mom was the strongest, toughest, most courageous, gentle, caring person I have ever known. </span><br /><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black; font-size: medium;">Biology aside, mom's can be magical human beings. A mother's love is unlimited, it can heal us, make us feel safe, and inspire us. My mother was all that and more. How lucky I am.</span></span></div></div><div style="color: #222222;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div style="color: #222222;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black; font-size: medium;">She taught me much, but in particular, emphasized the importance of self pride, work/life ethics, compassion, caring, and being humble. </span></span></div></div><div style="color: #222222;"><div style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">In spite of her hard life, she provided for my sister and myself, by doing whatever was necessary for us to live, we never lacked for anything because of her grueling unselfish efforts. </span></span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span face=""helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></b><b style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My mother was the only one who believed in me, particularly during my youth, and stubbornly never gave up, no matter how much I screwed up.<span> </span></b></span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><br /></span><span style="color: black; line-height: 22.4px;">Without her support during my most difficult years as a youngster, a wild acting out teenager, she ALWAYS stood up to me, for me, guided me, and refused to give in, or give up on me. It was not easy for her to do that, but she would not back down, ever.</span></b></span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span face=""helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="line-height: 27.3778px;">My mother literally saved my life many times, she was one of a kind, I will always remember and love her for that. </span></span></b><b style="color: black;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: black;">I told my mom in many different ways over the years how much she eventually contributed to my taking the correct productive path with </span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: black;">my life</span></span> all because of her. </b><b><span style="color: black;"><span><br /></span></span></b></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black;">I spent much of my adult life making my mother proud of me, telling her how much I loved her. </span></span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><span style="color: black;">Whatever is good in me, came from my mother.</span><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></b><br /><span face=""helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black; font-size: medium;">I love and miss you mom.</span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-70954319148812029622023-06-21T00:05:00.003-04:002023-06-21T00:05:00.150-04:00STEVEN NATHANIEL WOLKOFF-SEPTEMBER 23, 1977-JUNE 21,2008<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-4132627012730118172" itemprop="description articleBody" style="font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 698px;"><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-1477196431394825886" itemprop="description articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 698px;"><div style="font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4;"><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQQMUUptuHgNWZEx5gVv7crOUjzOCbJFlCz4Y-P9Sq-dAlZOVGkcjsxI6GXFYTEuK3I0411Jpzlbo7gnfb6Pw96yLf28k8ajFR9mK1pgVlPiNHGWRHGrRv_DFC1GJz6h7wbS843iy4xXDo/s1600/th_animated_candle.gif" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQQMUUptuHgNWZEx5gVv7crOUjzOCbJFlCz4Y-P9Sq-dAlZOVGkcjsxI6GXFYTEuK3I0411Jpzlbo7gnfb6Pw96yLf28k8ajFR9mK1pgVlPiNHGWRHGrRv_DFC1GJz6h7wbS843iy4xXDo/s1600/th_animated_candle.gif" style="border: none; position: relative;" /></a></div><p> </p></div><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span></div></div><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 30px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black; font-size: xx-small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi217ci0idHRZnm6GfwOF8ACLPxj4DBDjywaQJ5L6x_fvbxzSyN3GihjA6a792c5iTZaA_xYIThyphenhyphen33bdfBDN-g0PReYTukUZzd7eWOqncjOzYitHA9pqDQLDugnVLn2G8tJkzgtdHV6fXt7/s1600/steven+birthday+cake.+jpg.jpg" style="color: #771100; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi217ci0idHRZnm6GfwOF8ACLPxj4DBDjywaQJ5L6x_fvbxzSyN3GihjA6a792c5iTZaA_xYIThyphenhyphen33bdfBDN-g0PReYTukUZzd7eWOqncjOzYitHA9pqDQLDugnVLn2G8tJkzgtdHV6fXt7/s400/steven+birthday+cake.+jpg.jpg" style="border: none; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8f5_cfAIzslmg4hXF0PqDuko29BsmZvpInFxQQDLv4sW6OuYwFFF19OsAZFXLpQeB2xK5-C-QUVf1pNl4iTM0srAlwfP642A8vXkZAOay3anO0gNf7aVFX02AfNRFbqCIqZCGogYiGyN_/s1600/Great+Smile.jpg" style="color: #888888; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bpwdwbO1uvM" width="320" youtube-src-id="bpwdwbO1uvM"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div><p><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Also - <span style="color: #0096ef; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;"><a href="https://stevewolkoff.com/884-2/" style="color: #0096ef; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">CLICK ON HERE</a></span><span style="color: #0096ef; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;"><a href="https://stevewolkoff.com/884-2/" style="color: #0096ef; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;"> & LISTEN TO AN ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTAL WRITTEN & COMPOSED IN MEMORY OF STEVEN NATHANIEL WOLKOFF, CALLED "STEVEN'S SONG"</a></span></b></span></span></span></p><p><b style="background-color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">This composition is a quiet and moving work and is meant to serve as a tribute to the life of Steven Wolkoff. It makes use of simple but haunting harmonies and a melody that will stay with the listener long after its final notes have finished sounding. </span></span></b></p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><span style="background-color: silver; font-size: medium;"><b>SEPTEMBER 23, 1977- JUNE 21, 2008</b></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><span style="background-color: silver; font-size: medium;"><b>BELOVED SON, BROTHER,GRANDSON,</b></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span><span style="background-color: silver;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>NEPHEW, COUSIN, CHERISHED LOVE</b></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span><span style="background-color: silver;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>GOOD FRIEND</b></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><br /></span><span><span style="background-color: silver;">GENTLY THEY GO,</span></span></b></span></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span><span style="background-color: silver;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>THE BEAUTIFUL,</b></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span><span style="background-color: silver;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>THE TENDER, THE KIND</b></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><br /></span><span><span style="background-color: silver;">FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS</span></span></b></span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 22.4px;"><b><u style="font-size: 15.84px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></u><br /></b><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>WEDNESDAY, June 21, 2023</u></b></span></div><div style="font-size: 15.84px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;">Today is the anniversary of the 15th year of an eternity in agony, marking the horrific day, June 21, 2008, that my oldest child, Steven Nathaniel Wolkoff, was cruelly killed at the age of 30, his life brutally stolen from him, family, friends, me. </span></b></span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: normal;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: normal;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">I dread the coming of this day every year.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>Steven died on the first day of Summer, it was 5 PM on a Saturday afternoon, exactly 15 years ago.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><br /></span><span>It seems so much longer than 15 years have gone by since we lost him. </span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>I still feel that it cannot be true, somehow suddenly he will appear, call me on the phone, or send me an email. That feeling never leaves, it is always there, I will wake up from this nightmare, and Steven will be here, alive.</b></span></span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span><span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span></span></b></span></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px; padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>There are mornings that I wake up believing for a few seconds that Steven is alive and it was just a horrible nightmare that he is dead. Then the reality strikes me full force in the face and gut, that he is dead forever, how can that be?</b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>Oh how he loved the summer months and life itself. He was looking forward to it all, never realizing that his life would end that day in 2008.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><br /></span><span>I posted the other pictures above of Steven because they are some of my favorite ones, and also he is so real, alive in them, and for a second, he seems to actually be here.</span></b></span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">Today, on this 15th anniversary of Steven's tragic death, if you can, please take a moment now to remember who Steven was and how deeply he is missed by each of us.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><br /></span></b></span></div></div></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">The last time I spoke to Steven, was on the phone,</span><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">Tuesday evening, June 17 , 2008.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><br /></span></b></span></div></div></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">I didn't know that moment was going to be our last.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">The last time I would talk to you, and hear your beautiful voice.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><br /></span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">The last time I would tell you that I loved you, and hear you say “I love you too dad”. Strong and so real, so vibrant and alive.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">A smiling face, with twinkling eyes, your special smile, my fine young man, my oldest child.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">The shattered remnant of my heart with holes so black and fathomless no light can ever fill. I am and will be in shock forever.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">Time has passed before me, so bleak and dark and long, the wind that whispers through the trees, the brightest star at night, the rain on a dismal day, my endless dreams, nightmares, the constant thoughts, hearing the door bell ringing, seeing the 2 Nassau County Policeman at my door at 4 AM asking me politely if they could come inside, no eye contact from them.</span></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">I knew and asked them "which one of my children", their response "do you have a son Steven living in San Francisco, he was killed in a car collision". </span></span></span></b></div></div></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">That moment is frozen in my mind, repeating itself endlessly almost every waking and sleeping moment of my life.</span></span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px; padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">The tragic death of Steven was caused by stupid, senseless acts. Every day, each night, my mind is focused on the highway at the collision, looking at the photos of Steven’s face while he is alive on a stretcher placed on the highway and then later, he is dead, covered by a tarp on that same highway.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">The collision seems less a random act, and more determined, by a series of factors, not so benign, each one a contributing cause of my son’s death.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">Steven was killed not by accident, but by horribly connected actions, and </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error noTransition" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;">inaction's</span><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">, of many others, each building on the impact of the other. Steven’s death began when distinct acts of design and error grew to become the chaos of negligence.</span></b></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">Steven was killed by the lack of highway signage, a secret California State cover up of a structurally flawed </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">highway design known as a "death trap", whose design errors were deliberately never corrected,</span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">violating the written safety codes of the same government department responsible for building the </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">highway, and the carelessness of a local community program, having a gathering, unaware that their </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">visitors, were parking, turning, merging, clogging this already too narrow stretch of road that had no separate turning lanes.</span></b></span></span></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">Steven was killed by a 21 year old drug impaired driver, who did not even have a driver’s license, </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">an illegal alien. His danger to others not in his thoughts, but mostly I think he just didn't care </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">about the effects of his irresponsible actions on Steven.</span></b></span></span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 22.4px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">Steven was killed by an army of first responders, Paramedics, Emergency Medical Technicians, </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">Police, Firefighters, and Park Rangers, etc., busy littering the highway with equipment, while they </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">tried to look busy and important.</span></b></span></span></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>Steven courageously lived for about an hour after the collision while multiple systems of rescue <span style="line-height: 22.4px;">professionals failed to get him to the hospital, and were unable to properly provide a minimum </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">standard of the medical skills that they were trained to perform.</span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><br /></span></span></span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">The first responders panicked, although Steven was breathing on his own, they performed an unnecessary medical procedure that they had never before done in their life. </span></span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">It is called a </span></span>Needle Cricothyroidotomy which they failed to do properly and in doing this they missed his airway, suffocating him, vital oxygen crushing against his heart, lungs and diaphragm, taking his breath away, and horrifically killing him.</b></span></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">The responder’s mission, to keep Steven medically stabilized for triage care at the Hospital, failed, lost in a few hundred square feet of disorder, with no one in charge, no one leading, standing, telling, helping, shouting, or recognizing the obvious signs of their medical errors.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">My son Steven was killed by carelessness, thoughtlessness, and negligence on the part of multiple entities and individuals.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">A gifted, talented, precious, irreplaceable, meaningful life was stolen from all of us who loved him deeply, because of the actions of so many who, each in their own way, miserably failed to help Steven</span><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">, all destroying Steven’s life.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br />I cannot believe that my son Steven lies buried in a grave so young, me dreaming of things that he was and might have been. </b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b> </b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>I am not religious, nor do I believe in god, so the traditional Mourners Kaddish prayer for Steven are meaningless words to me. </b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>I have written my own Mourners Kaddish as a way to honor Steven, and I post it every year at this time.</span></b></span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">It is my way of expressing that Steven left behind a legacy of goodness, and worthy descendants, those who loved him, who will always remember that he lived.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>These sentences speak directly to Steven, because his pain and loss need to be honestly described in real words that accurately reflect my true feelings. </span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><u><b>STEVEN NATHANIEL WOLKOFF'S MOURNERS KADDISH</b></u></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><br /></span></span><span>Steven Nathaniel Wolkoff, Shmuel Nacham Ben Yaakov, (Samuel Nathan, Son of Jerry).<br /> </span><br /><span><u>September 23, 1977- June 21, 2008</u><br /><br />I am sorry that you are dead.<br /><br />I am sorry you suffered so painfully, on that awful day, as you fought to stay alive.<br /><br />I am sorry for the agony you felt, I see it in your eyes, face, and body from the horrific evidence photos. I see and feel it in my endless nightmares.<br /><br />I am sorry for the fear, terror, unimaginable pain you felt in fighting for your life, as they killed you. I know the truth of your courage in being able to fight so bravely to stay alive.<br /><br />I am sorry for you because you were not killed by accident, but instead by the senseless, stupid, careless, actions of so many others who could have saved your life, but instead, each in their own way, miserably failed you that day, never realizing or even considering taking responsibility, or accountability for the consequences of their actions, inaction's, indifference, and incompetence.<br /><br />I am sorry you died not due to fate, nor randomly, but were instead killed by the cascading chaos of connected, dysfunctional, defective entities and others, all who caused your preventable death.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>I am sorry that you died because the State of California did not care about your life and decided not to fix a dangerously unsafe road, instead they deliberately hid the structural defects in the highway that made it into a death trap.</b></span></span></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><br /></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span>I am sorry that you died because of the</span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"> 21 year old drug impaired driver speeding out of control into your car. </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">His danger to you not in his thoughts, but mostly I think he just didn't care </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">about the effects of his irresponsible actions.</span></span></span></b></span></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br />I am sorry about the inept, licensed, qualified, medical first responders who had no idea, not a clue, of what they were doing medically to you as they killed you. They have no consciences and lied afterward to hide how they murdered you in cold blood.<br /><br />I am sorry for you, that so many corrupt, ugly cowards of evil, who have evidence of the truth, but have no conscience to speak up, remain silent, lie, omit, refuse to come forward to admit their responsibility in covering up the true facts that all contributed to killing you.</b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>I am sorry for those whose toxic evil allowed all of the above to be done to you and escaped from being held accountable for participating in your death.</b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>I am sorry that your soul and body were desecrated in death. </span><span> </span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>I am sorry for the wicked hideous ones who desecrated your body in death and refuse to take accountability for their violation of your body, your soul.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>I am sorry that it has took us five years to finally successfully legally force the spiteful, hateful,evil San Mateo County Coroner to release your final remains for proper burial.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br />I am sorry that you died in spite of the true medical facts that show you should be alive today.<br /><br />I am sorry for all the multitude of evil ones who have tried to defame you and disrespect your name, your life.<br /><br />I am sorry that life is so cheap and yours has no value to those who killed you, trying to erase you ever existed.<br /><br />I am sorry that the Legal system is weak, corrupt and I was not able to obtain justice for you. I failed to accomplish getting that Justice for you, please forgive me.<br /><br />I am sorry for my failing as your father to keep you from dying.<br /><br />I am sorry you did not leave the beach one second earlier or later to return home that day of June, 21, 2008.<br /><br />I am sorry that I was not there to protect you.<br /><br />I am sorry that I was not there that day to comfort you, hold you, ease your pain.<br /><br />I am sorry that I don't know the last thoughts in your mind before you died.<br /><br />I am sorry that you died alone, with strangers, and no one even had the courage, kindness to hold your hand.<br /><br />I am sorry that you died lying on a hot highway pavement, in a place unfamiliar, in the middle of nowhere.<br /><br />I am sorry that no one had the decency to cover your right arm and both feet, as you lay dead under the blue tarp.<br /><br />I am sorry the Medvac trauma helicopter was delayed in arriving there by 4 minutes, too late to stop the killer first responders from touching you.<br /><br />I am sorry that I was not even able to protect your dignity in death.<br /><br />I am sorry you cannot cry.<br /><br />I am sorry you cannot scream.<br /><br />I am sorry you cannot laugh.<br /><br />I am sorry you cannot smile.<br /><br />I am sorry you cannot feel.<br /><br />I am sorry you cannot talk.<br /><br />I am sorry you cannot breathe.<br /><br />I am sorry you are silent forever. </b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span>I am sorry that the world said nothing, heard nothing, says nothing about the injustices done to you.<br /> </span><span><br /></span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span>I am sorry that it was you and not me.<br /><br />I am sorry that I had to bury you and that you didn't bury me first, as it should be. </span><span><br /></span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>I am sorry for everything that I forgot to say now, or cannot, and did not say here.<br /><br />I am sorry for YOU because you are not here, you are NO MORE on this earth. </span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>I am sorry that you cannot rest in peace.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><span style="background-color: silver;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span></span></span><br /></b></span></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>More than anything, I am sorry that you didn't have a chance to say goodbye to those you loved.<br /><br />Your family will always honor you, remember you, miss you, keep you in our heart, preserve your memory in lovingly telling future generations about you, and love you forever. </b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><br /></span><span>We all miss you so very much.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div></div></div></div><div class="noTransition" style="line-height: 17.82px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>I mourn what was, what could of been, and what will never be.</b></span></div></div></div></div><div class="noTransition" style="line-height: 17.82px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 17.82px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 17.82px;">You deserved so much better my son, it just wasn’t meant to be.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>Your brother, sister, mother, family, and others who love you, will do the same. We will never forget YOU, never stop loving you, our precious beloved Steven. NEVER.<br /><br />Steven, I can only say, I am SORRY, SORRY, I am so SORRY.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>My heart is broken, my Steven is gone, and we will mourn forever.</b></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px; padding: 0px;"></div><div style="line-height: normal;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="font-size: 30px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span> <img alt="Hebrew" height="24" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgp9V1gXeyWB9ksENM8n2bNFM4S1_3eucJNYqEepyNFnliHUL3UJPnYZjE-mcXEDJ8mpcvydMJIpvYKtj0FW4PHtKI6QiKv_hBoZMdZ2Wp2YcenQB5Qyz_ptW0-LlNB6k7OKuKTUTk" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.098) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px;" width="35" /> -Amen. </span></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Love, Dad.</span></span><span> </span></span></h3></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-17581804271496207552023-06-06T00:05:00.003-04:002023-06-06T00:05:00.147-04:00SAMUEL WOLKOFF-65 YEARS AGO-WAS IT WORTH IT?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNa8JKU0VV534-OF9Lg9FwF7x5pyvXnMNDj90_n_EW4_pJl7-JCv7dxL1LpLizvsh9Y9nZa9m0GWfL1t2nreOQDfKhopiZQvJ6EjxeLoC2eial2QTV5Tvc88y6HXRfx77kmjb5whtN8Lfv/s1600/Animated+flickering+candle+.gif" style="color: #771100; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNa8JKU0VV534-OF9Lg9FwF7x5pyvXnMNDj90_n_EW4_pJl7-JCv7dxL1LpLizvsh9Y9nZa9m0GWfL1t2nreOQDfKhopiZQvJ6EjxeLoC2eial2QTV5Tvc88y6HXRfx77kmjb5whtN8Lfv/s1600/Animated+flickering+candle+.gif" style="border: none; position: relative;" /></a></div><p> </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLXBdnJA99IXLm2sJlQjJhWTGczmZnx-Z-HhCs7MViYDExB0VxE0FWzwVCe9RH4C3CGyu8Q178oKzi6trNbT3GOc_NVgvPX0R7XD1iwG81vPuki-N-Iodd_Jak56nM5qm66wcCq-J3qhLv/s320/IMG_0225.JPG" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="320" /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLXBdnJA99IXLm2sJlQjJhWTGczmZnx-Z-HhCs7MViYDExB0VxE0FWzwVCe9RH4C3CGyu8Q178oKzi6trNbT3GOc_NVgvPX0R7XD1iwG81vPuki-N-Iodd_Jak56nM5qm66wcCq-J3qhLv/s1600/IMG_0225.JPG" style="color: #771100; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"></h3><div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;"><span style="color: black;">Samuel Wolkoff- June 6th, 1958, forever etched in my soul. </span></span></span></b><br /><b style="color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></b><b style="color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;"><span style="color: black;">My father was gruesomely murdered on this day many years ago, at the age of 42. </span></span><span style="line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;">I was 10 years old. </span></span></span></b><br /><b style="color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></b><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;">He lost his life that day, I lost my childhood, my inner peace, and my soul. </span></span><span style="color: red;">Samuel Wolkoff was MY FATHER</span><span style="color: #222222;">. </span></span></b></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222;">T</span></span></b><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222;">ragically, I hardly remember anything about him, and almost nothing about our relationship as father and son. </span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: red;">Today's Blog is in memory of</span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: red;"> </span><a href="https://silo.pub/blood-relation.html"><span style="background-color: black; color: red;"><span><span><span>Samuel Wolkoff</span><span>, </span><span>My Dad</span></span><span>, tortured and murdered</span></span><span> </span></span><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><span>(</span><span>CLICK HERE TO READ-SCROLL TO P.130 AND P.262-264)</span></span></a><span style="color: #2b00fe;">.</span><span style="color: red;"> (</span><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1771918559441205756/5268376839554117929"><span style="color: red;">ALSO CLICK </span><span style="color: red;">HERE FOR MORE)</span></a>.</span></span></span></span></b></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; line-height: 33.6px;"><b>The rest of the year, the ever present demons make sure I remember those whose memories others have tried to erase, these are my family, they were human beings who will never be forgotten by me, they lived and never deserved to die in such horribly suffering ways. </b></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; line-height: 33.6px;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; line-height: 33.6px;"><b>To me it's very personal when June 6th arrives every year, a very painful day. It has now been 65 agonizing years since my father Samuel Wolkoff was brutally tortured and murdered.</b></span></span></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;">There are also extremely evil people who visit here. </span></span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">I suppose they come for many different reasons and I can see they are from all over the world.</span></b></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 700;">I get emails frequently, mostly anonymous from others about the monster subhuman animal who murdered my father. They vary from other victims families murdered by the monster, friends of his, and entities that shall remain not named by me.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 700;"> </span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-weight: 700;">C</span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-weight: 700;">ertain facts in this blog post and also in the book </span><u style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: 700;">"Blood Relation" </u><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-weight: 700;">have been deliberately edited to protect myself and others.</span></span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 1.4;">Some of you are the cowardly, but powerfully dangerous scum bags who murdered my father, some are close murderous associates of my father, as well as those of you in the arrogant, incompetent, corrupt law enforcement systems, whose agencies knowingly covered their asses and continue to do so to this day.</span></b></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><span style="line-height: 1.4;">In doing so, those of you in law enforcement have betrayed your sworn oaths to defend justice by deliberately participating in covering up the truth, lying, withholding documented criminal evidence, and obstructing justice in this capital offense of murder, which has no statute</span><span style="line-height: 1.4;"> of limitations. You have placed your own personal needs above that of the value of human lives.</span></b></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 1.4;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 1.4;"><b>My father believed in kindness, honesty, family, hard work, ethics, and his rights as a human being to reap the fruits of his labor for himself and our family.</b></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b>He was a man who did not run away from the corrupt animals who wanted a "cut of his business" for themselves. </b></span></span></span><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">He believed in himself and the law enforcement, legal, supposedly ethical "systems" to protect him from those that wanted the business that he had built from nothing, with his blood and sweat.</span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">He believed in a code of personal ethics, morality, integrity that dictated honor, family, respect, fairness, loyalty, faith in humanity, and that no one is entitled to steal from another human being their right to live.</span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">On June 6th, 1958 the world was already very evil, corrupt, his life was cheap, and scum bags took what they wanted, from who ever they wanted. That was the day they took my father's life, his business, and all of our souls.</span></span></span></span></b><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">Today, June 6th, 2023, the world is infinitely more evil, more corrupt, life is even cheaper, scum bags enjoy their lives as they take even more of what they want, from whomever they choose.</span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">Many of the murderers of my father, their children, and family members are still alive. We know who you ALL ARE. You have done extremely well financially and live with a high standard of living for themselves with their families having all thrived in spite of their evil deeds. </span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">Yes, my father was a hero, he is a hero who sacrificed his life for his beliefs. Seems old fashioned, naive, for someone to believe so strongly in doing the right thing. </span></span></span></span></b><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">Yet somehow, he who had nothing, created a thriving business, and maintained his righteousness of believing in goodness, his business associates, his relatives, the legal/law enforcement system, and that his being a hard working, good person was to be rewarded by having a good life.</span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">In the end, his naive belief in the humanity of others, particularly his relatives (we know who you are) proved that he was DEAD wrong and he paid for it with his life. </span></span></span></span></b><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.176px;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.176px;"><b>We all know each other, or about each other, you know I have hidden away safely the written confidential secret official documents with my honest law enforcement and political friends, the written proof of all "missing" documented, detailed real facts that would expose the ugly truths. </b></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.176px;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.176px;"><b>Nothing to be concerned about, it will remain buried. </b></span></span><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 22.176px;"><br /></span></span></span></b><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 22.176px;">We know the deal that protects all of us, the reasons that nothing else has been done by any of us about my father's murder, the reason these documents will remain hidden, is the unspoken but very clear mutual understanding we all have forever, of don't ever again fuck with any of my family, and in return, we won't fuck with any of you by making the real truth public.</span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">Was it worth the unimaginable pain that he felt as he was tortured slowly for 5 hours on the night of June 6, 1958? </span></span></span></b><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b>What must he have been thinking during those horrific hours of going in and out of consciousness as they repeatedly tightened and loosened a rope around his neck?</b></span></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.4px;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.4px;"><b>Samuel Wolkoff's cause of death, 5 long hours of tortured Murder By Strangulation. </b></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.4px;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.4px;"><b>Try to hold your breath for as long as you can, then wait 40 more seconds, exhale, that will give you a tiny sense of the horrific way my father felt for 5 consecutive hours, a rope tied as a noose, was continuously alternately tightened, then loosened around his neck, while his hands were tied behind his back. </b></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.4px;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.4px;"><b>Death, when it finally came, must have been a merciful release for my father.</b></span></span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-weight: bold;">The autopsy showed that my father struggled so bravely to live, that his eyeballs eventually burst, and he finally stopped breathing. His body then deposited at a desolate gas station, in the middle of the night, thrown out onto the ground, as a piece of garbage. Hold that entire scene in your mind forever, it is I can assure, gruesome and haunting in its profoundly graphic endless replay, over and over in my mind.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><div style="color: #333333;"><span><span><span style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-weight: bold;">Oh, as an aside, his sister learned about his murder on the radio news, she immediately dropped dead of a heart attack in front of her four children.</span></span></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span style="color: black; font-size: medium;">The family never talked about it for 40 plus years, not even to speak my father's name, it is the taboo secret code followed by many families of victims, as if somehow, the unbearable pain would get less. I have spent most of my life investigating his case and eventually shared it with our family. Never have figured out if I did good or bad by reopening the wounds, but I do know, those are permanent gaping, seeping, toxic, painful holes, they never really were ever closed.</span></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b>Was it worth it to believe that your goodness would triumph above evil, that god would watch over you, that law enforcement would protect you, that your wife, and children would not suffer beyond imagination for the rest of our lives?</b></span></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b>Justice not served, justice not given, nothing complicated, nothing new, an innocent, honest, good person, a human life stolen without any remorse, it happens all the time. </b></span></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b>How can a loved one who dies suffering, rest in peace, ever? The answer is they cannot rest in peace because of the way they died.</b></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black; line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Seems like a simple thing to believe and its even reduced to a short acronym, R.I.P., easy to write. I can't write it, not possible, not after all the never ending suffering of my father, and our family.</b></span></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b>Was it worth it, my hero, my dear beloved father? </b></span></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 1.4;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 1.4;"><b>Was it worth it?</b></span></span></span></div><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: medium; line-height: 33.6px;">The march of the dead continues, May/June are the saddest months for me, I dread this time of the year, horrifically gruesome memories of human, innocent lives of my family wasted. </span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: medium; line-height: 33.6px;"><br /></span></span></span></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: medium;">I am often intrigued as to why over 163,000 people as of this date have visited my Blog. </span></div></div></div></h3><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><div class="post-body entry-content" itemprop="description articleBody" style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 620px;"></div></h3><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"></h3><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6810228199122209907" itemprop="description articleBody" style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 620px;"><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: medium; line-height: 33.6px;">There are many good people who come here, victims, families of victims, people seeking justice, those who are fighting against injustice, human beings who care. </span></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">I see search terms on my Blog from people who arrive looking for information about my father, a lot of other interesting search words that only "you" would know. </span></span></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: medium; line-height: 1.4;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">There are visitors here to this Blog who are criminals, the very worst evildoers of all kinds, organized crime family leaders, law enforcement, the curious, all are responsible by their actions or inaction's for the injustices that are specifically detailed in many of my different blog posts about all the victims I write about.</span></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: medium; line-height: 1.4;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.176px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;">For an ultra private person like me, a Blog is obscenely public, personal, grossly revealing, definitely not my style, but interestingly, momentarily cleansing, a way of coming out, being up front with unbearable realities, my reality. Mostly</span><span style="color: black;"> I do it for those that can no longer speak for themselves, </span>who experienced unimaginable suffering that ended their lives. In this moment, my father's reality.</span></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.176px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 1.4;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.176px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 1.4;">I do know that MY FATHER was a courageous HERO. </span></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;">Dead heroes, no matter how courageous they are, never get remembered by society for their acts of courage. They are quickly forgotten, except by those who loved them.</span></span></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: medium;">Was it worth it for MY FATHER, Samuel Wolkoff, to stand his ground and give up his life in such a terrifying, grotesque manner at the hands of cowardly pussy punks? </span></span></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: medium;">The world did not care about his life and did nothing.</span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;">My father's fatal errors that cost him his life? He believed in trust, in the sense of obligation to very close members of his family, by giving them a chance to change their ways.</span></span></div></div><div style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><div style="background-color: white; padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;">The good deeds he did, paid back by these very same, who had him murdered. Horrifically ugly, but brutally true, and they all got away with it, no guilt, no conscience, didn't bother any of them, never mattered to them.</span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Today </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">we remember my courageous father. He is not resting in peace, and he never will rest in peace, that is certain.</span></div></div></div></h3></div>Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-21224938994411589562023-05-28T00:05:00.002-04:002023-05-28T12:21:30.471-04:00MY SISTER IRIS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnQ3-OA6UUMd87ISP8ZoEGnAQkGEEaJbKw_FnLR6aq38H0Bb5uZOGcvWLUFNpAQWmUdoxd5Nh1mNnPb6agsNHRELGZu9YjNMFH8rrxMWHWvGVJrPBjHNeDJU9E-v4zQxkA-QCV8HvQMYXD/s1600/Animated+flickering+candle+.gif" style="color: #cc4411; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 30px; font-weight: 700; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" height="95" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnQ3-OA6UUMd87ISP8ZoEGnAQkGEEaJbKw_FnLR6aq38H0Bb5uZOGcvWLUFNpAQWmUdoxd5Nh1mNnPb6agsNHRELGZu9YjNMFH8rrxMWHWvGVJrPBjHNeDJU9E-v4zQxkA-QCV8HvQMYXD/w160-h95/Animated+flickering+candle+.gif" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="160" /></a></div><p> </p><p> </p><p> <span face="arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700;"> </span><span face="arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXApHRt5VufG0ndvdIbWaBglSpqAkQR83SS1aKXNfrn9jMkCXU4FwGgDnu8BxwHRPjkYPyG_Q1Km2o39qIO9R3t02htZbbPvKJzygy39AUvj2KQ4AxUc9A78Un6iqghXFvY59vIHfPdqS1/s1600/IMG_0016+%25282%2529.JPG" style="color: #771100; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="916" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXApHRt5VufG0ndvdIbWaBglSpqAkQR83SS1aKXNfrn9jMkCXU4FwGgDnu8BxwHRPjkYPyG_Q1Km2o39qIO9R3t02htZbbPvKJzygy39AUvj2KQ4AxUc9A78Un6iqghXFvY59vIHfPdqS1/s400/IMG_0016+%25282%2529.JPG" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="227" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEviQiebX71sI_XdVTVtyLhzx7X8kWLfJYPOOLQcpN9jDBx-X_KwDP9wGq2tsBoDFPZfQRjHQcuku613z2Psivw8I-Qb2ryiPuu0FSQ-VwXyptWLw4964fxokJzJW2_lMMAox_c8ZbGyKd/s320/IMG_0224.JPG" style="border: none; color: #cc4411; position: relative;" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><u style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 1.4;">It always begins on this date every ye</span><span style="line-height: 1.4;">ar</span><span style="line-height: 1.4;">.</span></span></u></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="color: #222222; font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="color: black;">My beloved sister Iris died </span>on May 28th, 2004, and this marks the beginning of the period each year that fills me with incalculable suffering,<span style="line-height: 33.6px;"> inexplicable unfairness, </span><span style="line-height: 1.4;">tragedy that has wrought its massive destruction of so many good, loved members of my family, who deserved so very much better than they received in life and death. </span><span style="color: black; line-height: 1.4;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Once again, another year has passed and I dread the intensified agony of overwhelming grief that envelops me for these lost souls of my family during the upcoming months.</span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 33.6px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;">I need not be told that it is here, since the pain is always present, all the time, year round, but becomes insi</span></span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;">diously unbearable as of this date, and in the next few months, every year.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;">I painfully miss and mourn those of my immediate family who have died, more so than at any other time, as each year passes.</span></span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 1.4;"><br /></span><span style="color: black; line-height: 1.4;">Increasingly difficult, filled with the aching of a lifetime beaten down into the ever present, toxic, non stop personal demons, nightmares, flash backs, with memories vividly stamped inside my brain, as if it were just yesterday that we were all together as a family and of course, big sister and little brother.</span></span></span></div><div id="AOLMsgPart_1_157a3789-bd2e-447a-ba6e-397d1e877a87" style="color: #222222; font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: bold;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black;"><br />I planted purple Iris flowers, one of them pictured above in the garden out front of my house when my sister died.</span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span><span style="color: black;">I like the idea that they are perennials, returning every year, flowering in all their beauty, now looking so alive on another anniversary today of the day she died, after a courageous, painful battle to live. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: black;">We do that a lot in my family, fighting to live life to the fullest, and when our time comes, refusing to let go until our last precious breath. </span>They call our family fighters, survivors, and that is what we do in both living our life with happiness as a gift never to be taken for granted, and also the darkness which is part of remembering.</span></span></div><div id="AOLMsgPart_1_157a3789-bd2e-447a-ba6e-397d1e877a87" style="color: #222222; font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: bold;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Iris was a unique and compassionate person who quietly touched everyone she met with her kindness and strength. </span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Iris is missed by all of us who loved her. We will never forget her beautiful smile.<br /><br /><span style="color: black;">My sister was full of life, insightful, quiet, brave,</span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black;">loyal, sagely wise, and then she was gone forever, horribly, excruciatingly painfully, and irrevocably. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: black;">She deserved so much better in her short time on this earth but it was not to be.<br /><br />Iris, my sister, a gift to me in life, was more beautiful in a million ways than these magnificent flowers. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: black;">I will miss you forever my dear sister Iris, most of all, </span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span><span style="color: black;">I will always miss your caring love. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: black;">I love you. </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: bold;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></div></div>Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-48501982364195833292023-02-25T20:31:00.004-05:002023-02-26T10:54:36.636-05:00RICHARD WARD-INNOCENT VICTIM MURDERED BY POLICE<p><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-size: medium;"><b> </b><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">UNBELIEVABLE BUT SADLY TRUE-SMFH.</span><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> </span><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">This is sickening. The arrogance of the law as they all circle their "wagons" to not only honor this murderous,cowardly "policeman". The prosecutors also find him not guilty of doing anything wrong, yet he murdered an innocent human being who presented no real threat.For no reason at all this victim is dead, Slaughtered as if he were an animal. This happens over and over again.</span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-size: large;">There is the willingness of this arrogance of the law to not take accountability and responsibility for killing innocent victims for their actions or inactions.They circle the wagons of all the govt. departments in an attempt to cover-up the truth and have absolutely no willingness to seek the truth. To them, an innocent human life is disposable because it is more important to protect their asses, maintain their phony reputations and to do everything possible to escape being held guilty of taking a human life that they are supposedly there to protect. Good luck to the victims family of Richard Ward in suing for the loss of their loved one. Don't give up. Your loved one deserves some sense of justice.</span></p><p><span style="color: #f3f3f3;">.</span><span style="background-color: #e06666; color: #121212; font-family: "GH Guardian Headline", "Guardian Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 1.75rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;">Colorado sheriff honors deputy after he killed man who mistakenly got in wrong car</span></p><div class="dcr-1yi1cnj" data-gu-name="standfirst" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; grid-area: standfirst / standfirst / standfirst / standfirst; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="dcr-iuxtqj" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "GH Guardian Headline", "Guardian Egyptian Web", Georgia, serif; font-size: 1.0625rem; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 12px; max-width: 540px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><p style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: red; color: #121212;">Richard Ward, 32, was shot three times at close range by Charles McWhorter, who received a purple heart award</span></p></div></div><p><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">A </span><a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/colorado" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Colorado</a><span style="font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"> sheriff’s office has given one of its deputies a medal after he fatally shot a man who mistakenly tried to get into the wrong car while picking his brother up from a local middle school.</span><span style="font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">Charles McWhorter earned the Pueblo county sheriff’s officer's purple heart award for purportedly enduring injuries to his nose, forefinger, back, knee and neck as he shot Richard Ward three times at close range and killed him on 22 February 2022. McWhorter received the purple heart medal during a sheriff’s office award ceremony on 17 February, four days before Ward’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court against him and his agency.</span></span></b></p><p class="dcr-h26idz" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 16px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office confirmed to the local <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.chieftain.com/story/news/2023/02/23/pueblo-deputy-awarded-purple-heart-for-being-injured-in-ward-shooting/69937611007/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Pueblo Chieftain newspaper</a> that McWhorter’s purple heart honored his actions on the day he shot the 32-year-old Ward to death. The spokesperson then reportedly told the Chieftain that the sheriff, David Lucero, would not discuss the decision to honor McWhorter because of the pending litigation.</span></b></p><p class="dcr-h26idz" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 16px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Meanwhile, in statements obtained by <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/02/24/richard-ward-shooting-lawsuit/" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">the Washington Post</a>, Ward’s mother and the attorney representing his family expressed outrage at the slain man’s treatment by the Pueblo sheriff’s office.</span></b></p><p class="dcr-h26idz" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 16px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“This was nothing short of state-sanctioned murder of a citizen who should not have been arrested, let alone killed in broad daylight,” the Ward family’s attorney, Darold Killmer, said in a statement.</span></b></p><p class="dcr-h26idz" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 16px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><b><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">A statement attributed to Ward’s mother, Kristy Ward Stamp, added: “My heart is broken. I have no words to explain this to Richard’s little brother. Our family has been ripped</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> apart.”</span></span></b></p><p class="dcr-h26idz" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 16px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">On the day he was killed, Ward accompanied his mother and her boyfriend to pick up his younger brother from a local middle school. Ward took a walk as they waited and – after getting back – opened the door of another car that looked like his mother’s.</span></b></p><p class="dcr-h26idz" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 16px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Ward had realized his mistake, had apologized to the driver and had gone back to his mother’s car when deputies including McWhorter showed up to investigate a call about a suspicious person in the area.</span></b></p><p class="dcr-h26idz" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 16px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">McWhorter approached Ward, who – while being questioned – said he was uncomfortable around law enforcement officers because he claimed some had used excessive force against him, according to deputy <a data-link-name="in body link" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=5bpgyJH9-1o" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(220, 220, 220); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;">body camera footage</a> that Killmer’s office released. <span style="font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit;">Ward also explained what happened when he opened the wrong car’s door, and he emptied his pockets when McWhorter asked him for his identification. He also said he might have a pocketknife on him, though it turned out he didn’t have any weapons at all.</span></span></b></p><p class="dcr-h26idz" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 16px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Then, he took out a prescription anti-anxiety pill and put it in his mouth and the tone of the encounter changed palpably.</span></b></p><p class="dcr-h26idz" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 16px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">McWhorter asked Ward, “What did you just stick in your mouth?” Then, without letting Ward answer, McWhorter wrestled Ward out of the car and threw him on the ground.</span></b></p><p class="dcr-h26idz" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 16px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“It was a pill!” Ward said. After a struggle of a few seconds that drew in another deputy, three muffled gunshots erupted, according to the video. McWhorter had shot Ward in the chest at point-blank range, the wrongful death lawsuit filed against the deputy asserts.</span></b></p><p class="dcr-h26idz" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 16px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“Is my son shot?” Stamp yelled from the car, the video shows. “He doesn’t have a weapon!”</span></b></p><p class="dcr-h26idz" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 16px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Ward was pronounced dead at the scene. McWhorter later claimed that he feared Ward was trying to reach for his gun. And local prosecutors ultimately deemed McWhorter’s killing of Ward as justified.</span></b></p><p class="dcr-h26idz" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 16px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">It was not clear Saturday how long it might take the Ward family’s lawsuit to be resolved. The suit demands damages, alleging that Ward was wrongfully subjected to excessive force, among other contentions.</span></b></p><p class="dcr-h26idz" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 16px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">McWhorter’s purple heart was at least the second time his agency had honored him for shooting a man.</span></b></p><p class="dcr-h26idz" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 16px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">In 2018, he received the office’s medal of valor award – the highest decoration of bravery available to US public safety officers – after he shot a robbery suspect 10 times the previous year. The suspect had allegedly pointed a gun at McWhorter and another deputy, who shot the accused robber twice, was also given a medal of valor.</span></b></p><p class="dcr-h26idz" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 16px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The Chieftain reported that the sheriff’s office’s website is no longer listing McWhorter as a recipient of the award after the agency spokesperson said the deputy had been receiving “targeted threats”. The spokesperson didn’t elaborate, according to the Chieftain.</span></b></p><p class="dcr-h26idz" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 16px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><b><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="dcr-h26idz" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 16px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><b><span style="background-color: #e06666; color: #990000; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="dcr-h26idz" style="--source-text-decoration-thickness: 2px; background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 16px; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><span style="color: #121212; font-family: GuardianTextEgyptian, Guardian Text Egyptian Web, Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 17px; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/25/colorado-sheriff-office-purple-heart-officer-shot-richard-ward</span></span></p><p><br /></p>Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-6988145572160079622023-02-12T14:35:00.014-05:002023-02-12T15:14:32.029-05:00 THE FEELING OF GRIEF<h1 style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="343" height="102" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc7WDvp_5EWeHoWOl6VzururhpqkEGQkXH7m6U_F4OjBVefThvKvlTYKUCPUuEMXT1VBfBogEfqDX0eLfO_-x60R8-X0hfKZA01L632jfJHtvHoDeAFkBrEHq6Z0-PMaGLXcIKUuNE2pwzcjwMqQgi5Og6LdDap_60trPmZlGUJRJP1KI5zB3FdYwtlA/w171-h102/flickering%20%20Best%20candle.gif" width="171" /></span></div><br /></h1><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="664" data-original-width="720" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTMtG3seJaACd7X9QmfvOu1sAnicUsTc6zQEd24O6wRYiwyqZ9TCKzjMjvDEScbfxg7kgfIBcSEnpu7bo8uLPq13oNaxc_EK_s_DnhpbL1XLD2A35Av5y5WdYlKK_YbTVbYMN1JqwHWtrKxN5X92CpXOD2wm4zeAYPIvyWnkEvx47zCMFMrSYORgExOQ" width="260" /></span></div><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><br /><br /><br /><p></p>https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FotXznrXEAEtRcO?format=jpg&name=900x900<br /><p><br /></p>Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-11388202207499247342022-09-21T00:10:00.000-04:002022-09-21T00:10:00.162-04:00ANOTHER BIRTHDAY<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh61a5LvCkev8ZfaxXSRqOJseZ4utJzw9_lEQkfRZSzH-DVpExkzvcaWjQ4FlkrzkHTLlpQnW641XLeqGTSVkqawGbYhd75euHb_J1T2ftIGZl5or3x0KMB12M9Ko__YjYS27HgoGIvGt24/s1600/candle-sm.gif" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 17.424px; font-weight: 700; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="55" data-original-width="54" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh61a5LvCkev8ZfaxXSRqOJseZ4utJzw9_lEQkfRZSzH-DVpExkzvcaWjQ4FlkrzkHTLlpQnW641XLeqGTSVkqawGbYhd75euHb_J1T2ftIGZl5or3x0KMB12M9Ko__YjYS27HgoGIvGt24/s1600/candle-sm.gif" style="border: none; position: relative;" /></a></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 17.424px; font-weight: 700;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 17.424px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 17.424px; font-weight: 700;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDW09mmT-1-puwg2lTFMOSYvK_mdtwxAC5ZsG9jXdKizCEwqHDp0eod1UdACK7tzvtsNjet4Qtitm2p3dwKo0h6CjSOMysgCFFMTgCTqmUs8EOJYmVCsQ955oPvsuIyDmoQZJhKSEpNo0F/s1600/Great+Smile.jpg" style="clear: right; color: #771100; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="378" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDW09mmT-1-puwg2lTFMOSYvK_mdtwxAC5ZsG9jXdKizCEwqHDp0eod1UdACK7tzvtsNjet4Qtitm2p3dwKo0h6CjSOMysgCFFMTgCTqmUs8EOJYmVCsQ955oPvsuIyDmoQZJhKSEpNo0F/s320/Great+Smile.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="260" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCZD9Fblml7UZdt5Gh__77Jx-Yf6jTuyOunHEz-qtP9dNjG0RgwNV2-njPUAOAUHBWOBDESvJUFDrqmFVCyDIHuvEeLm-0Nz-ow7UJt0P7GAvI1kFTfPfvyN5KKUrDQP6zizZOTN_gRbvi/s1600/steven+birthday+cake.+jpg.jpg" style="clear: left; color: #771100; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="217" data-original-width="320" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCZD9Fblml7UZdt5Gh__77Jx-Yf6jTuyOunHEz-qtP9dNjG0RgwNV2-njPUAOAUHBWOBDESvJUFDrqmFVCyDIHuvEeLm-0Nz-ow7UJt0P7GAvI1kFTfPfvyN5KKUrDQP6zizZOTN_gRbvi/s320/steven+birthday+cake.+jpg.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="320" /></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicWABSNqjVzTzT6Pb7jSN_OXiXmdapcCEvXaI_VpHgDXmn12O4Oy-Euz6uNvo42V5F-ItXy7j_lu9IFK5_LmyuTcU9UpMeba_87V_sqWvY8g5R6Gd3riPuSY76ivOI46m2rT1LzijY0wZK/s1600/steven+grave.JPG" style="color: #771100; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicWABSNqjVzTzT6Pb7jSN_OXiXmdapcCEvXaI_VpHgDXmn12O4Oy-Euz6uNvo42V5F-ItXy7j_lu9IFK5_LmyuTcU9UpMeba_87V_sqWvY8g5R6Gd3riPuSY76ivOI46m2rT1LzijY0wZK/s320/steven+grave.JPG" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 17.424px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 17.424px; font-weight: 700; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 28.8px;"><b style="text-align: start;"><u><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #cccccc;">ANOTHER BIRTHDAY</span></u></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 28.8px;"><b style="text-align: start;"><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 28.8px;"><b style="text-align: start;"><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 28.8px;"><b style="text-align: start;">My older son Steven Nathaniel Wolkoff would have been 45 years old today.</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 28.8px;"><b style="text-align: start;"><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 28.8px;"><b style="text-align: start;">What can a parent say on the birthday of their dead child?</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><b style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87);"><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">A living child asks for a birthday party. </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">As they become older, you, as the parent, ask them what they want for their birthday. There’s dialogue. </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">It’s tradition to remember your child's birthday, to not do so ignores that they lived.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87); font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">But what exactly is a parent supposed to do on the birthday of their child when he is gone?<br /><br />Not gone, as in out of town or at the beach, or out of the country. Gone as in, no longer alive.</span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87); font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">A dead child doesn’t want. </span></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">A dead son asks for nothing.</span></div></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 28.8px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87); font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">What does a mom or dad and siblings do?<br /><br />Where’s the rule book for recognizing birthdays of a dead child?<br /><b style="background-color: transparent; text-align: center;"><br /></b><b style="background-color: transparent; text-align: center;">Steven was born on the first day of Fall and died on the first day of Summer. </b></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">There is something odd to me about the the significance of the equinox and solstice in his life and its parallel meaning to the Earth. </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">If the autumnal equinox represents balance, then the summer solstice was most certainly the day we felt our world come to a deafening halt on the longest day of the year.</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px;"><b>Steven lies dead in a grave because of the negligence and indifference of those who killed him, stole his life at the age of 30, and have tried to erase that he ever lived.</b></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b><b>I mourn what was, what could of been, and what will never be.</b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b><b>You deserved so much better my son, it just wasn't meant to be. </b></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Love, Dad </span></div>Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-61439929639233896972022-06-30T00:10:00.001-04:002022-06-30T00:10:00.175-04:00MOM<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyhMaBsO27lcImU99uHpZp7KU-XB9hlrrhbHevY-rAYZhbgf_fgiBeORgIhiRacG58CEXrdH6nI9pO7e26ISUj9l9EQV9nbZse1B2O6OBI5hv1iWkx92eFhG-Usxr-NUFC7YoTmwkFwyY3/s1600/Animated+flickering+candle+.gif" style="color: #771100; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyhMaBsO27lcImU99uHpZp7KU-XB9hlrrhbHevY-rAYZhbgf_fgiBeORgIhiRacG58CEXrdH6nI9pO7e26ISUj9l9EQV9nbZse1B2O6OBI5hv1iWkx92eFhG-Usxr-NUFC7YoTmwkFwyY3/s1600/Animated+flickering+candle+.gif" style="border: none; position: relative;" /></a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsJGtTx5CIh5Ms4TM67HKUZnyGidUp4h6QAuoW8jFcyOtgt6FjIuhXdlDM4op8qkBL8_eD0Ha44HUQdaoYuDQKnaiy7SrG0NFq410fXHHPnRYpiDZ5-Zh6d0b55xG3JNHqBH2PH5s2ZlSS/s1600/IMG_0229+%25281%2529.JPG" style="color: #771100; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsJGtTx5CIh5Ms4TM67HKUZnyGidUp4h6QAuoW8jFcyOtgt6FjIuhXdlDM4op8qkBL8_eD0Ha44HUQdaoYuDQKnaiy7SrG0NFq410fXHHPnRYpiDZ5-Zh6d0b55xG3JNHqBH2PH5s2ZlSS/s320/IMG_0229+%25281%2529.JPG" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="color: #222222; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">I thought of you with love today<br />but that is nothing new<br /><br />I thought about you yesterday<br />and days before that too,<br />I think of you in silence<br />I often speak your name<br /><br />All I have are memories<br />and your picture in a frame.</span></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="color: #222222; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-size: medium;"><b>Your memory is my keepsake<br />with which I’ll never part<br />I have you in my heart.</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Hug me strongly, and carry me home</span></span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"></span></b></span></div><div class="ll-10-3" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">Dear Mom, one more kiss again</span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; left: -99999px; position: absolute;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-size: medium;"><b>I thought of you today, but that is nothing new. I thought about you yesterday and days before that too. I think of you in silence, I often speak your name. All I have are memories and your picture in a frame. Your memory is a keepsake from which I’ll never part. God has you in His arms, I have you in my heart.<br /><br />See more at: <a href="http://www.idlehearts.com/?p=24438" style="color: #888888; text-decoration-line: none;">http://www.idlehearts.com/?p=24438</a>I thought of you with love today</b></span></div></div><div style="color: #222222; padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;">Today is the day that my Mother, Dorothy Wolkoff died on June 30th,1997. It was sudden and there was never a chance to say goodbye.</span><br /><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="color: #222222;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;">My mom was the strongest, toughest, most courageous, gentle, caring person I have ever known. </span><br /><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black; font-size: medium;">Biology aside, mom's can be magical human beings. A mother's love is unlimited, it can heal us, make us feel safe, and inspire us. My mother was all that and more. How lucky I am.</span></span></div></div><div style="color: #222222;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div style="color: #222222;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black; font-size: medium;">She taught me much, but in particular, emphasized the importance of self pride, work/life ethics, compassion, caring, and being humble. </span></span></div></div><div style="color: #222222;"><div style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">In spite of her hard life, she provided for my sister and myself, by doing whatever was necessary for us to live, we never lacked for anything because of her grueling unselfish efforts. </span></span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span face=""helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></b><b style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My mother was the only one who believed in me, particularly during my youth, and stubbornly never gave up, no matter how much I screwed up.<span> </span></b></span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><br /></span><span style="color: black; line-height: 22.4px;">Without her support during my most difficult years as a youngster, a wild acting out teenager, she ALWAYS stood up to me, for me, guided me, and refused to give in, or give up on me. It was not easy for her to do that, but she would not back down, ever.</span></b></span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span face=""helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="line-height: 27.3778px;">My mother literally saved my life many times, she was one of a kind, I will always remember and love her for that. </span></span></b><b style="color: black;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: black;">I told my mom in many different ways over the years how much she eventually contributed to my taking the correct productive path with </span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: black;">my life</span></span> all because of her. </b><b><span style="color: black;"><span><br /></span></span></b></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black;">I spent much of my adult life making my mother proud of me, telling her how much I loved her. </span></span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><span style="color: black;">Whatever is good in me, came from my mother.</span><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></b><br /><span face=""helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black; font-size: medium;">I love and miss you mom.</span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-21681100026437565652022-06-21T00:10:00.005-04:002022-06-21T13:13:44.326-04:00STEVEN NATHANIEL WOLKOFF- SEPTEMBER 23, 1977- JUNE 21, 2008<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQQMUUptuHgNWZEx5gVv7crOUjzOCbJFlCz4Y-P9Sq-dAlZOVGkcjsxI6GXFYTEuK3I0411Jpzlbo7gnfb6Pw96yLf28k8ajFR9mK1pgVlPiNHGWRHGrRv_DFC1GJz6h7wbS843iy4xXDo/s1600/th_animated_candle.gif" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQQMUUptuHgNWZEx5gVv7crOUjzOCbJFlCz4Y-P9Sq-dAlZOVGkcjsxI6GXFYTEuK3I0411Jpzlbo7gnfb6Pw96yLf28k8ajFR9mK1pgVlPiNHGWRHGrRv_DFC1GJz6h7wbS843iy4xXDo/s1600/th_animated_candle.gif" style="border: none; position: relative;" /></a></p><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-4132627012730118172" itemprop="description articleBody" style="font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 698px;"><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-1477196431394825886" itemprop="description articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8f5_cfAIzslmg4hXF0PqDuko29BsmZvpInFxQQDLv4sW6OuYwFFF19OsAZFXLpQeB2xK5-C-QUVf1pNl4iTM0srAlwfP642A8vXkZAOay3anO0gNf7aVFX02AfNRFbqCIqZCGogYiGyN_/s1600/Great+Smile.jpg" style="color: #888888; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bpwdwbO1uvM" width="320" youtube-src-id="bpwdwbO1uvM"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div><p><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Also - <span style="color: #0096ef; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;"><a href="https://stevewolkoff.com/884-2/" style="color: #0096ef; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">CLICK ON HERE</a></span><span style="color: #0096ef; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;"><a href="https://stevewolkoff.com/884-2/" style="color: #0096ef; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;"> & LISTEN TO AN ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTAL WRITTEN & COMPOSED IN MEMORY OF STEVEN NATHANIEL WOLKOFF, CALLED "STEVEN'S SONG"</a></span></b></span></span></span></p><p><b style="background-color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">This composition is a quiet and moving work and is meant to serve as a tribute to the life of Steven Wolkoff. It makes use of simple but haunting harmonies and a melody that will stay with the listener long after its final notes have finished sounding. </span></span></b></p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><span style="background-color: silver; font-size: medium;"><b>SEPTEMBER 23, 1977- JUNE 21, 2008</b></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><span style="background-color: silver; font-size: medium;"><b>BELOVED SON, BROTHER,GRANDSON,</b></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span><span style="background-color: silver;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>NEPHEW, COUSIN, CHERISHED LOVE</b></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span><span style="background-color: silver;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>GOOD FRIEND</b></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><br /></span><span><span style="background-color: silver;">GENTLY THEY GO,</span></span></b></span></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span><span style="background-color: silver;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>THE BEAUTIFUL,</b></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span><span style="background-color: silver;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>THE TENDER, THE KIND</b></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><br /></span><span><span style="background-color: silver;">FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS</span></span></b></span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 22.4px;"><b><u style="font-size: 15.84px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></u><br /></b><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Tuesday, June 21, 2022</u></b></span></div><div style="font-size: 15.84px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;">Today is the anniversary of the 14th year of an eternity in agony, marking the horrific day, June 21, 2008, that my oldest child, Steven Nathaniel Wolkoff, was cruelly killed at the age of 30, his life brutally stolen from him, family, friends, me. </span></b></span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: normal;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: normal;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">I dread the coming of this day every year.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>Steven died on the first day of Summer, it was 5 PM on a Saturday afternoon, exactly 14 years ago.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><br /></span><span>It seems so much longer than 14 years have gone by since we lost him. </span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>I still feel that it cannot be true, somehow suddenly he will appear, call me on the phone, or send me an email. That feeling never leaves, it is always there, I will wake up from this nightmare, and Steven will be here, alive.</b></span></span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span><span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span></span></b></span></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px; padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>There are mornings that I wake up believing for a few seconds that Steven is alive and it was just a horrible nightmare that he is dead. Then the reality strikes me full force in the face and gut, that he is dead forever, how can that be?</b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>Oh how he loved the summer months and life itself. He was looking forward to it all, never realizing that his life would end that day in 2008.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><br /></span><span>I posted the other pictures above of Steven because they are some of my favorite ones, and also he is so real, alive in them, and for a second, he seems to actually be here.</span></b></span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">Today, on this 14th anniversary of Steven's tragic death, if you can, please take a moment now to remember who Steven was and how deeply he is missed by each of us.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><br /></span></b></span></div></div></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">The last time I spoke to Steven, was on the phone,</span><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">Tuesday evening, June 17 , 2008.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><br /></span></b></span></div></div></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">I didn't know that moment was going to be our last.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">The last time I would talk to you, and hear your beautiful voice.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><br /></span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">The last time I would tell you that I loved you, and hear you say “I love you too dad”. Strong and so real, so vibrant and alive.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">A smiling face, with twinkling eyes, your special smile, my fine young man, my oldest child.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">The shattered remnant of my heart with holes so black and fathomless no light can ever fill. I am and will be in shock forever.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">Time has passed before me, so bleak and dark and long, the wind that whispers through the trees, the brightest star at night, the rain on a dismal day, my endless dreams, nightmares, the constant thoughts, hearing the door bell ringing, seeing the 2 Nassau County Policeman at my door at 4 AM asking me politely if they could come inside, no eye contact from them.</span></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">I knew and asked them "which one of my children", their response "do you have a son Steven living in San Francisco, he was killed in a car collision". </span></span></span></b></div></div></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">That moment is frozen in my mind, repeating itself endlessly almost every waking and sleeping moment of my life.</span></span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px; padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">The tragic death of Steven was caused by stupid, senseless acts. Every day, each night, my mind is focused on the highway at the collision, looking at the photos of Steven’s face while he is alive on a stretcher placed on the highway and then later, he is dead, covered by a tarp on that same highway.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">The collision seems less a random act, and more determined, by a series of factors, not so benign, each one a contributing cause of my son’s death.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">Steven was killed not by accident, but by horribly connected actions, and </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error noTransition" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;">inaction's</span><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">, of many others, each building on the impact of the other. Steven’s death began when distinct acts of design and error grew to become the chaos of negligence.</span></b></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">Steven was killed by the lack of highway signage, a secret California State cover up of a structurally flawed </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">highway design known as a "death trap", whose design errors were deliberately never corrected,</span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">violating the written safety codes of the same government department responsible for building the </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">highway, and the carelessness of a local community program, having a gathering, unaware that their </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">visitors, were parking, turning, merging, clogging this already too narrow stretch of road that had no separate turning lanes.</span></b></span></span></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">Steven was killed by a 21 year old drug impaired driver, who did not even have a driver’s license, </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">an illegal alien. His danger to others not in his thoughts, but mostly I think he just didn't care </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">about the effects of his irresponsible actions on Steven.</span></b></span></span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 22.4px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">Steven was killed by an army of first responders, Paramedics, Emergency Medical Technicians, </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">Police, Firefighters, and Park Rangers, etc., busy littering the highway with equipment, while they </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">tried to look busy and important.</span></b></span></span></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>Steven courageously lived for about an hour after the collision while multiple systems of rescue <span style="line-height: 22.4px;">professionals failed to get him to the hospital, and were unable to properly provide a minimum </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">standard of the medical skills that they were trained to perform.</span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><br /></span></span></span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">The first responders panicked, although Steven was breathing on his own, they performed an unnecessary medical procedure that they had never before done in their life. </span></span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">It is called a </span></span>Needle Cricothyroidotomy which they failed to do properly and in doing this they missed his airway, suffocating him, vital oxygen crushing against his heart, lungs and diaphragm, taking his breath away, and horrifically killing him.</b></span></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">The responder’s mission, to keep Steven medically stabilized for triage care at the Hospital, failed, lost in a few hundred square feet of disorder, with no one in charge, no one leading, standing, telling, helping, shouting, or recognizing the obvious signs of their medical errors.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">My son Steven was killed by carelessness, thoughtlessness, and negligence on the part of multiple entities and individuals.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">A gifted, talented, precious, irreplaceable, meaningful life was stolen from all of us who loved him deeply, because of the actions of so many who, each in their own way, miserably failed to help Steven</span><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">, all destroying Steven’s life.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br />I cannot believe that my son Steven lies buried in a grave so young, me dreaming of things that he was and might have been. </b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b> </b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>I am not religious, nor do I believe in god, so the traditional Mourners Kaddish prayer for Steven are meaningless words to me. </b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>I have written my own Mourners Kaddish as a way to honor Steven, and I post it every year at this time.</span></b></span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">It is my way of expressing that Steven left behind a legacy of goodness, and worthy descendants, those who loved him, who will always remember that he lived.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>These sentences speak directly to Steven, because his pain and loss need to be honestly described in real words that accurately reflect my true feelings. </span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><u><b>STEVEN NATHANIEL WOLKOFF'S MOURNERS KADDISH</b></u></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><br /></span></span><span>Steven Nathaniel Wolkoff, Shmuel Nacham Ben Yaakov, (Samuel Nathan, Son of Jerry).<br /> </span><br /><span><u>September 23, 1977- June 21, 2008</u><br /><br />I am sorry that you are dead.<br /><br />I am sorry you suffered so painfully, on that awful day, as you fought to stay alive.<br /><br />I am sorry for the agony you felt, I see it in your eyes, face, and body from the horrific evidence photos. I see and feel it in my endless nightmares.<br /><br />I am sorry for the fear, terror, unimaginable pain you felt in fighting for your life, as they killed you. I know the truth of your courage in being able to fight so bravely to stay alive.<br /><br />I am sorry for you because you were not killed by accident, but instead by the senseless, stupid, careless, actions of so many others who could have saved your life, but instead, each in their own way, miserably failed you that day, never realizing or even considering taking responsibility, or accountability for the consequences of their actions, inaction's, indifference, and incompetence.<br /><br />I am sorry you died not due to fate, nor randomly, but were instead killed by the cascading chaos of connected, dysfunctional, defective entities and others, all who caused your preventable death.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>I am sorry that you died because the State of California did not care about your life and decided not to fix a dangerously unsafe road, instead they deliberately hid the structural defects in the highway that made it into a death trap.</b></span></span></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><br /></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span>I am sorry that you died because of the</span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"> 21 year old drug impaired driver speeding out of control into your car. </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">His danger to you not in his thoughts, but mostly I think he just didn't care </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">about the effects of his irresponsible actions.</span></span></span></b></span></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br />I am sorry about the inept, licensed, qualified, medical first responders who had no idea, not a clue, of what they were doing medically to you as they killed you. They have no consciences and lied afterward to hide how they murdered you in cold blood.<br /><br />I am sorry for you, that so many corrupt, ugly cowards of evil, who have evidence of the truth, but have no conscience to speak up, remain silent, lie, omit, refuse to come forward to admit their responsibility in covering up the true facts that all contributed to killing you.</b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>I am sorry for those whose toxic evil allowed all of the above to be done to you and escaped from being held accountable for participating in your death.</b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>I am sorry that your soul and body were desecrated in death. </span><span> </span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>I am sorry for the wicked hideous ones who desecrated your body in death and refuse to take accountability for their violation of your body, your soul.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>I am sorry that it has took us five years to finally successfully legally force the spiteful, hateful,evil San Mateo County Coroner to release your final remains for proper burial.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br />I am sorry that you died in spite of the true medical facts that show you should be alive today.<br /><br />I am sorry for all the multitude of evil ones who have tried to defame you and disrespect your name, your life.<br /><br />I am sorry that life is so cheap and yours has no value to those who killed you, trying to erase you ever existed.<br /><br />I am sorry that the Legal system is weak, corrupt and I was not able to obtain justice for you. I failed to accomplish getting that Justice for you, please forgive me.<br /><br />I am sorry for my failing as your father to keep you from dying.<br /><br />I am sorry you did not leave the beach one second earlier or later to return home that day of June, 21, 2008.<br /><br />I am sorry that I was not there to protect you.<br /><br />I am sorry that I was not there that day to comfort you, hold you, ease your pain.<br /><br />I am sorry that I don't know the last thoughts in your mind before you died.<br /><br />I am sorry that you died alone, with strangers, and no one even had the courage, kindness to hold your hand.<br /><br />I am sorry that you died lying on a hot highway pavement, in a place unfamiliar, in the middle of nowhere.<br /><br />I am sorry that no one had the decency to cover your right arm and both feet, as you lay dead under the blue tarp.<br /><br />I am sorry the Medvac trauma helicopter was delayed in arriving there by 4 minutes, too late to stop the killer first responders from touching you.<br /><br />I am sorry that I was not even able to protect your dignity in death.<br /><br />I am sorry you cannot cry.<br /><br />I am sorry you cannot scream.<br /><br />I am sorry you cannot laugh.<br /><br />I am sorry you cannot smile.<br /><br />I am sorry you cannot feel.<br /><br />I am sorry you cannot talk.<br /><br />I am sorry you cannot breathe.<br /><br />I am sorry you are silent forever. </b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span>I am sorry that the world said nothing, heard nothing, says nothing about the injustices done to you.<br /> </span><span><br /></span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span>I am sorry that it was you and not me.<br /><br />I am sorry that I had to bury you and that you didn't bury me first, as it should be. </span><span><br /></span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>I am sorry for everything that I forgot to say now, or cannot, and did not say here.<br /><br />I am sorry for YOU because you are not here, you are NO MORE on this earth. </span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>I am sorry that you cannot rest in peace.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><span style="background-color: silver;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span></span></span><br /></b></span></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>More than anything, I am sorry that you didn't have a chance to say goodbye to those you loved.<br /><br />Your family will always honor you, remember you, miss you, keep you in our heart, preserve your memory in lovingly telling future generations about you, and love you forever. </b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><br /></span><span>We all miss you so very much.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div></div></div></div><div class="noTransition" style="line-height: 17.82px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>I mourn what was, what could of been, and what will never be.</b></span></div></div></div></div><div class="noTransition" style="line-height: 17.82px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 17.82px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 17.82px;">You deserved so much better my son, it just wasn’t meant to be.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>Your brother, sister, mother, family, and others who love you, will do the same. We will never forget YOU, never stop loving you, our precious beloved Steven. NEVER.<br /><br />Steven, I can only say, I am SORRY, SORRY, I am so SORRY.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>My heart is broken, my Steven is gone, and we will mourn forever.</b></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px; padding: 0px;"></div><div style="line-height: normal;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="font-size: 30px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span> <img alt="Hebrew" height="24" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgp9V1gXeyWB9ksENM8n2bNFM4S1_3eucJNYqEepyNFnliHUL3UJPnYZjE-mcXEDJ8mpcvydMJIpvYKtj0FW4PHtKI6QiKv_hBoZMdZ2Wp2YcenQB5Qyz_ptW0-LlNB6k7OKuKTUTk" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.098) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px;" width="35" /> -Amen. </span></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Love, Dad.</span></span><span> </span></span></h3></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-66940421784880083152022-06-06T00:10:00.006-04:002023-05-19T21:23:18.525-04:0064 YEARS AGO. WAS IT WORTH IT?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNa8JKU0VV534-OF9Lg9FwF7x5pyvXnMNDj90_n_EW4_pJl7-JCv7dxL1LpLizvsh9Y9nZa9m0GWfL1t2nreOQDfKhopiZQvJ6EjxeLoC2eial2QTV5Tvc88y6HXRfx77kmjb5whtN8Lfv/s1600/Animated+flickering+candle+.gif" style="color: #771100; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNa8JKU0VV534-OF9Lg9FwF7x5pyvXnMNDj90_n_EW4_pJl7-JCv7dxL1LpLizvsh9Y9nZa9m0GWfL1t2nreOQDfKhopiZQvJ6EjxeLoC2eial2QTV5Tvc88y6HXRfx77kmjb5whtN8Lfv/s1600/Animated+flickering+candle+.gif" style="border: none; position: relative;" /></a></div><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLXBdnJA99IXLm2sJlQjJhWTGczmZnx-Z-HhCs7MViYDExB0VxE0FWzwVCe9RH4C3CGyu8Q178oKzi6trNbT3GOc_NVgvPX0R7XD1iwG81vPuki-N-Iodd_Jak56nM5qm66wcCq-J3qhLv/s1600/IMG_0225.JPG" style="color: #771100; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLXBdnJA99IXLm2sJlQjJhWTGczmZnx-Z-HhCs7MViYDExB0VxE0FWzwVCe9RH4C3CGyu8Q178oKzi6trNbT3GOc_NVgvPX0R7XD1iwG81vPuki-N-Iodd_Jak56nM5qm66wcCq-J3qhLv/s320/IMG_0225.JPG" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></div><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"></h3><div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;"><span style="color: black;">Samuel Wolkoff- June 6th, 1958, forever etched in my soul. </span></span></span></b><br /><b style="color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></b><b style="color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;"><span style="color: black;">My father was gruesomely murdered on this day many years ago, at the age of 42. </span></span><span style="line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;">I was 10 years old. </span></span></span></b><br /><b style="color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></b><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;">He lost his life that day, I lost my childhood, my inner peace, and my soul. </span></span><span style="color: red;">Samuel Wolkoff was MY FATHER</span><span style="color: #222222;">. </span></span></b></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222;">T</span></span></b><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222;">ragically, I hardly remember anything about him, and almost nothing about our relationship as father and son. </span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: red;">Today's Blog is in memory of</span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: red;"> </span><a href="https://silo.pub/blood-relation.html"><span style="background-color: black; color: red;"><span><span><span>Samuel Wolkoff</span><span>, </span><span>My Dad</span></span><span>, tortured and murdered</span></span><span> </span></span><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><span>(</span><span>CLICK HERE TO READ-SCROLL TO P.130 AND P.262-264)</span></span></a><span style="color: #2b00fe;">.</span><span style="color: red;"> (</span><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1771918559441205756/5268376839554117929"><span style="color: red;">ALSO CLICK </span><span style="color: red;">HERE FOR MORE)</span></a>.</span></span></span></span></b></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; line-height: 33.6px;"><b>The rest of the year, the ever present demons make sure I remember those whose memories others have tried to erase, these are my family, they were human beings who will never be forgotten by me, they lived and never deserved to die in such horribly suffering ways. </b></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; line-height: 33.6px;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; line-height: 33.6px;"><b>To me it's very personal when June 6th arrives every year, a very painful day. It has now been 64 agonizing years since my father Samuel Wolkoff was brutally tortured and murdered.</b></span></span></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;">There are also extremely evil people who visit here. </span></span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">I suppose they come for many different reasons and I can see they are from all over the world.</span></b></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 700;">I get emails frequently, mostly anonymous from others about the monster subhuman animal who murdered my father. They vary from other victims families murdered by the monster, friends of his, and entities that shall remain not named by me.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 700;"> </span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-weight: 700;">C</span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-weight: 700;">ertain facts in this blog post and also in the book </span><u style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: 700;">"Blood Relation" </u><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-weight: 700;">have been deliberately edited to protect myself and others.</span></span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 1.4;">Some of you are the cowardly, but powerfully dangerous scum bags who murdered my father, some are close murderous associates of my father, as well as those of you in the arrogant, incompetent, corrupt law enforcement systems, whose agencies knowingly covered their asses and continue to do so to this day.</span></b></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><span style="line-height: 1.4;">In doing so, those of you in law enforcement have betrayed your sworn oaths to defend justice by deliberately participating in covering up the truth, lying, withholding documented criminal evidence, and obstructing justice in this capital offense of murder, which has no statute</span><span style="line-height: 1.4;"> of limitations. You have placed your own personal needs above that of the value of human lives.</span></b></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 1.4;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 1.4;"><b>My father believed in kindness, honesty, family, hard work, ethics, and his rights as a human being to reap the fruits of his labor for himself and our family.</b></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b>He was a man who did not run away from the corrupt animals who wanted a "cut of his business" for themselves. </b></span></span></span><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">He believed in himself and the law enforcement, legal, supposedly ethical "systems" to protect him from those that wanted the business that he had built from nothing, with his blood and sweat.</span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">He believed in a code of personal ethics, morality, integrity that dictated honor, family, respect, fairness, loyalty, faith in humanity, and that no one is entitled to steal from another human being their right to live.</span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">On June 6th, 1958 the world was already very evil, corrupt, his life was cheap, and scum bags took what they wanted, from who ever they wanted. That was the day they took my father's life, his business, and all of our souls.</span></span></span></span></b><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">Today, June 6th, 2022, the world is infinitely more evil, more corrupt, life is even cheaper, scum bags enjoy their lives as they take even more of what they want, from whomever they choose.</span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">Many of the murderers of my father, their children, and family members are still alive. We know who you ALL ARE. You have done extremely well financially and live with a high standard of living for themselves with their families having all thrived in spite of their evil deeds. </span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">Yes, my father was a hero, he is a hero who sacrificed his life for his beliefs. Seems old fashioned, naive, for someone to believe so strongly in doing the right thing. </span></span></span></span></b><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">Yet somehow, he who had nothing, created a thriving business, and maintained his righteousness of believing in goodness, his business associates, his relatives, the legal/law enforcement system, and that his being a hard working, good person was to be rewarded by having a good life.</span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">In the end, his naive belief in the humanity of others, particularly his relatives (we know who you are) proved that he was DEAD wrong and he paid for it with his life. </span></span></span></span></b><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.176px;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.176px;"><b>We all know each other, or about each other, you know I have hidden away safely the written confidential secret official documents with my honest law enforcement and political friends, the written proof of all "missing" documented, detailed real facts that would expose the ugly truths. </b></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.176px;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.176px;"><b>Nothing to be concerned about, it will remain buried. </b></span></span><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 22.176px;"><br /></span></span></span></b><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 22.176px;">We know the deal that protects all of us, the reasons that nothing else has been done by any of us about my father's murder, the reason these documents will remain hidden, is the unspoken but very clear mutual understanding we all have forever, of don't ever again fuck with any of my family, and in return, we won't fuck with any of you by making the real truth public.</span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">Was it worth the unimaginable pain that he felt as he was tortured slowly for 5 hours on the night of June 6, 1958? </span></span></span></b><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b>What must he have been thinking during those horrific hours of going in and out of consciousness as they repeatedly tightened and loosened a rope around his neck?</b></span></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.4px;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.4px;"><b>Samuel Wolkoff's cause of death, 5 long hours of tortured Murder By Strangulation. </b></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.4px;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.4px;"><b>Try to hold your breath for as long as you can, then wait 40 more seconds, exhale, that will give you a tiny sense of the horrific way my father felt for 5 consecutive hours, a rope tied as a noose, was continuously alternately tightened, then loosened around his neck, while his hands were tied behind his back. </b></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.4px;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.4px;"><b>Death, when it finally came, must have been a merciful release for my father.</b></span></span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-weight: bold;">The autopsy showed that my father struggled so bravely to live, that his eyeballs eventually burst, and he finally stopped breathing. His body then deposited at a desolate gas station, in the middle of the night, thrown out onto the ground, as a piece of garbage. Hold that entire scene in your mind forever, it is I can assure, gruesome and haunting in its profoundly graphic endless replay, over and over in my mind.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><div style="color: #333333;"><span><span><span style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-weight: bold;">Oh, as an aside, his sister learned about his murder on the radio news, she immediately dropped dead of a heart attack in front of her four children.</span></span></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span style="color: black; font-size: medium;">The family never talked about it for 40 plus years, not even to speak my father's name, it is the taboo secret code followed by many families of victims, as if somehow, the unbearable pain would get less. I have spent most of my life investigating his case and eventually shared it with our family. Never have figured out if I did good or bad by reopening the wounds, but I do know, those are permanent gaping, seeping, toxic, painful holes, they never really were ever closed.</span></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b>Was it worth it to believe that your goodness would triumph above evil, that god would watch over you, that law enforcement would protect you, that your wife, and children would not suffer beyond imagination for the rest of our lives?</b></span></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b>Justice not served, justice not given, nothing complicated, nothing new, an innocent, honest, good person, a human life stolen without any remorse, it happens all the time. </b></span></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b>How can a loved one who dies suffering, rest in peace, ever? The answer is they cannot rest in peace because of the way they died.</b></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black; line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Seems like a simple thing to believe and its even reduced to a short acronym, R.I.P., easy to write. I can't write it, not possible, not after all the never ending suffering of my father, and our family.</b></span></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b>Was it worth it, my hero, my dear beloved father? </b></span></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 1.4;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 1.4;"><b>Was it worth it?</b></span></span></span></div><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: medium; line-height: 33.6px;">The march of the dead continues, May/June are the saddest months for me, I dread this time of the year, horrifically gruesome memories of human, innocent lives of my family wasted. </span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: medium; line-height: 33.6px;"><br /></span></span></span></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: medium;">I am often intrigued as to why over 154,000 people as of this date have visited my Blog. </span></div></div></div></h3><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><div class="post-body entry-content" itemprop="description articleBody" style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 620px;"></div></h3><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"></h3><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6810228199122209907" itemprop="description articleBody" style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 620px;"><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: medium; line-height: 33.6px;">There are many good people who come here, victims, families of victims, people seeking justice, those who are fighting against injustice, human beings who care. </span></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">I see search terms on my Blog from people who arrive looking for information about my father, a lot of other interesting search words that only "you" would know. </span></span></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: medium; line-height: 1.4;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">There are visitors here to this Blog who are criminals, the very worst evildoers of all kinds, organized crime family leaders, law enforcement, the curious, all are responsible by their actions or inaction's for the injustices that are specifically detailed in many of my different blog posts about all the victims I write about.</span></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: medium; line-height: 1.4;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.176px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;">For an ultra private person like me, a Blog is obscenely public, personal, grossly revealing, definitely not my style, but interestingly, momentarily cleansing, a way of coming out, being up front with unbearable realities, my reality. Mostly</span><span style="color: black;"> I do it for those that can no longer speak for themselves, </span>who experienced unimaginable suffering that ended their lives. In this moment, my father's reality.</span></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.176px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 1.4;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.176px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 1.4;">I do know that MY FATHER was a courageous HERO. </span></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;">Dead heroes, no matter how courageous they are, never get remembered by society for their acts of courage. They are quickly forgotten, except by those who loved them.</span></span></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: medium;">Was it worth it for MY FATHER, Samuel Wolkoff, to stand his ground and give up his life in such a terrifying, grotesque manner at the hands of cowardly pussy punks? </span></span></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: medium;">The world did not care about his life and did nothing.</span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;">My father's fatal errors that cost him his life? He believed in trust, in the sense of obligation to very close members of his family, by giving them a chance to change their ways.</span></span></div></div><div style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><div style="background-color: white; padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;">The good deeds he did, paid back by these very same, who had him murdered. Horrifically ugly, but brutally true, and they all got away with it, no guilt, no conscience, didn't bother any of them, never mattered to them.</span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Today </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">we remember my courageous father. He is not resting in peace, and he never will rest in peace, that is certain.</span></div></div></div></h3></div>Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-46772344773831440312022-05-28T00:10:00.003-04:002023-05-19T21:50:27.287-04:00MY SISTER IRIS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnQ3-OA6UUMd87ISP8ZoEGnAQkGEEaJbKw_FnLR6aq38H0Bb5uZOGcvWLUFNpAQWmUdoxd5Nh1mNnPb6agsNHRELGZu9YjNMFH8rrxMWHWvGVJrPBjHNeDJU9E-v4zQxkA-QCV8HvQMYXD/s1600/Animated+flickering+candle+.gif" style="color: #cc4411; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 30px; font-weight: 700; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" height="95" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnQ3-OA6UUMd87ISP8ZoEGnAQkGEEaJbKw_FnLR6aq38H0Bb5uZOGcvWLUFNpAQWmUdoxd5Nh1mNnPb6agsNHRELGZu9YjNMFH8rrxMWHWvGVJrPBjHNeDJU9E-v4zQxkA-QCV8HvQMYXD/w160-h95/Animated+flickering+candle+.gif" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="160" /></a></div><p> </p><p> <span face="arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700;"> </span><span face="arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXApHRt5VufG0ndvdIbWaBglSpqAkQR83SS1aKXNfrn9jMkCXU4FwGgDnu8BxwHRPjkYPyG_Q1Km2o39qIO9R3t02htZbbPvKJzygy39AUvj2KQ4AxUc9A78Un6iqghXFvY59vIHfPdqS1/s1600/IMG_0016+%25282%2529.JPG" style="color: #771100; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="916" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXApHRt5VufG0ndvdIbWaBglSpqAkQR83SS1aKXNfrn9jMkCXU4FwGgDnu8BxwHRPjkYPyG_Q1Km2o39qIO9R3t02htZbbPvKJzygy39AUvj2KQ4AxUc9A78Un6iqghXFvY59vIHfPdqS1/s400/IMG_0016+%25282%2529.JPG" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="227" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEviQiebX71sI_XdVTVtyLhzx7X8kWLfJYPOOLQcpN9jDBx-X_KwDP9wGq2tsBoDFPZfQRjHQcuku613z2Psivw8I-Qb2ryiPuu0FSQ-VwXyptWLw4964fxokJzJW2_lMMAox_c8ZbGyKd/s320/IMG_0224.JPG" style="border: none; color: #cc4411; position: relative;" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><u style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 1.4;">It always begins on this date every ye</span><span style="line-height: 1.4;">ar</span><span style="line-height: 1.4;">.</span></span></u></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="color: #222222; font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="color: black;">My beloved sister Iris died </span>on May 28th, 2004, and this marks the beginning of the period each year that fills me with incalculable suffering,<span style="line-height: 33.6px;"> inexplicable unfairness, </span><span style="line-height: 1.4;">tragedy that has wrought its massive destruction of so many good, loved members of my family, who deserved so very much better than they received in life and death. </span><span style="color: black; line-height: 1.4;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Once again, another year has passed and I dread the intensified agony of overwhelming grief that envelops me for these lost souls of my family during the upcoming months.</span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 33.6px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;">I need not be told that it is here, since the pain is always present, all the time, year round, but becomes insi</span></span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;">diously unbearable as of this date, and in the next few months, every year.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;">I painfully miss and mourn those of my immediate family who have died, more so than at any other time, as each year passes.</span></span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 1.4;"><br /></span><span style="color: black; line-height: 1.4;">Increasingly difficult, filled with the aching of a lifetime beaten down into the ever present, toxic, non stop personal demons, nightmares, flash backs, with memories vividly stamped inside my brain, as if it were just yesterday that we were all together as a family and of course, big sister and little brother.</span></span></span></div><div id="AOLMsgPart_1_157a3789-bd2e-447a-ba6e-397d1e877a87" style="color: #222222; font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: bold;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black;"><br />I planted purple Iris flowers, one of them pictured above in the garden out front of my house when my sister died.</span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span><span style="color: black;">Each year I take new pictures as they spring to life and insert one on this blog in memory of her. </span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span><span style="color: black;">I like the idea that they are perennials, returning every year, flowering in all their beauty, now looking so alive on another anniversary today of the day she died, after a courageous, painful battle to live. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: black;">We do that a lot in my family, fighting to live life to the fullest, and when our time comes, refusing to let go until our last precious breath. </span>They call our family fighters, survivors, and that is what we do in both living our life with happiness as a gift never to be taken for granted, and also the darkness which is part of remembering.</span></span></div><div id="AOLMsgPart_1_157a3789-bd2e-447a-ba6e-397d1e877a87" style="color: #222222; font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: bold;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Iris was a unique and compassionate person who quietly touched everyone she met with her kindness and strength. </span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Iris is missed by all of us who loved her. We will never forget her beautiful smile.<br /><br /><span style="color: black;">My sister was full of life, insightful, quiet, brave,</span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black;">loyal, sagely wise, and then she was gone forever, horribly, excruciatingly painfully, and irrevocably. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: black;">She deserved so much better in her short time on this earth but it was not to be.<br /><br />Iris, my sister, a gift to me in life, was more beautiful in a million ways than these magnificent flowers. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: black;">I will miss you forever my dear sister Iris, most of all, </span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span><span style="color: black;">I will always miss your caring love. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: black;">I love you. </span></span></span></div><div id="AOLMsgPart_1_157a3789-bd2e-447a-ba6e-397d1e877a87" style="color: #222222; font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="color: black;">Love, Your little brother- Jerry.</span></span></span></div></div>Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-68517571502871269122022-02-27T02:30:00.012-05:002022-03-05T01:41:05.883-05:00PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY -COURAGE-AMEN FOR THE SUNFLOWER.<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheJTKVih-UeWsEyaETT6nGpG-n6GBcad0C87ivXE32Bg5yUKDbYvvDZof08cKKjoalhIps7_tKCuZqFqS1KTqzCSiThZAz8ljHP9g2DtTQ8TI2qje_Q8df3ioUfHa5bQKc_AtWtzCdDXcQKUTn2R8b9hDqilNq6hWkaHf5npJPWi47LsWxD-SPB7ojcQ=s55" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="55" data-original-width="54" height="102" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEheJTKVih-UeWsEyaETT6nGpG-n6GBcad0C87ivXE32Bg5yUKDbYvvDZof08cKKjoalhIps7_tKCuZqFqS1KTqzCSiThZAz8ljHP9g2DtTQ8TI2qje_Q8df3ioUfHa5bQKc_AtWtzCdDXcQKUTn2R8b9hDqilNq6hWkaHf5npJPWi47LsWxD-SPB7ojcQ=w108-h102" width="108" /></a></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="font-size: large; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"></span></span></div><p><b style="background-color: white; color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">"I do not want my pictures in your offices, for the President is not an icon, an idol or a portrait. Hang your kids' photos instead, and look at them each time you are making a decision." Volodymyr Zelensky..PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY IS ONE OF THOSE SPECIAL HEROES WHO IS A COURAGEOUS, REAL LEADER. </span></b></p><p><b style="background-color: white; color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">So very, very rare that a leader of a Country under attack is willing to give up his life and that of his precious children and wife to defend the democracy of his beloved nation INSTEAD OF ACCEPTING AN OFFER FROM THE WEST TO FLEE AND SET UP A GOVT. IN EXILE.</span></b></p><p><b style="background-color: white; color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">History will probably barely remember him and yet we all yearn for such bravery and caring for our own america. It is heartbreaking to see while we sit here on our asses in the u.s. listening to all the b.s. from our phony politicians and media talking heads acting "shocked" about this war that putin knew the West was full of shit when it had prior chances to call his bluff but didn't challenge him. It's always been about $ and not ethics, NEVER ABOUT democracy and helping each other.</span></b></p><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span>Then to see the </span></span><span color="var(--primary-text)">assholes here in our country praise putin purely for their own political egos, makes me sick, angry, and fed up with the self serving phony illusion of how "great america is". Well truth is our country is far from great and is drowning in it's own self made malignant SELFISH, PHOTO OP cesspool of lies, corruption, and evil where we don't even help our own suffering citizens, let alone standing up to save the people of Ukraine.</span></span></b></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Not a surprise but yet another tragedy upon tragedy in this world filled with injustices for innocent victims who deserve so much better from life.</span></b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">"President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky rejects asylum offers from Europe: "I will stay in my country and if I die, I will die with my soldiers."</span></b></span></span></div><p><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcv7bJxhWejJIoOH9tdlE6C0TJ7uMd0GlZF8tCNM3joi1_RcdxYsvhdhb2BAV8pYs-meNY74z7Bgijt_pQAaM1ZzE8S0idS7bTjSEYFmg1ez14uA0lxbLM4nKT9NYVgUu_siG0VJHd-QmyoyorTDgfnKMQnbtSSsfpOmt5V-FCeTGhYUadLnzlL5M8Dg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="758" data-original-width="960" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgcv7bJxhWejJIoOH9tdlE6C0TJ7uMd0GlZF8tCNM3joi1_RcdxYsvhdhb2BAV8pYs-meNY74z7Bgijt_pQAaM1ZzE8S0idS7bTjSEYFmg1ez14uA0lxbLM4nKT9NYVgUu_siG0VJHd-QmyoyorTDgfnKMQnbtSSsfpOmt5V-FCeTGhYUadLnzlL5M8Dg=w446-h316" width="446" /></a></div><p></p><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">THIS IS THE PRECIOUS FAMILY OF UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY. INSPIRING!</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="font-size: large; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">"I do not want my pictures in your offices, for the President is not an icon, an idol or a portrait. Hang your kids' photos instead, and look at them each time you are making a decision." Volodymyr Zelensky..</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><br /></span></span></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgIxGTvm5z2m3bSIdDiR_bGE1lkVr5PkZEh5ADTj8CWS-EPAIe_1aa1lQBAwMNJf-nBc961xxh4YedzYMHxsiSZj84NP5I0YAczc59hWQzzyJKp75WqYX_epJYIvG9PUqv4OngxqH-jRQ5MnBF9mlCFvjIvbiDANzhetFKrg-cSWrfLr6ZI9Qy5G7C7nA=s900" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="720" height="373" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgIxGTvm5z2m3bSIdDiR_bGE1lkVr5PkZEh5ADTj8CWS-EPAIe_1aa1lQBAwMNJf-nBc961xxh4YedzYMHxsiSZj84NP5I0YAczc59hWQzzyJKp75WqYX_epJYIvG9PUqv4OngxqH-jRQ5MnBF9mlCFvjIvbiDANzhetFKrg-cSWrfLr6ZI9Qy5G7C7nA=w298-h373" width="298" /></a></div></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.875rem;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><br /></span></span><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Amen- "For the Sunflower!"</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Sunflowers are the national flower of Ukraine<span class="pq6dq46d tbxw36s4 knj5qynh kvgmc6g5 ditlmg2l oygrvhab nvdbi5me sf5mxxl7 gl3lb2sf hhz5lgdu" style="display: inline-flex; font-weight: normal; height: 16px; margin: 0px 1px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"><img alt="🇺🇦" height="16" referrerpolicy="origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/tb0/3/16/1f1fa_1f1e6.png" style="border: 0px;" width="16" /></span>. Let's start posting them all over Facebook in support for the Ukranian people. Cover the world in Sunflowers.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Love and light for a speedy people power resolution to this war!</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.875rem; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.875rem; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiANbnOWCKKBH_nVgLW_AxbFjaaHb5mFMOkQWwEaZbcewna6JOi0nVy3DOeqlgj7zln_qwnIbLTDIuz5UuMAcgt5wwiXyJ9lEBcVjGCDyHQ1Rua3CvkAeV2LUEztndCgtRDcSa7zDnkYoM4a_sjYM6MvIDsRUjmcIsGiTVDCps1uCYKd3qxo29vJgBEBw=s1584" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1584" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiANbnOWCKKBH_nVgLW_AxbFjaaHb5mFMOkQWwEaZbcewna6JOi0nVy3DOeqlgj7zln_qwnIbLTDIuz5UuMAcgt5wwiXyJ9lEBcVjGCDyHQ1Rua3CvkAeV2LUEztndCgtRDcSa7zDnkYoM4a_sjYM6MvIDsRUjmcIsGiTVDCps1uCYKd3qxo29vJgBEBw=w218-h320" width="218" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /></span></span></span></div></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><br /><br /><br /></span></span></span></div>Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-900687448308946212022-01-09T12:47:00.012-05:002022-01-09T13:29:34.613-05:00RAHIMA JACKSON- A HUMAN BEING-A BROKEN SYSTEM<div><b><br /></b></div><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="191" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjfoIJLMz_KTVl_SjFrDrmfYJgrj0DjLbMmJoadGXJmwMTiEfO0COerur5hkvNPKZTWRFp5K_p3eDBTq_ApUAEsD3pwqjcfc2XH82S3nS727Qm99RhkyYDIpZ_JIGtXasvX_1YuMvwne8FVK0-9rfsL9cVlN6PN9lFGINjR1SVRPWlvov9R9eVGn0aCSA=w191-h135" width="191" /></span><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjfoIJLMz_KTVl_SjFrDrmfYJgrj0DjLbMmJoadGXJmwMTiEfO0COerur5hkvNPKZTWRFp5K_p3eDBTq_ApUAEsD3pwqjcfc2XH82S3nS727Qm99RhkyYDIpZ_JIGtXasvX_1YuMvwne8FVK0-9rfsL9cVlN6PN9lFGINjR1SVRPWlvov9R9eVGn0aCSA=s200" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"></a></b><br /></div><div style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><span style="font-size: medium;">SEATTLE AND EVERYWHERE: A BROKEN SYSYTEM-THE LIFE OF A HOMELESS PERSON WHO IS ILL.. It's a long read but worth the time to experience THE REALITY that many human beings endure to stay alive. DO YOU CARE enough to take the time read about this human being and so many others like her who live all around us, everywhere. THE VICTIMS OF INDIFFERENCE.</span></span></b><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><b style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Pain was the first clue. Sharp, jagged streaks of it shooting up the sides of Rahima Jackson’s body. Jackson’s pain grew worse at night. It hurt to lie down, so she learned to sleep standing up, her back leaned against a wall. At first, Jackson, a 50-year-old former home health aide with an easy laugh, avoided going to the doctor. No insurance. Then the day came when she couldn’t take it anymore. A searing pain in her right breast had become too overwhelming to ignore, and Jackson pulled on her backpack and asked friends to take her to the emergency room.</b></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Within days, Jackson was transferred to Harborview Medical Center and diagnosed with a metastasizing cancer consuming much of her spinal cord, breast tissue and bones throughout her body. She would need to start chemo right away, go on pain medication. But Jackson’s treatment plan might not mean much if she couldn’t solve a bigger problem.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>She had nowhere to live. That meant Jackson would soon become one of hundreds of people in extreme poverty tumbling into a housing void, where a threadbare cohort of shelters, hospitals, nurses and social workers try to find people safe, stable places to stay while they manage serious illness. Only a fraction of those who need it see that much support.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Here, a crisis level of homeless baby boomers are living with high rates of chronic disease that require intensive care alongside mental health and substance use issues. In 2020, 31% of homeless residents surveyed in King County said they struggled with a chronic health problem, while 44% reported drug or alcohol disorders, 47% said they suffered from post-traumatic stress and 54% said they dealt with a mental health condition like depression or schizophrenia, the highest rates in all four categories in four years.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Of the nearly 20,000 homeless and housing unstable patients seen by Public Health – Seattle & King County’s Healthcare for the Homeless Network in 2020, nearly two-thirds were treated for at least one chronic health condition. People suffering from these diseases are disproportionately Black and Native, from communities that have been deprived of generational wealth over centuries. Their illnesses are often caught late, at younger ages, in advanced and rarely seen stages.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Of the shelter that is available, little, if any, is appropriate for people dealing with serious health problems, and no local residential hospice programs specifically cater to people without housing. As a result, people are dying on the street or in shelters poorly equipped to care for them, though what can be seen in the official tally of homeless deaths is an undercount. Through November of 2021, King County recorded 21 homeless deaths last year linked to a chronic illness, 14 of them outdoors or in vehicles. Many more people with chronic illness likely died by overdose, the largest single cause of homeless deaths last year.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>This was the situation Jackson faced when she landed in the emergency room of St. Francis Hospital in Federal Way. To doctors, she named her worst fear, the one that had lingered in the back of her mind for months. “My mom died of cancer,” she said. “I don’t want to die like my mom.”</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>So, quickly, Jackson’s diagnosis, her homelessness — all things that might make others look at her with pity — became part of a mission. To find housing. To start a movement as she received cancer treatment, one meant to spread awareness about cancer symptoms and to reduce stigma against sickness.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"></span></b></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"></span></b></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>It would start with an album.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"></span></b></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>There was little time, and Jackson didn’t know it yet, but the next year and a half would cycle her through homelessness and health care systems that were never built to care for the growing number of people like her. She started to record songs in her hospital bed with her phone.I’ve been scared and running, but not anymore, Jackson thought. I will finish what I start.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>February 2020 =A long, winding path led Jackson here, to the Seattle area from Zanzibar, where Jackson’s mother died and where Jackson grew up. She moved to the U.S. in 1993, and although she was gay, she entered a relationship with a man to try for another shot at what she thought passed for normalcy.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Eventually she left the relationship and found new family in communities where LGBTQ+ people shunned elsewhere became cousins, aunties and sisters. Despite the support she found after coming out, bad relationships and financial hardships made housing elusive.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>After her diagnosis, Jackson bounced between the hospital and a short-term shelter for people in crisis. While Jackson’s doctors handled her treatment, a social worker named Michael Light worked to find Jackson a longer-term place to stay. Light is part of a specialized three-person, part-time team at Harborview assigned to help homeless patients manage their stress and symptoms, navigate the medical and homelessness systems and, if needed, plan for the end of their lives. The palliative care model they follow focuses on improving quality of life for their patients, beyond the medical treatment prescribed to them by doctors.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>This palliative care program, the first of its kind in the country, sees up to 80 patients a year, but that’s probably 1% of people who need this support, according to Tricia Madden, Harborview Medical Center’s director of downtown programs.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>“We know we’re just scratching the tip of the iceberg,” Madden said. “We always have a waiting list. We always have people trying to refer more people than we can take care of.”</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>The palliative care team started out as a pilot in 2013, when health care workers saw hospitals overwhelmed with people suffering from chronic homelessness and advanced diseases. The diseases that they saw — cancer, kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — bloomed into rarely seen extremes because people were stranded from regular health care.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>And, from most housing options. Local homeless shelters already struggle with an aging population, many with complex needs. Several also prohibit the pain medications needed to manage symptoms of diseases like cancer.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Skilled nursing and hospice facilities that might be appropriate for patients like Jackson aren’t much of an option either. They often reject homeless patients because their needs are so high and the rates that Medicaid pays are so low, doctors and social workers say.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>University of Washington professor and nurse practitioner Josephine Ensign recently published a book “Skid Road” that chronicles her research into the historical roots of homelessness and poverty in Seattle. Ensign describes a takeaway from researching her book: “Because of the unique qualities of Seattle again since the settler colonial founding is the fact that we’ve actually had per capita one of the highest rates of homeless from the very beginning. This is not something new,” said Ensign. (Daniel Kim / The Seattle Times)</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Seattle has struggled to care for sick and homeless people since the 1800s.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Today, the palliative care team costs about $225,000 a year, funded by Public Health’s Healthcare for the Homeless program, Harborview Medical Center, private foundations and patient insurance. Madden and her colleagues would like to expand the program but don’t have the money to, she said.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>At the end of February, Light landed Jackson a bed at Harborview’s Medical Respite program, a stopgap shelter next to the hospital doctors use so they don’t have to discharge patients directly to the street. Homeless patients can receive daily nursing care there for up to six weeks, and people living with serious illness can stay there for up to six months.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Finally, Jackson found a place she could breathe. Since her breast cancer diagnosis spring of 2020, Rahima Jackson, leaving Harborview’s respite center had four admissions to medical respite, four major hospitalizations and stayed at a couple of shelters, all while getting treatment at multiple health care institutions with multiple teams.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>August 2020</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>When Jackson’s time at medical respite ran out in August 2020, she had to move. One of the few places available was a poor fit: a shelter for women in recovery from substance use disorder that had prohibited marijuana and only allowed certain kinds of prescription pain medication.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Jackson didn’t discuss it with many people, but she sometimes used methamphetamine. Some of the people closest to Jackson didn’t even know about this, though it’s common for homeless people, especially women, to use meth to stay alert at night when they’re most vulnerable. Jackson’s doctors and care team were aware of her meth use, but it never caused enough concern to interfere with her treatment or housing plans. Instead, she was placed at the shelter because of space reasons.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>At the shelter, it wasn’t Jackson’s meth use that raised alarms, if the shelter was even aware of it. Instead, she was reprimanded at the shelter for having the pain medication and marijuana she used to treat her cancer symptoms. She felt utterly isolated and angry, and intentionally overdosed on sleeping pills.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>When Jackson awoke, she was back at Harborview. She regretted overdosing, she told Light, but there was no way she’d be going back to that shelter.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>February 2021</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>After her overdose, Jackson moved to the Red Lion hotel in Renton, a building transformed into a shelter during the pandemic. Within her first few weeks, she accidentally locked herself out of her room, leaving her stranded from the pain medication she took every day at 9 a.m.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>She asked the front desk for help, she said, and was told someone would come up shortly. For a long time, no one did. The symptoms worsened. Pain that felt like a buzz saw shearing into her shins, her neck, behind her ear. Jackson said she confronted a supervisor who became angry with her and told her, “This is not a hospital. This is not a hotel. This is a shelter.” Still, this shelter was better than the other places she had been in the past year.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>March 2021-Shortly after noon on a Friday, Jackson pressed “record” on her phone. “What’s up, she howled into the device. “What’s happening, what’s happening, what’s happe-NING?” She paused before starting to speak again, her tone matter-of-fact. OK. Let me introduce myself. Jackson explained she was on the verge of creating something big. But her time to do it was running out. I’m dying anyway. Just make my dream come true, please. Softly, Jackson began to cry. Something metallic rattled, maybe the sides of a hospital bed. Four of her songs were ready to be listened to, she said. It’s about my story, but the way I said it with love, with, you know, with everything.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>April 2021- At the Red Lion, Jackson made her way to the makeshift clinic in a ground-floor room with striped curtains framing a view of the parking lot where she spent most mornings, humming melodies in a camp chair with coffee, tilting her face to let her skin soak in the sun.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>As Jackson settled into an exam chair, Dr. Russell Berg, a lanky Harborview doctor, scooted over to his patient’s side. The room, once used for paying guests, now hosted a vitals machine and a cramped desk, just big enough for a scanner, a label-maker and a naked bulb.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Light perched on a bedside table nearby while Berg asked Jackson if she had medical concerns. Jackson skipped over the question. She wanted to talk about bigger things: how homeless people were dehumanized by society, and sometimes even by shelter staff, and the importance of treating people with kindness. Light mentioned to the doctor that Jackson was working on an album on these themes. “Mr. Michael’s going to put it together,” Jackson told the doctor, gesturing to Light.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>May 2021 -Jackson had trouble sleeping the night before, anxious about meeting her housing case manager in Pioneer Square on time to look at an apartment. “I had a dream about this,” Jackson told Joshua Torregrossa as they waited for the bus. “I need this place.” Jackson had never been like this about punctuality before. But her relationship with time had shifted since the diagnosis. Where time had once felt flexible, now Jackson felt the minutes passing, circling her as she moved through the world.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>The building, named The Jackson for its intersection at Jackson Street, swept up from the sidewalk, 532 brand new units across two buildings, all metal and glass exteriors. It got a tax break from the city for setting aside affordable units, which in this case meant an apartment that cost either $1,481 or $1,581 a month. Jackson had won a rare federal voucher that could pay her rent.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>It felt like fate. Inside, assistant building manager Abby Herro settled them into the corner of a cavernous lounge, where she pulled out an iPad for a virtual tour. “I picked out a couple options,” Herro said, her finger tapping the screen. But first, Torregrossa explained that Jackson’s voucher had strict criteria and only allowed for bedrooms with an egress. Bedrooms without windows wouldn’t cut it. “I’m so sorry,” Herro said. She only had windowless bedroom units left.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Jackson was quiet for a moment, her expression unreadable behind her mask. Herro asked if she’d still like to see the amenities and showed Jackson a jazz lounge in the building. Jackson perked up at the mention of music. Softly, she began to sing, her voice carrying up to the high ceilings.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Renewals would be up in June or July, Herro said. They could check back in then. “You have to pinch yourself,” Jackson joked to Torregrossa and Herro, pulling at the skin on her hand, her eyes wide. “I must stay alive, I must stay alive.”</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Social worker Michael Light and registered nurse Joe Hufford are part of the only mobile outreach palliative care team in the country serving people who have serious illness and live without stable housing.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>July 2021- Inside a Pioneer Square coffee shop over a table of patient notes and empty plastic coffee cups, Light and palliative care nurse Joe Hufford tried to make sense of where their clients were coming and going. The two went through the details on their list quickly, shaking their heads at doctor-ordered treatment plans that would be impossible for their patients to adhere to.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>One patient with kidney failure and masses of bacteria clustered around her organs from years of injecting heroin had been set up on a plan to get on methadone. This patient had never once showed up for a prescheduled appointment but was supposed to show up every day at an office in Sodo. Her antibiotics were also expected to be delivered to a dispensing machine inside the emergency department at night. The next day, the medications were nowhere to be found.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Tracking down and working with the roughly 40 patients assigned to Hufford and Light at any given time who are bouncing among streets, shelters and the hospital is just a portion of their jobs. The rest of the time, the two work at Harborview or in shelters. But even shelter or supportive housing programs are not set up to handle the medical or emotional needs of people who are dying. Staff are overwhelmed.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Joy Estill, an administrator at the St. Martin de Porres men’s shelter in Sodo, sometimes just closes the door to her office and cries. She often sees late-stage kidney disease and severe mental illness from a lifetime on the streets. Shelter residents need help doing simple tasks — going to the bathroom, walking up stairs — and sometimes care that goes beyond the training of shelter staff, like administering morphine.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>“We care what happens, but we don’t have the actual physical expertise for this,” Estill said. “Right now there’s no place for some of these people.”</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Late July 2021- Jackson’s brain and body had begun to feel like they were talking past each other. It was hard to stay focused, and she struggled to choose between anti-depressants or the headaches she believed they caused. She was hospitalized for a seizure, after which she had trouble controlling her bladder. Cancer pain wouldn’t leave her left side, and she began to walk with a cane. And she still didn’t have housing.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>A close friend was worried. After losing contact with Jackson for several months, Latasha Perkins had just found out Jackson had been hospitalized and had nowhere to live. In late July, Perkins flew out to Seattle from Chicago and rented a hotel room near the airport. The security gate around the Red Lion shelter where Jackson had been living reminded her of a prison. She took Jackson to the hotel where she was staying, gave her CBD oil for her pain and tried to get her to eat steak and potatoes.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Dr. Leslie Enzian, Jackson’s primary care provider, asked Jackson when she might finally get into an apartment of her own. “Any day from now,” Jackson said. “Any day from today. Any day.” Dr. Enzian urged her patient to come up with a backup plan. When Perkins checked out of her hotel, Jackson would have to check out, too.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>But Jackson’s doctors were optimistic that she’d show signs of responding to treatment. Enzian asked about Jackson’s appetite — did she feel interested in food? As Jackson’s answer strayed to other concerns, Perkins leaned in close to her friend, her long blond braids falling onto her forearms folded in her lap. She needed to keep Jackson on track. “But do you have an appetite?” Perkins asked Jackson, her tone gentle, but firm. “Yes or no?”</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>August 2021-Finally, Torregrossa found Jackson a place. It had been a year and a half since her diagnosis. The one-bedroom apartment in a new low-income building overlooked the neighborhood’s Vietnamese delis and shopping centers. On clear days, Jackson could see Mount Rainier.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>The day she moved in, Jackson and Light walked over to the window and high-fived. “Does it feel real?” Light asked. “I have to pinch myself,” she said. Before she left Harborview’s Medical Respite program, Jackson clasped a pile of going-away gifts from her friends — comfy clothes, a $50 scratch-off lottery ticket — as she waited for Light to pick her up and take her to a home that was finally hers. She spoke softly, her voice raspy and tired. “We made it. We made it,” she murmured. “And it’s going to be so beautiful.”</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Nine days after Jackson moved into her apartment, she died.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>The news surprised everyone, her doctors included. Jackson had seemed to be doing well. The cancer hadn’t shown signs of progression at her last scan. She had been optimistic about the time she had left, the time she had to launch her album.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>The Medical Examiner’s Office determined her death to be an accident, a toxic combination of meth, Jackson’s medications for her cancer symptoms, including prescribed fentanyl, and her anti-depressants. She may have been particularly vulnerable because of her advanced cancer and the length of time she had been using meth. Now Light and Torregrossa were back at the apartment, slowly and quietly packing up the things they had helped Jackson move in with just two weeks earlier. Light pulled down a set of pajamas hanging behind the bathroom door, lifted the sheets off Jackson’s mattress and folded them. He remembered the last time he saw her, standing at that window, cradling a little wooden sign, a new decoration for her new apartment.</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>It read, “The future is bright.”</b></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="background-color: #f0f2f5;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“Thank you, Seattle”In honor and remembrance of the beautiful Rahima Jackson. She wrote and recorded this song, on her hospital bed, while undergoing cancer treatment. This song serves as an homage to the city of Seattle and the community of people who helped her in her healing journey.</span></span><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> Watch the music video below.</span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><div dir="auto" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">CLICK ON HERE TO WATCH-"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=568VcqerrVE">THANK <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/568VcqerrVE" width="320" youtube-src-id="568VcqerrVE"></iframe></div><br />YOU SEATTLE" A MUSIC VIDEO BY RAHIMA JACKSON</a><br /></span></div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505;"><br /></div></span></div>Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-54509758650213437172021-12-18T21:16:00.011-05:002021-12-18T22:13:21.130-05:00JACKSON GOULD-9 YEAR OLD WITH CYSTIC FIBROSIS-A VICTIM OF CRUELTY BY A SCHOOL DISTRICT AND BOARD<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg7twIhEIM5jfPAXT7O7mdBgNYEHYJhKH4S4PbhJsMdy-WM8m-cpNN9jv1S2gLPCBGspECDSoVSOrsQLF_47nmI2adGYwARGfHXRRdp64cMewY1ThmcOtfo5PAQxeV2MwQ26GPcEzDYSam9yLQ2hUSsXRjuQYtMKxB76ClgdxyJOWgcUBVBX8V4gPaA7A=s720" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="720" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg7twIhEIM5jfPAXT7O7mdBgNYEHYJhKH4S4PbhJsMdy-WM8m-cpNN9jv1S2gLPCBGspECDSoVSOrsQLF_47nmI2adGYwARGfHXRRdp64cMewY1ThmcOtfo5PAQxeV2MwQ26GPcEzDYSam9yLQ2hUSsXRjuQYtMKxB76ClgdxyJOWgcUBVBX8V4gPaA7A=w498-h280" width="498" /></a></div><b> Jackson Gould- 9 years old<br /></b><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Jackson Gould is a 9 year old child who like so many children his age enjoys going to school, playing with friends, and interacting socially with the other students. He lives in Douglas County Colorado with his loving family and attends 4th grade at the Heritage Elementary School located in the Douglas County School District.</b></span><b style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Oh, but in one way Jackson is a little "different". Jackson unlike many other children his age has had to contend with having a chronic medical condition known as Cystic Fibrosis.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #414141;">Cystic Fibrosis is a progressive,</span><span style="color: #414141;"> </span><span style="color: #414141;">disease that causes long-lasting lung infections and limits the ability to breathe over time.</span><span style="color: #414141;">More than 30,000 children and adults in the United States have CF (70,000 worldwide) and CF affects people of every racial and ethnic group</span><span style="color: #414141;">.</span><span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; line-height: 28.8px; transition: font 0s ease 0s;">CF does not affect cognitive or learning</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; line-height: 28.8px; transition: font 0s ease 0s;"> abilities</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124;">.</span></span></b></span></p><p><b style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jackson works very hard to stay healthy. He does 90 minutes of airway clearance treatments each day and takes over 30 pills multiple times a day. He swims laps for an hour twice a week to strengthen his lungs. He is a gymnast, a gifted and talented student, a pianist, and an animal lover who wants to be a writer and an entrepreneur when he grows up. This has been devastating for him and his family who are now faced with making decisions they should never have been forced to make.</b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Sadly, Jackson Gould is also a victim of being preyed upon by adults who seem to be subhuman creatures with no soul, no heart, no feelings, and absolutely no clue to how uncaring, evil they are as they attempt to destroy this innocent youngster's life.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I personally interviewed his mother Kate Gould who is a single parent </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">and also vetted her story as being factual.</span></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Jackson began the current 2001-2022 school year in August with masking optional as part of the local Health Departments directive relating to the Covid Pandemic. As numbers rose and the delta variant took hold, the Tri-County Health Department issued a mandatory mask mandate for Schools.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>However, the three ultra conservative Douglas County Commissioners proceeded to pull Douglas County out of Tri-County Health and create their own Board of Health appointing themselves to the board. None of them have any medical training or experience. They also appointed a diagnostic radiologist. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>The first thing they did was to issue a new Public Health Order making masking optional in Douglas County. The Douglas County School District decided to sue this newly self appointed local Health Board for their making the mandatory mask mandate optional instead of following the directive issued by the Tri-County Health board and approached 9 families, of which Jackson's family was one, to join as plaintiffs. They sued the local Health Board as violating the American Disabilities Act, Individual Disabilities Act, and the Free Appropriation Act. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Judge John Kane of the 10th Circuit granted them a temporary restraining order ruling that universal masking was an appropriate accommodation considering the potential for serious complications and even death from Covid-19 for this Cystic Fibrosis population. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>As they were preparing to go forward with a permanent injunction, Douglas County elected 4 new ultra conservative, anti mask candidates (who ironically ran on a "Kids First" platform) to the Board of Education. Being 4 out of 7 members they now had the majority and quickly voted themselves President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Knowing that the new board would take power at the end of November, in order to get the case dismissed,the Board of Health offered to keep the temporary restraining order in place and amend their public health order to allow the school district to make their own rules about masking. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>At the Dec. 7th 2021 school board meeting the 4 new members voted 4-3 to make masking optional in schools. Jackson's mother Kate made a public comment at that meeting and had to have a sheriff escort her to her car because other parents were giving her the finger and getting in her face and saying that she was using Jackson as a pawn for her own political gain. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Kate is not a public figure or a politician. She is a stay at home mom and a graduate student at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver where she will be receiving her Master of Divinity on June 3, 2022. The new mask choice rule went into effect immediately and she was faced with the awful decision of whether to send her son to school the next morning (less than 8 hours later). </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>The board of education said that they should work with individual principals to get accommodations so Kate sent Jackson and went straight to the school office to secure those accommodations. She was told that the principal was "too busy to see her. Kate refused to leave. After several calls to the Superintendent (who did not return her calls) and the press, she saw me after waiting in the office for two hours. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>The accommodation Kate asked for was to amend her sons 504 medical plan to state that he needed for the children in his classroom to be masked. His pulmonologist wrote a letter also stating that this was the accommodation needed because individuals with CF are at a much higher risk for serious Covid-19 infection. She sent the request to her supervisor, who sent it to his, who sent it to legal and it was denied. They offered to have any unmasked individual stay 6 feet from him.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Kate did not agree to that accommodation because 1) how in the world would they monitor and enforce that in a public elementary school and 2) She was afraid it would set a precedent for them to be able to segregate him. And that is exactly what happened. In his math class, he was pulled from his usually place and put at the teachers desk, which faces away from the white boards and the rest of the class. Imagine how that made him feel? This bright, social, loving 9 year old boy who is a friend to everyone, sitting alone at the teachers desk facing the wall. </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>So, that is when Kate realized it was necessary to have to retain a special education attorney. Thanks to a $2000 donation from another special needs family and Kate Gerland (the Special Education Attorney) lowering her retainer fee from $3000 to $2000 she was able to hire her. </b></span></p><header class="m-update-info" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; display: flex; flex-direction: column; margin-bottom: 0.5rem;"><span class="color-gray text-small" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; line-height: 1.71;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #333333;">According to Kate Gould, on December 14th, 2021 the special education attorney and her met with representatives from the school district </span><span style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;">where they presented an additional letter from Jackson’s pulmonologist stating that it is a requirement for Jackson’s lung health that the students and staff in his classroom wear masks. Despite this, the school district continues to deny the accommodation. They said the best they can do is to facilitate transferring Jackson to a school district that is masking.</span></b></span></span><span class="color-gray text-small" color="rgb(118, 118, 118) !important" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.71;"><span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span><span class="color-gray text-small" color="rgb(118, 118, 118) !important" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 1.71;"><span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>They also reiterated that the accommodation Jackson needs in his 594 plan is that all children in his class be masked. They were told that isn’t fair to the other children.They told them that they will meet with a deputy superintendent and the director of special education and try to come up with some “creative solutions.”</b></span></span></span><span class="color-gray text-small" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; line-height: 1.71;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></b></span></span><span class="color-gray text-small" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; line-height: 1.71;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;">It also turns out that when Kate contacted the other local public school districts that mandate mask wearing and also private schools, they all told her that they were "filled up" with no room for Jackson. </b></span></span><span class="color-gray text-small" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; line-height: 1.71;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span class="color-gray text-small" color="rgb(118, 118, 118) !important" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 1.71;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></b></span></span></span><span class="color-gray text-small" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; line-height: 1.71;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span class="color-gray text-small" color="rgb(118, 118, 118) !important" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 1.71;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #333333;">We all know that anyone with the right connections could easily have a school open up one more space for Jackson Gould due to his extenuating circumstances. </span></b></span></span></span><span class="color-gray text-small" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; line-height: 1.71;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span class="color-gray text-small" color="rgb(118, 118, 118) !important" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 1.71;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></b></span></span></span><span class="color-gray text-small" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; line-height: 1.71;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span class="color-gray text-small" color="rgb(118, 118, 118) !important" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 1.71;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #333333;">If anyone CAN HELP KATE GET JACKSON INTO ONE OF THOSE "FILLED UP" safe schools please email her at:</span></b></span><span class="color-gray text-small" color="rgb(118, 118, 118) !important" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 1.71;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="color: #333333;"> </span></b></span><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #e4e6eb; color: #050505; font-weight: bold; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kgould@iliff.edu</span></span></span></span><span class="color-gray text-small" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; line-height: 1.71;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b></span><span class="color-gray text-small" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; line-height: 1.71;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;">In other words instead of acting like responsible, caring human beings, the school district just dumps this 9 year old into another district instead of helping him from becoming more ill, as well as preserving his right to attend their school. </span></b></span><span class="color-gray text-small" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; line-height: 1.71;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b></span><span class="color-gray text-small" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; line-height: 1.71;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;">These ignorant, despicable school district Neanderthals were essentially expelling Jackson from his right to attend their school by getting rid of him. </span></b></span><span class="color-gray text-small" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; line-height: 1.71;"><b style="color: black; font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b></span><span class="color-gray text-small" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; line-height: 1.71;"><b style="color: black; font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;">The</span><span style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"> family is at "wits end" as they now are forced to have their Attorney file a Court Case on Jackson's behalf to attend the local school where he is supposed to be a student but in the meantime that means a long drawn out legal case while Jackson gets his education where?</span></b></span><span class="color-gray text-small" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; line-height: 1.71;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b></span><span class="color-gray text-small" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; line-height: 1.71;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kate</span><span style="color: #333333;"> now realizes this will again end up having to go to court and in the meantime she will have to figure out a way to get him into a safe mask mandated school. </span></b><span style="color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b> </b></span></span><b style="color: #050505; font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </b></span><span class="color-gray text-small" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; line-height: 1.71;"><b style="color: #050505; font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></b></span><span class="color-gray text-small" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; line-height: 1.71;"><b style="color: #050505; font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">This not just a fight to obtain justice for a 9 year old child who is an innocent victim but also represents all the other special needs students in our Country that face the same discrimination by others who will get away with their inexcusably cruel, selfish, ignorant behavior if they are not forced legally to obey the law. </b></span></header><p><span style="color: #050505; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>After reading this blog post, if you have any conscience and are human this is how you can help Jackson and his family who are fighting for themselves and all disabled children:</b></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #050505; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="color-gray text-small" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 1.71; white-space: normal;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #333333;"> </span></b></span><span class="color-gray text-small" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 1.71; white-space: normal;"><b style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #333333;">If anyone CAN HELP KATE GET JACKSON INTO ONE OF THOSE "FILLED UP" safe schools please email her </span></b></span></span></span><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">at:</span></span><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #e4e6eb; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kgould@iliff.edu</span></b></p><p><b style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">KATE GOULD " is</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"> raising funds "because she had to retain a special education attorney to help get Jackson accommodations at school to help keep him safe during this time of pandemic. His school district, Douglas County School District in Colorado, removed masking from the schools this week despite the fact our county has high rates of community transmission and our hospitals are at 100% capacity. We requested that his 504 medical plan be amended to have children in his classroom mask to help keep him safe because Jackson has cystic fibrosis. The request has been denied and we have had to hire an attorney to help ensure we get this important accommodation met. We are so grateful for your help! Thank You."</span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">If you want to contact Kate Gould directly by email she can be reached at:</span></span><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: #e4e6eb; color: #050505; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kgould@iliff.edu</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Their fundraising goal is $5,000 and they have raised as of this date $2,856 from 47 donors. Any donation amount you can afford is welcome as this is a truly righteous cause and deserves your support. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #990000;">To donate to Jackson's legal fund (I just donated) please click on the link below:</span></b></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Lato, Trebuchet, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #cc0000;"><b><a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/fund-for-jacksons-legal-fight?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer" target="_blank">https://www.gofundme.com/f/fund-for-jacksons-legal-fight?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer</a></b></span></span></p><div class="yiv9148424985__fb-light-mode yiv9148424985l9j0dhe7" style="font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><div class="yiv9148424985" style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="yiv9148424985j83agx80 yiv9148424985cbu4d94t yiv9148424985l9j0dhe7" style="display: flex; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"><div class="yiv9148424985nred35xi yiv9148424985k4urcfbm" style="font-family: inherit; min-height: 2px; width: 308.937px;"><br /></div><div class="yiv9148424985j83agx80" style="display: flex; font-family: inherit;"><div class="yiv9148424985ns4p8fja yiv9148424985j83agx80 yiv9148424985cbu4d94t yiv9148424985a6sixzi8 yiv9148424985bkfpd7mw yiv9148424985d2edcug0 yiv9148424985kb5gq1qc yiv9148424985nred35xi yiv9148424985pcp91wgn yiv9148424985dflh9lhu" style="display: flex; font-family: inherit; max-width: 100%; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 8px;"><div class="yiv9148424985pfnyh3mw yiv9148424985ciadx1gn yiv9148424985mudddibn yiv9148424985aovydwv3 yiv9148424985j83agx80" style="display: flex; font-family: inherit; min-height: 28px; width: 28px;"><span class="yiv9148424985tojvnm2t yiv9148424985a6sixzi8 yiv9148424985abs2jz4q yiv9148424985a8s20v7p yiv9148424985t1p8iaqh yiv9148424985k5wvi7nf yiv9148424985q3lfd5jv yiv9148424985pk4s997a yiv9148424985bipmatt0 yiv9148424985cebpdrjk yiv9148424985qowsmv63 yiv9148424985owwhemhu yiv9148424985dp1hu0rb yiv9148424985dhp61c6y yiv9148424985iyyx5f41" style="display: inherit; font-family: inherit; max-height: inherit; max-width: inherit; min-height: inherit; min-width: inherit; width: inherit;"><img alt="Kate Sullivan" class="yiv9148424985k4urcfbm yiv9148424985bixrwtb6 yiv9148424985datstx6m yiv9148424985q9uorilb" src="https://ecp.yusercontent.com/mail?url=https%3A%2F%2Fscontent-lga3-2.xx.fbcdn.net%2Fv%2Ft1.6435-1%2Fc0.17.100.100a%2Fp100x100%2F193171553_4718469348168872_7614607183989312052_n.jpg%3F_nc_cat%3D108%26ccb%3D1-5%26_nc_sid%3D7206a8%26_nc_ohc%3Dv9E2XLtpvm8AX-wALYJ%26_nc_ad%3Dz-m%26_nc_cid%3D0%26_nc_ht%3Dscontent-lga3-2.xx%26oh%3D00_AT_bmD2nVk1a7-TERS78MeWrN7EnMz4fYjh6OTHvJfYIbQ%26oe%3D61E3BEA1&t=1639859755&ymreqid=7bc2eaae-a5ab-3f49-2f2c-5a001801c600&sig=szVA0e81vnoMfVe4wlmkYA--~D" style="border-radius: 50%; border: 0px; display: inline-block; min-height: 27.9951px; visibility: visible; width: 27.9951px;" /></span></div></div><div class="yiv9148424985j83agx80 yiv9148424985buofh1pr yiv9148424985e409flbk" style="display: flex; font-family: inherit;"><div class="yiv9148424985ns4p8fja yiv9148424985j83agx80 yiv9148424985cbu4d94t yiv9148424985a6sixzi8 yiv9148424985bkfpd7mw yiv9148424985nred35xi yiv9148424985a1xu1aao" style="display: flex; font-family: inherit;"><div class="yiv9148424985ll8tlv6m yiv9148424985j83agx80 yiv9148424985cbu4d94t yiv9148424985d2edcug0 yiv9148424985l9j0dhe7" style="display: flex; font-family: inherit; max-width: 100%; position: relative;"><span class="yiv9148424985tojvnm2t yiv9148424985a6sixzi8 yiv9148424985abs2jz4q yiv9148424985a8s20v7p yiv9148424985t1p8iaqh yiv9148424985k5wvi7nf yiv9148424985q3lfd5jv yiv9148424985pk4s997a yiv9148424985bipmatt0 yiv9148424985cebpdrjk yiv9148424985qowsmv63 yiv9148424985owwhemhu yiv9148424985dp1hu0rb yiv9148424985dhp61c6y yiv9148424985iyyx5f41" style="display: inherit; font-family: inherit; max-height: inherit; max-width: inherit; min-height: inherit; min-width: inherit; width: inherit;"><div class="yiv9148424985j83agx80 yiv9148424985k4urcfbm" style="color: #1c1e21; display: flex; font-family: "UI Helvetica", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18.75px; width: 179.927px;"><div class="yiv9148424985cxgpxx05 yiv9148424985d1544ag0 yiv9148424985sj5x9vvc yiv9148424985tw6a2znq yiv9148424985l9j0dhe7 yiv9148424985ni8dbmo4 yiv9148424985stjgntxs yiv9148424985e72ty7fz yiv9148424985qlfml3jp yiv9148424985jm1wdb64 yiv9148424985qv66sw1b yiv9148424985ljqsnud1 yiv9148424985tkr6xdv7 yiv9148424985rq0escxv yiv9148424985nqmqzb3c yiv9148424985k4urcfbm yiv9148424985jinzq4gt yiv9148424985mrjvor2e" style="border-radius: 18px 18px 0px 0px; font-family: inherit; max-width: 300px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 12px; position: relative; width: 179.927px; z-index: 1;"><div class="yiv9148424985rq0escxv yiv9148424985l9j0dhe7 yiv9148424985du4w35lb yiv9148424985__fb-light-mode" style="font-family: inherit; position: relative; z-index: 0;"><div class="yiv9148424985oo9gr5id yiv9148424985ii04i59q yiv9148424985jq4qci2q yiv9148424985g9io39s2" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 20px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>This is our legal fund page: <span style="font-family: inherit;"><a class="yiv9148424985oajrlxb2 yiv9148424985g5ia77u1 yiv9148424985qu0x051f yiv9148424985esr5mh6w yiv9148424985e9989ue4 yiv9148424985r7d6kgcz yiv9148424985rq0escxv yiv9148424985nhd2j8a9 yiv9148424985nc684nl6 yiv9148424985p7hjln8o yiv9148424985kvgmc6g5 yiv9148424985cxmmr5t8 yiv9148424985oygrvhab yiv9148424985hcukyx3x yiv9148424985jb3vyjys yiv9148424985rz4wbd8a yiv9148424985qt6c0cv9 yiv9148424985a8nywdso yiv9148424985i1ao9s8h yiv9148424985f1sip0of yiv9148424985lzcic4wl yiv9148424985gmql0nx0 yiv9148424985gpro0wi8 yiv9148424985oo483o9r" href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fgofund.me%2F9072d9ba%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR2kXUh9j-CUE1fvMXBaTaKKiFMHo01Ef3jlbX4PQK7RJfom1gF_RYNttYs&h=AT0nXIaHs2TT5mfuVzALehqY7O3NRgnLPJxTY2Z-e5JvLTQHyqApaP6GlVxqF3a6TT94Lj5StpTSobNXPmKx5T2EvuNapfIQQiUVb9UAVOvxVBg9mX6pHDV1UiXzAgzUSiE" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit;" tabindex="-1" target="_blank">https://gofund.me/9072d9ba</a></span></b></div></div></div><div class="yiv9148424985ns4p8fja yiv9148424985j83agx80 yiv9148424985cbu4d94t yiv9148424985a6sixzi8 yiv9148424985bkfpd7mw yiv9148424985d2edcug0 yiv9148424985buofh1pr yiv9148424985nred35xi" style="display: flex; font-family: inherit; max-width: 100%;"><div class="yiv9148424985buofh1pr yiv9148424985rj1gh0hx" style="font-family: inherit;"></div></div></div><div class="yiv9148424985ns4p8fja yiv9148424985j83agx80 yiv9148424985cbu4d94t yiv9148424985a6sixzi8 yiv9148424985bkfpd7mw yiv9148424985d2edcug0 yiv9148424985kb5gq1qc yiv9148424985nred35xi" style="color: #1c1e21; display: flex; font-family: "UI Helvetica", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18.75px; max-width: 100%;"><div class="yiv9148424985d2edcug0 yiv9148424985l9j0dhe7 yiv9148424985tkr6xdv7 yiv9148424985k4urcfbm" style="font-family: inherit; max-width: 100%; position: relative; width: 179.927px; z-index: 1;"><div class="yiv9148424985nqmqzb3c yiv9148424985k4urcfbm" style="font-family: inherit; max-width: 300px; width: 179.927px;"><div class="yiv9148424985sf5mxxl7 yiv9148424985ni8dbmo4 yiv9148424985stjgntxs yiv9148424985datstx6m yiv9148424985inkptoze yiv9148424985qmr60zad yiv9148424985b3i9ofy5 yiv9148424985monazrh9 yiv9148424985h905i5nu" style="border-radius: 0px 0px 18px 18px; font-family: inherit; min-height: 200.008px; overflow: hidden; vertical-align: middle;"><a class="yiv9148424985oajrlxb2 yiv9148424985g5ia77u1 yiv9148424985qu0x051f yiv9148424985esr5mh6w yiv9148424985e9989ue4 yiv9148424985r7d6kgcz yiv9148424985rq0escxv yiv9148424985nhd2j8a9 yiv9148424985nc684nl6 yiv9148424985p7hjln8o yiv9148424985kvgmc6g5 yiv9148424985cxmmr5t8 yiv9148424985oygrvhab yiv9148424985hcukyx3x yiv9148424985jb3vyjys yiv9148424985rz4wbd8a yiv9148424985qt6c0cv9 yiv9148424985a8nywdso yiv9148424985i1ao9s8h yiv9148424985esuyzwwr yiv9148424985f1sip0of yiv9148424985lzcic4wl yiv9148424985gmql0nx0 yiv9148424985p8dawk7l" href="https://gofund.me/9072d9ba?fbclid=IwAR3KUIkUL30zeKwJbHoocVG7Ib_pEn-5iMHmWV8LYdKlQvUT42-yhBMOBnE" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit;" tabindex="-1" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21;"></span></a></div></div></div></div></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-39636808830642941502021-10-04T21:11:00.006-04:002021-10-04T21:21:45.433-04:00SAY THEIR NAMES! Leng Hongsheng and HIS FAMILY, THE FAMILY OF Ang Gelu Lama , Mingma Yangji Sherpa, Lopsang Lama.,<p><span color="var(--primary-text)" style="background-color: white; font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">QUEENS,NYC.......SAY THEIR NAMES! Leng Hongsheng and HIS FAMILY, THE FAMILY OF Ang Gelu Lama , Mingma Yangji Sherpa, Lopsang Lama.</span></span></p><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">No one cares, no-one knows, but they were innocent human beings and became victims of not only climate change, corrupt laws, greedy evil landlords. These victims lives mattered and they did their best to realize their dreams yet no one knows about what happened to them. There are so many human beings, innocent victims in our Country and the World but the huge divide between the rich and those with privilege act as a blind bubble of uncaring ignorance and cruelty betweeen the "haves" and the have nots".</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Like many who come to America, Leng Hongsheng was looking for freedom. He arrived in the 1990s, having lived through the tumult of a world war, a cultural revolution and the emergence of a nation into modernity.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">He was thought to have been an engineer back in China. In New York, he collected rubbish for a living, peddling around Chinatown in Queens looking for plastic bottles and electronics to recycle. Still, he found joy, brought his family to the US and got a green card, endeavouring to make a better life.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">That hope ended last month, when Mr Leng, 82, along with his wife and daughter, drowned in the turbid waters that flooded his tiny basement flat - one of 14 victims of Hurricane Ida in New York City. The family was cremated on 3 October, a month after the devastating storm struck.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Most of the casualties in New York, including a two-year-old boy and a 86-year-old woman, were Asian and Hispanic immigrants living in illegal basement dwellings.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The tragedies have laid bare the ways in which extreme weather events ravage decaying infrastructure, devastate low-income communities and deepen social inequality, leading to what experts call a "climate apartheid". Without a more equitable approach to intervention, the problem will only get worse.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Hurricane Ida, a powerful Category 4 storm, made landfall in Louisiana with wind speeds of 150mph (240 km/h). As it moved north, it left a trail of destruction with dozens killed and tens of thousands of homes seriously damaged. When it hit the Northeast on 1 September it would become the deadliest storm the region has faced since Hurricane Sandy in 2012.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The deluge started around sunset and continued until past midnight. New rainfall records had just been set days earlier by a tropical storm, only for them to be broken again when Ida arrived. Rainfall averages for the entire month of September were reached within a few hours, triggering one of the worst urban flood disasters in US history.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">It was around 11pm when Wu Ming was woken up by the sound of water. He opened his eyes, only to realise that flood waters were gushing into his ground-floor flat, on the same block as the Leng family's home.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">He looked out the window and saw cars floating in the streets. "I had never seen anything like that in my 10 years of living in New York," Mr Wu told the BBC in Mandarin. (Wu Ming isn't his real name, as he has asked not to be identified.)</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">In less than two minutes, the water rose from his knees to his chest. He tried to escape through his front door, but to his shock, it wouldn't move an inch - he could not open it against the powerful cascade of water. He fled through the back door and spent a sleepless night on the outside staircase.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">"I thought 'just endure tonight, we'd all be okay tomorrow,'" Mr Wu, a builder in his 50s, told the BBC.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">There were glimpses of hope. A resident swam through the flash flood and rescued a cat and a dog from a flooded apartment. Residents on higher floors provided shelters to others.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">It crossed Mr Wu's mind at some point that he had not spotted the Leng family. "I wanted to help them," Mr Wu said, "but the floods were so overwhelming. I couldn't even see the door to their basement."</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Flooding is expected to be the environmental calamity that will affect the largest portion of the global population amid the climate crisis. Today, some 1.5 billion people - about one in five people worldwide - face at least moderate flood risk, according to the World Bank. Nearly 90% of the world's flood-exposed people live in Southern hemisphere low-and middle- income countries, but rich countries are not immune, and nearly 160 million who live in the developed world are also vulnerable to floods.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">In the coming decades, Europe, North America and other parts of the Northern hemisphere will see newly exposed areas prone to flooding - and in these places, too, the poorest will fare the worst.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">In the US, about 41 million people are exposed to flood risk, concentrated in metropolitan areas where population density is high, and building on land newly prone to flooding is common. Floodplains are often occupied by low-income and racial minority communities, as they are more likely to live in low-quality housing, where rents are cheaper, said Dr Shannon Van Zandt, Professor of Urban Planning at Texas A&M University.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Immigrants, whether documented or undocumented, are "often are even more vulnerable than our racial and ethnic minorities who are American citizens," she added, because they are more afraid to ask for help.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">A narrow outdoor stairwell led down to the Lengs' underground home, a nondescript red-bricked house on a quiet street in Flushing, with multiple families sharing the three floors of a few rooms each. Theirs was one of at least three blocks of such abodes in the neighbourhood.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">No sunlight reached the room in the back of the basements like the one where the Lengs had lived - even in daytime, when the BBC walked through a flat a few doors down, the place was obscured in darkness. A single skylight let in some sun near the front of the flat, but there is no other exit besides the door to the stairwell.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Days after the storm, dirt, toppled furniture and rubbish laid strewn about the Lengs' flooded flat. Intense musty odours permeated the air and lingered around the neighbourhood.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">In major US cities, as in many urban centres, a housing crisis has forced low-income renters into flats like those occupied by the family and other Ida victims.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">"New York just doesn't have adequate housing for everyone who lives here, including the immigrants who are often very vulnerable," says Dr Jacqueline Klopp, co-director of the Center for Sustainable Urban Development at Columbia University.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">There are many who tend to rely on informal networks within their communities to find housing, often illegal conversions constructed without proper permits. There are around 50,000 illegal basement dwellings in New York City, according to the city's estimate.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Despite the hazards, tenants and homeowners often avoid reporting any issues due to fear of eviction or fines.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Two other household, also Chinese immigrants, shared the 93 sq m (1,000 sq ft) basement with the Lengs - but they were out at the time of the flood, one household having gone back to China for a visit and the other, a single man, out for work as a delivery man.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">According to neighbours, the Lengs were housebound, surviving on government assistance as Mr Leng had suffered several strokes in recent years while his daughter was autistic and needed in-home care.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Only weeks before the storm, Mr Wu had asked Mr Leng's wife Shen why they kept living in such cramped conditions. The family had applied for federal housing, she told him, but it had not yet been approved.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">"They did not realise their American Dream," Mr Wu said, sighing.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Five of the six properties where New Yorkers lost their lives during the floods are unlicensed cellar-level homes, city officials said.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The lack of quality housing is an obvious reason why poorer people are more at risk during an extreme weather event, but there are also less overt factors. Low-income communities, for example, tend to have far fewer trees and green spaces.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">During heatwaves, concrete surfaces become traps for hot temperatures and in floods, they prevent water from draining.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Most of the New York Ida flood fatalities were residents living in areas near large impervious surfaces, such as highways and car parks. Several people died in vehicles submerged on highways across the Northeast. "We saw highways that were completely flooded out because it's where the water would run off. If the water can't get absorbed, the highways become rivers," Dr Klopp said.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Seven miles from the Lengs' home, the Lama family from Nepal lived in the basement of a brick house next to two major highways in Maspeth, Queens.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Ang Gelu Lama, 50, had come to the US from Nepal 14 years ago. He and his wife Mingma Yangji Sherpa had a two-year-old son Lopsang, who had red, chubby cheeks and liked playing with monkey toys. A family friend told the Washington Post that the family lived in the cramped basement space for the cheap rent.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The last phone call Mrs Sherpa made was to a neighbour upstairs, telling her that flood waters were seeping into her flat.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">A makeshift memorial now stands in front of the Lamas' home, displaying a black-and-white family photo, Lopsang's stuffed monkey and two lollipops.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">On a recent day, Nuku Sherpa, Mr Lama's aunt, broke down in tears as she chanted a Buddhist prayer for the Lamas. Ms Sherpa, who lives in New Jersey, had just cleaned up her own flooded flat when she learnt of their deaths. "We are heartbroken," she said.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">In all, Hurricane Ida tore through 1,500 miles of the continental US over the course of three days, spawning tornadoes in at least seven states, record rainfalls across the country and bringing about New York City's first-ever flash flood emergency.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Days after the storm, Mr Wu returned to salvage his belongings and to drain floodwaters from his mud-covered car, hoping that the engine could restart when dried. He couldn't bear to lose it, he said, after almost everything else had been taken by the water. "Even the trousers that I am wearing now are borrowed," he said.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">It can take low-income and marginalised communities as much as twice as long to recover from a disaster, Dr Van Zandt said, as they are less likely to have the resources to rebuild or relocate.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The extremes in how the rich and the poor can respond to climate disasters is already being seen. A 2019 UN report noted that when Hurricane Sandy left large swathes of New York City in the dark in 2012, the headquarters of the investment bank Goldman Sachs in Lower Manhattan was protected by a massive wall of sandbags. Private firefighters had been hired to save the mansions from wildfires in California. The report estimates that climate change could push more than 120 million people into poverty by 2030, undoing 50 years of progress on poverty reduction. The effects will not only threaten basic human rights, such as life, food, housing and water, but also the rule of law and democracy.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The class divide has also entered the public consciousness in fiction. Parasite, an Oscar-winning South Korean film, depicts a poor family living in Seoul forced to flee their employer's luxurious mansion during a storm, only to discover that their subterranean home is heavily flooded and most of their belongings ruined.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">This new "climate apartheid" has brought the world to the point of a "historic ultimatum," Dr Klopp said, and the crisis demands an approach that addresses not only environmental, but also social equality issues, locally and globally.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">"We really have to be able to grapple with climate and equity. They are inseparable."</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Since its days as a Dutch colonial outpost, openness has been a defining character for Flushing, Queens. Its 17th Century charter enshrined freedom of religious worship, welcoming Quaker refugees fleeing persecution.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">A rail that connected the neighbourhood to the rest of New York City in the 19th century fostered its popularity and encouraged the arts. Eventually it became a hotbed for entertainment, a precursor to Hollywood.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">In more recent decades, it has become an enclave for immigrants. Within its 800 acres are thriving communities from Taiwan, South Korea, China and India.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Though his life in the city was not easy, Mr Leng embraced New York. "He loved the artistic and political freedom here," his former immigration lawyer Norman Wong told the BBC.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Born in Northeast China in 1939, he had a poetic name: Hongsheng, which means an ascending wild goose.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">He immigrated when he was in his 50s to pursue a life as a New Yorker, painting Chinese landscapes and once submitting a design for the World Trade Center memorial competition. He also became politically active in America, penning newspaper commentary critical of the Chinese Communist Party and joining the "China Democratic Party".</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Citing fear of persecution in China, Mr Leng applied for political asylum in the US in the 2000s, and his case is still cited by local immigration lawyers.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The Lengs' deaths have been widely remarked upon in China, with many wondering on social media why the patriarch chose such a seemingly impoverished life for his family.</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Asked one user: "He loved America, but did America love him back?"</span></span></span></div><div class="bi6gxh9e" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span class="d2edcug0 hpfvmrgz qv66sw1b c1et5uql lr9zc1uh gfeo3gy3 a3bd9o3v b1v8xokw oo9gr5id" color="var(--primary-text)" style="line-height: 1.3333; max-width: 100%; min-width: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; word-break: break-word;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">In the starkest way, the country failed him - but perhaps in another way, he was loved. In the month after their deaths, the Chinese-American community pooled the money to cover their funeral costs and to send their ashes back to their homeland - an act, as a Chinese proverb goes, of returning fallen leaves to their roots.</span></span></span></div>Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-81127474880555922632021-09-21T00:10:00.003-04:002022-05-04T21:24:21.513-04:00ANOTHER BIRTHDAY<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh61a5LvCkev8ZfaxXSRqOJseZ4utJzw9_lEQkfRZSzH-DVpExkzvcaWjQ4FlkrzkHTLlpQnW641XLeqGTSVkqawGbYhd75euHb_J1T2ftIGZl5or3x0KMB12M9Ko__YjYS27HgoGIvGt24/s1600/candle-sm.gif" style="background-color: white; color: #771100; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 17.424px; font-weight: 700; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="55" data-original-width="54" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh61a5LvCkev8ZfaxXSRqOJseZ4utJzw9_lEQkfRZSzH-DVpExkzvcaWjQ4FlkrzkHTLlpQnW641XLeqGTSVkqawGbYhd75euHb_J1T2ftIGZl5or3x0KMB12M9Ko__YjYS27HgoGIvGt24/s1600/candle-sm.gif" style="border: none; position: relative;" /></a></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 17.424px; font-weight: 700;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 17.424px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 17.424px; font-weight: 700;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDW09mmT-1-puwg2lTFMOSYvK_mdtwxAC5ZsG9jXdKizCEwqHDp0eod1UdACK7tzvtsNjet4Qtitm2p3dwKo0h6CjSOMysgCFFMTgCTqmUs8EOJYmVCsQ955oPvsuIyDmoQZJhKSEpNo0F/s1600/Great+Smile.jpg" style="clear: right; color: #771100; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="378" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDW09mmT-1-puwg2lTFMOSYvK_mdtwxAC5ZsG9jXdKizCEwqHDp0eod1UdACK7tzvtsNjet4Qtitm2p3dwKo0h6CjSOMysgCFFMTgCTqmUs8EOJYmVCsQ955oPvsuIyDmoQZJhKSEpNo0F/s320/Great+Smile.jpg" style="border: none; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicWABSNqjVzTzT6Pb7jSN_OXiXmdapcCEvXaI_VpHgDXmn12O4Oy-Euz6uNvo42V5F-ItXy7j_lu9IFK5_LmyuTcU9UpMeba_87V_sqWvY8g5R6Gd3riPuSY76ivOI46m2rT1LzijY0wZK/s1600/steven+grave.JPG" style="color: #771100; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicWABSNqjVzTzT6Pb7jSN_OXiXmdapcCEvXaI_VpHgDXmn12O4Oy-Euz6uNvo42V5F-ItXy7j_lu9IFK5_LmyuTcU9UpMeba_87V_sqWvY8g5R6Gd3riPuSY76ivOI46m2rT1LzijY0wZK/s320/steven+grave.JPG" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 17.424px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 17.424px; font-weight: 700; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 28.8px;"><b style="text-align: start;"><u><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #cccccc;">ANOTHER BIRTHDAY</span></u></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 28.8px;"><b style="text-align: start;"><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 28.8px;"><b style="text-align: start;"><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 28.8px;"><b style="text-align: start;">My older son Steven Nathaniel Wolkoff would have been 44 years old today.</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 28.8px;"><b style="text-align: start;"><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 28.8px;"><b style="text-align: start;">What can a parent say on the birthday of their dead child?</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><b style="color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87);"><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">A living child asks for a birthday party. </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">As they become older, you, as the parent, ask them what they want for their birthday. There’s dialogue. </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">It’s tradition to remember your child's birthday, to not do so ignores that they lived.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87); font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">But what exactly is a parent supposed to do on the birthday of their child when he is gone?<br /><br />Not gone, as in out of town or at the beach, or out of the country. Gone as in, no longer alive.</span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87); font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">A dead child doesn’t want. </span></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">A dead son asks for nothing.</span></div></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="line-height: 28.8px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87); font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.6em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">What does a mom or dad and siblings do?<br /><br />Where’s the rule book for recognizing birthdays of a dead child?<br /><b style="background-color: transparent; text-align: center;"><br /></b><b style="background-color: transparent; text-align: center;">Steven was born on the first day of Fall and died on the first day of Summer. </b></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">There is something odd to me about the the significance of the equinox and solstice in his life and its parallel meaning to the Earth. </span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">If the autumnal equinox represents balance, then the summer solstice was most certainly the day we felt our world come to a deafening halt on the longest day of the year.</span></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px; text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px;"><b>Steven lies dead in a grave because of the negligence and indifference of those who killed him, stole his life at the age of 30, and have tried to erase that he ever lived.</b></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b><b>I mourn what was, what could of been, and what will never be.</b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 23.1913px; font-weight: 700; padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b><b>You deserved so much better my son, it just wasn't meant to be. </b></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Love, Dad </span></div>Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-39447267858298391072021-06-30T00:10:00.002-04:002021-06-30T00:10:00.233-04:00MOM<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyhMaBsO27lcImU99uHpZp7KU-XB9hlrrhbHevY-rAYZhbgf_fgiBeORgIhiRacG58CEXrdH6nI9pO7e26ISUj9l9EQV9nbZse1B2O6OBI5hv1iWkx92eFhG-Usxr-NUFC7YoTmwkFwyY3/s1600/Animated+flickering+candle+.gif" style="color: #771100; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 17.424px; font-weight: 700; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyhMaBsO27lcImU99uHpZp7KU-XB9hlrrhbHevY-rAYZhbgf_fgiBeORgIhiRacG58CEXrdH6nI9pO7e26ISUj9l9EQV9nbZse1B2O6OBI5hv1iWkx92eFhG-Usxr-NUFC7YoTmwkFwyY3/s1600/Animated+flickering+candle+.gif" style="border: none; position: relative;" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 17.424px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsJGtTx5CIh5Ms4TM67HKUZnyGidUp4h6QAuoW8jFcyOtgt6FjIuhXdlDM4op8qkBL8_eD0Ha44HUQdaoYuDQKnaiy7SrG0NFq410fXHHPnRYpiDZ5-Zh6d0b55xG3JNHqBH2PH5s2ZlSS/s1600/IMG_0229+%25281%2529.JPG" style="color: #771100; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsJGtTx5CIh5Ms4TM67HKUZnyGidUp4h6QAuoW8jFcyOtgt6FjIuhXdlDM4op8qkBL8_eD0Ha44HUQdaoYuDQKnaiy7SrG0NFq410fXHHPnRYpiDZ5-Zh6d0b55xG3JNHqBH2PH5s2ZlSS/s320/IMG_0229+%25281%2529.JPG" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 17.424px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 17.424px; font-weight: 700; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="color: #222222; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;">I thought of you with love today<br />but that is nothing new<br /><br />I thought about you yesterday<br />and days before that too,<br />I think of you in silence<br />I often speak your name<br /><br />All I have are memories<br />and your picture in a frame.</span></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="color: #222222; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Your memory is my keepsake<br />with which I’ll never part<br />I have you in my heart.</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;">Hug me strongly, and carry me home</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"></span></b></span></div><div class="ll-10-3" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;">Dear Mom, one more kiss again</span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-size: xx-small;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div><div style="color: #222222; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px; left: -99999px; position: absolute;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-size: xx-small;"><b>I thought of you today, but that is nothing new. I thought about you yesterday and days before that too. I think of you in silence, I often speak your name. All I have are memories and your picture in a frame. Your memory is a keepsake from which I’ll never part. God has you in His arms, I have you in my heart.<br /><br />See more at: <a href="http://www.idlehearts.com/?p=24438" style="color: #888888; text-decoration-line: none;">http://www.idlehearts.com/?p=24438</a>I thought of you with love today</b></span></div></div><div style="color: #222222; padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;">Today is the day that my Mother, Dorothy Wolkoff died on June 30th,1997. It was sudden and there was never a chance to say goodbye.</span><br /><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></div><div style="color: #222222;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;">My mom was the strongest, toughest, most courageous, gentle, caring person I have ever known. </span><br /><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;">Biology aside, mom's can be magical human beings. A mother's love is unlimited, it can heal us, make us feel safe, and inspire us. My mother was all that and more. How lucky I am.</span></span></div></div><div style="color: #222222;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div style="color: #222222;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;">She taught me much, but in particular, emphasized the importance of self pride, work/life ethics, compassion, caring, and being humble. </span></span></div></div><div style="color: #222222;"><div style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;">In spite of her hard life, she provided for my sister and myself, by doing whatever was necessary for us to live, we never lacked for anything because of her grueling unselfish efforts. </span></span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span face=""helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: xx-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></b><b style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My mother was the only one who believed in me, particularly during my youth, and stubbornly never gave up, no matter how much I screwed up.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></b></span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span><span style="color: black; line-height: 22.4px;">Without her support during my most difficult years as a youngster, a wild acting out teenager, she ALWAYS stood up to me, for me, guided me, and refused to give in, or give up on me. It was not easy for her to do that, but she would not back down, ever.</span></b></span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span face=""helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: xx-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="line-height: 27.3778px;">My mother literally saved my life many times, she was one of a kind, I will always remember and love her for that. </span></span></b><b style="color: black;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: black;">I told my mom in many different ways over the years how much she eventually contributed to my taking the correct productive path with </span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="color: black;">my life</span></span> all because of her. </b><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></b></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;">I spent much of my adult life making my mother proud of me, telling her how much I loved her. </span></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></b></span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;">Whatever is good in me, came from my mother.</span><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></b><br /><span face=""helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div></div><div style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;">I love and miss you mom.</span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-67775292863909584232021-06-21T00:39:00.011-04:002021-06-21T01:11:29.211-04:00STEVEN NATHANIEL WOLKOFF- SEPTEMBER 23, 1977- JUNE 21, 2008<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-4132627012730118172" itemprop="description articleBody" style="font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 698px;"><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-1477196431394825886" itemprop="description articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 698px;"><div style="font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; 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font-size: 30px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black; font-size: xx-small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi217ci0idHRZnm6GfwOF8ACLPxj4DBDjywaQJ5L6x_fvbxzSyN3GihjA6a792c5iTZaA_xYIThyphenhyphen33bdfBDN-g0PReYTukUZzd7eWOqncjOzYitHA9pqDQLDugnVLn2G8tJkzgtdHV6fXt7/s1600/steven+birthday+cake.+jpg.jpg" style="color: #771100; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi217ci0idHRZnm6GfwOF8ACLPxj4DBDjywaQJ5L6x_fvbxzSyN3GihjA6a792c5iTZaA_xYIThyphenhyphen33bdfBDN-g0PReYTukUZzd7eWOqncjOzYitHA9pqDQLDugnVLn2G8tJkzgtdHV6fXt7/s400/steven+birthday+cake.+jpg.jpg" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="400" /></a></div></span></span></h3><div style="color: #222222; 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background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.098) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="325" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bpwdwbO1uvM" width="320" youtube-src-id="bpwdwbO1uvM"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div><p><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="text-decoration-line: underline;"><b>Also - <span style="color: #0096ef; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;"><a href="https://stevewolkoff.com/884-2/" style="color: #0096ef; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">CLICK ON HERE</a></span><span style="color: #0096ef; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;"><a href="https://stevewolkoff.com/884-2/" style="color: #0096ef; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;"> & LISTEN TO AN ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTAL WRITTEN & COMPOSED IN MEMORY OF STEVEN NATHANIEL WOLKOFF, CALLED "STEVEN'S SONG"</a></span></b></span></span></span></p><p><b style="background-color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">This composition is a quiet and moving work and is meant to serve as a tribute to the life of Steven Wolkoff. It makes use of simple but haunting harmonies and a melody that will stay with the listener long after its final notes have finished sounding. </span></span></b></p><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><span style="background-color: silver; font-size: medium;"><b>SEPTEMBER 23, 1977- JUNE 21, 2008</b></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><span style="background-color: silver; font-size: medium;"><b>BELOVED SON, BROTHER,GRANDSON,</b></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span><span style="background-color: silver;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>NEPHEW, COUSIN, CHERISHED LOVE</b></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span><span style="background-color: silver;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>GOOD FRIEND</b></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><br /></span><span><span style="background-color: silver;">GENTLY THEY GO,</span></span></b></span></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span><span style="background-color: silver;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>THE BEAUTIFUL,</b></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span><span style="background-color: silver;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>THE TENDER, THE KIND</b></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><br /></span><span><span style="background-color: silver;">FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS</span></span></b></span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; line-height: 22.4px;"><b><u style="font-size: 15.84px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></u><br /></b><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>Monday, June 21, 2021</u></b></span></div><div style="font-size: 15.84px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;">Today is the anniversary of the 13th year of an eternity in agony, marking the horrific day, June 21, 2008, that my oldest child, Steven Nathaniel Wolkoff, was cruelly killed at the age of 30, his life brutally stolen from him, family, friends, me. </span></b></span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: normal;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: normal;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">I dread the coming of this day every year.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>Steven died on the first day of Summer, it was 5 PM on a Saturday afternoon, exactly 13 years ago.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><br /></span><span>It seems so much longer than 13 years have gone by since we lost him. </span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>I still feel that it cannot be true, somehow suddenly he will appear, call me on the phone, or send me an email. That feeling never leaves, it is always there, I will wake up from this nightmare, and Steven will be here, alive.</b></span></span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span><span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span></span></b></span></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px; padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>There are mornings that I wake up believing for a few seconds that Steven is alive and it was just a horrible nightmare that he is dead. Then the reality strikes me full force in the face and gut, that he is dead forever, how can that be?</b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>Oh how he loved the summer months and life itself. He was looking forward to it all, never realizing that his life would end that day in 2008.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><br /></span><span>I posted the other pictures above of Steven because they are some of my favorite ones, and also he is so real, alive in them, and for a second, he seems to actually be here.</span></b></span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">Today, on this 13th anniversary of Steven's tragic death, if you can, please take a moment now to remember who Steven was and how deeply he is missed by each of us.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><br /></span></b></span></div></div></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">The last time I spoke to Steven, was on the phone,</span><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">Tuesday evening, June 17 , 2008.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><br /></span></b></span></div></div></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">I didn't know that moment was going to be our last.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">The last time I would talk to you, and hear your beautiful voice.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><br /></span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">The last time I would tell you that I loved you, and hear you say “I love you too dad”. Strong and so real, so vibrant and alive.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">A smiling face, with twinkling eyes, your special smile, my fine young man, my oldest child.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">The shattered remnant of my heart with holes so black and fathomless no light can ever fill. I am and will be in shock forever.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">Time has passed before me, so bleak and dark and long, the wind that whispers through the trees, the brightest star at night, the rain on a dismal day, my endless dreams, nightmares, the constant thoughts, hearing the door bell ringing, seeing the 2 Nassau County Policeman at my door at 4 AM asking me politely if they could come inside, no eye contact from them.</span></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">I knew and asked them "which one of my children", their response "do you have a son Steven living in San Francisco, he was killed in a car collision". </span></span></span></b></div></div></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">That moment is frozen in my mind, repeating itself endlessly almost every waking and sleeping moment of my life.</span></span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px; padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">The tragic death of Steven was caused by stupid, senseless acts. Every day, each night, my mind is focused on the highway at the collision, looking at the photos of Steven’s face while he is alive on a stretcher placed on the highway and then later, he is dead, covered by a tarp on that same highway.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">The collision seems less a random act, and more determined, by a series of factors, not so benign, each one a contributing cause of my son’s death.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">Steven was killed not by accident, but by horribly connected actions, and </span><span class="blsp-spelling-error noTransition" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;">inaction's</span><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">, of many others, each building on the impact of the other. Steven’s death began when distinct acts of design and error grew to become the chaos of negligence.</span></b></span></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">Steven was killed by the lack of highway signage, a secret California State cover up of a structurally flawed </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">highway design known as a "death trap", whose design errors were deliberately never corrected,</span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">violating the written safety codes of the same government department responsible for building the </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">highway, and the carelessness of a local community program, having a gathering, unaware that their </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">visitors, were parking, turning, merging, clogging this already too narrow stretch of road that had no separate turning lanes.</span></b></span></span></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">Steven was killed by a 21 year old drug impaired driver, who did not even have a driver’s license, </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">an illegal alien. His danger to others not in his thoughts, but mostly I think he just didn't care </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">about the effects of his irresponsible actions on Steven.</span></b></span></span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 22.4px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div></div></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">Steven was killed by an army of first responders, Paramedics, Emergency Medical Technicians, </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">Police, Firefighters, and Park Rangers, etc., busy littering the highway with equipment, while they </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">tried to look busy and important.</span></b></span></span></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>Steven courageously lived for about an hour after the collision while multiple systems of rescue <span style="line-height: 22.4px;">professionals failed to get him to the hospital, and were unable to properly provide a minimum </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">standard of the medical skills that they were trained to perform.</span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><br /></span></span></span></b></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">The first responders panicked, although Steven was breathing on his own, they performed an unnecessary medical procedure that they had never before done in their life. </span></span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">It is called a </span></span>Needle Cricothyroidotomy which they failed to do properly and in doing this they missed his airway, suffocating him, vital oxygen crushing against his heart, lungs and diaphragm, taking his breath away, and horrifically killing him.</b></span></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">The responder’s mission, to keep Steven medically stabilized for triage care at the Hospital, failed, lost in a few hundred square feet of disorder, with no one in charge, no one leading, standing, telling, helping, shouting, or recognizing the obvious signs of their medical errors.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">My son Steven was killed by carelessness, thoughtlessness, and negligence on the part of multiple entities and individuals.</span><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><br class="noTransition" style="line-height: 33.5378px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;" /><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">A gifted, talented, precious, irreplaceable, meaningful life was stolen from all of us who loved him deeply, because of the actions of so many who, each in their own way, miserably failed to help Steven</span><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;">, all destroying Steven’s life.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br />I cannot believe that my son Steven lies buried in a grave so young, me dreaming of things that he was and might have been. </b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b> </b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>I am not religious, nor do I believe in god, so the traditional Mourners Kaddish prayer for Steven are meaningless words to me. </b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>I have written my own Mourners Kaddish as a way to honor Steven, and I post it every year at this time.</span></b></span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><br /></span></span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">It is my way of expressing that Steven left behind a legacy of goodness, and worthy descendants, those who loved him, who will always remember that he lived.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>These sentences speak directly to Steven, because his pain and loss need to be honestly described in real words that accurately reflect my true feelings. </span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><u><b>STEVEN NATHANIEL WOLKOFF'S MOURNERS KADDISH</b></u></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><br /></span></span><span>Steven Nathaniel Wolkoff, Shmuel Nacham Ben Yaakov, (Samuel Nathan, Son of Jerry).<br /> </span><br /><span><u>September 23, 1977- June 21, 2008</u><br /><br />I am sorry that you are dead.<br /><br />I am sorry you suffered so painfully, on that awful day, as you fought to stay alive.<br /><br />I am sorry for the agony you felt, I see it in your eyes, face, and body from the horrific evidence photos. I see and feel it in my endless nightmares.<br /><br />I am sorry for the fear, terror, unimaginable pain you felt in fighting for your life, as they killed you. I know the truth of your courage in being able to fight so bravely to stay alive.<br /><br />I am sorry for you because you were not killed by accident, but instead by the senseless, stupid, careless, actions of so many others who could have saved your life, but instead, each in their own way, miserably failed you that day, never realizing or even considering taking responsibility, or accountability for the consequences of their actions, inaction's, indifference, and incompetence.<br /><br />I am sorry you died not due to fate, nor randomly, but were instead killed by the cascading chaos of connected, dysfunctional, defective entities and others, all who caused your preventable death.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>I am sorry that you died because the State of California did not care about your life and decided not to fix a dangerously unsafe road, instead they deliberately hid the structural defects in the highway that made it into a death trap.</b></span></span></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span><br /></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span>I am sorry that you died because of the</span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"> 21 year old drug impaired driver speeding out of control into your car. </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">His danger to you not in his thoughts, but mostly I think he just didn't care </span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">about the effects of his irresponsible actions.</span></span></span></b></span></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br />I am sorry about the inept, licensed, qualified, medical first responders who had no idea, not a clue, of what they were doing medically to you as they killed you. They have no consciences and lied afterward to hide how they murdered you in cold blood.<br /><br />I am sorry for you, that so many corrupt, ugly cowards of evil, who have evidence of the truth, but have no conscience to speak up, remain silent, lie, omit, refuse to come forward to admit their responsibility in covering up the true facts that all contributed to killing you.</b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>I am sorry for those whose toxic evil allowed all of the above to be done to you and escaped from being held accountable for participating in your death.</b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>I am sorry that your soul and body were desecrated in death. </span><span> </span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>I am sorry for the wicked hideous ones who desecrated your body in death and refuse to take accountability for their violation of your body, your soul.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>I am sorry that it has took us five years to finally successfully legally force the spiteful, hateful,evil San Mateo County Coroner to release your final remains for proper burial.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br />I am sorry that you died in spite of the true medical facts that show you should be alive today.<br /><br />I am sorry for all the multitude of evil ones who have tried to defame you and disrespect your name, your life.<br /><br />I am sorry that life is so cheap and yours has no value to those who killed you, trying to erase you ever existed.<br /><br />I am sorry that the Legal system is weak, corrupt and I was not able to obtain justice for you. I failed to accomplish getting that Justice for you, please forgive me.<br /><br />I am sorry for my failing as your father to keep you from dying.<br /><br />I am sorry you did not leave the beach one second earlier or later to return home that day of June, 21, 2008.<br /><br />I am sorry that I was not there to protect you.<br /><br />I am sorry that I was not there that day to comfort you, hold you, ease your pain.<br /><br />I am sorry that I don't know the last thoughts in your mind before you died.<br /><br />I am sorry that you died alone, with strangers, and no one even had the courage, kindness to hold your hand.<br /><br />I am sorry that you died lying on a hot highway pavement, in a place unfamiliar, in the middle of nowhere.<br /><br />I am sorry that no one had the decency to cover your right arm and both feet, as you lay dead under the blue tarp.<br /><br />I am sorry the Medvac trauma helicopter was delayed in arriving there by 4 minutes, too late to stop the killer first responders from touching you.<br /><br />I am sorry that I was not even able to protect your dignity in death.<br /><br />I am sorry you cannot cry.<br /><br />I am sorry you cannot scream.<br /><br />I am sorry you cannot laugh.<br /><br />I am sorry you cannot smile.<br /><br />I am sorry you cannot feel.<br /><br />I am sorry you cannot talk.<br /><br />I am sorry you cannot breathe.<br /><br />I am sorry you are silent forever. </b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span>I am sorry that the world said nothing, heard nothing, says nothing about the injustices done to you.<br /> </span><span><br /></span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span>I am sorry that it was you and not me.<br /><br />I am sorry that I had to bury you and that you didn't bury me first, as it should be. </span><span><br /></span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>I am sorry for everything that I forgot to say now, or cannot, and did not say here.<br /><br />I am sorry for YOU because you are not here, you are NO MORE on this earth. </span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>I am sorry that you cannot rest in peace.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><span style="background-color: silver;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span></span></span><br /></b></span></div></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; line-height: 22.4px;"><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>More than anything, I am sorry that you didn't have a chance to say goodbye to those you loved.<br /><br />Your family will always honor you, remember you, miss you, keep you in our heart, preserve your memory in lovingly telling future generations about you, and love you forever. </b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span><br /></span><span>We all miss you so very much.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div></div></div></div><div class="noTransition" style="line-height: 17.82px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>I mourn what was, what could of been, and what will never be.</b></span></div></div></div></div><div class="noTransition" style="line-height: 17.82px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0s ease 0s;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="line-height: 17.82px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 17.82px;">You deserved so much better my son, it just wasn’t meant to be.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /><span>Your brother, sister, mother, family, and others who love you, will do the same. We will never forget YOU, never stop loving you, our precious beloved Steven. NEVER.<br /><br />Steven, I can only say, I am SORRY, SORRY, I am so SORRY.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 33.5378px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><b>My heart is broken, my Steven is gone, and we will mourn forever.</b></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 22.4px; padding: 0px;"></div><div style="line-height: normal;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="line-height: 22.4px;"><div align="left" class="envelope" style="float: none; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="font-size: 30px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span> <img alt="Hebrew" height="24" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgp9V1gXeyWB9ksENM8n2bNFM4S1_3eucJNYqEepyNFnliHUL3UJPnYZjE-mcXEDJ8mpcvydMJIpvYKtj0FW4PHtKI6QiKv_hBoZMdZ2Wp2YcenQB5Qyz_ptW0-LlNB6k7OKuKTUTk" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.098) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px;" width="35" /> -Amen. </span></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Love, Dad.</span></span><span> </span></span></h3></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>
<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jewfaq.org%2Fprayer%2Famein.gif&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgp9V1gXeyWB9ksENM8n2bNFM4S1_3eucJNYqEepyNFnliHUL3UJPnYZjE-mcXEDJ8mpcvydMJIpvYKtj0FW4PHtKI6QiKv_hBoZMdZ2Wp2YcenQB5Qyz_ptW0-LlNB6k7OKuKTUTk" -->Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-32155737655737035922021-06-06T00:10:00.036-04:002022-05-04T20:23:32.906-04:0063 YEARS AGO. WAS IT WORTH IT?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNa8JKU0VV534-OF9Lg9FwF7x5pyvXnMNDj90_n_EW4_pJl7-JCv7dxL1LpLizvsh9Y9nZa9m0GWfL1t2nreOQDfKhopiZQvJ6EjxeLoC2eial2QTV5Tvc88y6HXRfx77kmjb5whtN8Lfv/s1600/Animated+flickering+candle+.gif" style="color: #771100; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNa8JKU0VV534-OF9Lg9FwF7x5pyvXnMNDj90_n_EW4_pJl7-JCv7dxL1LpLizvsh9Y9nZa9m0GWfL1t2nreOQDfKhopiZQvJ6EjxeLoC2eial2QTV5Tvc88y6HXRfx77kmjb5whtN8Lfv/s1600/Animated+flickering+candle+.gif" style="border: none; position: relative;" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLXBdnJA99IXLm2sJlQjJhWTGczmZnx-Z-HhCs7MViYDExB0VxE0FWzwVCe9RH4C3CGyu8Q178oKzi6trNbT3GOc_NVgvPX0R7XD1iwG81vPuki-N-Iodd_Jak56nM5qm66wcCq-J3qhLv/s1600/IMG_0225.JPG" style="color: #771100; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLXBdnJA99IXLm2sJlQjJhWTGczmZnx-Z-HhCs7MViYDExB0VxE0FWzwVCe9RH4C3CGyu8Q178oKzi6trNbT3GOc_NVgvPX0R7XD1iwG81vPuki-N-Iodd_Jak56nM5qm66wcCq-J3qhLv/s320/IMG_0225.JPG" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="320" /></span></a></div><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"></h3><div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;"><span style="color: black;">Samuel Wolkoff- June 6th, 1958, forever etched in my soul. </span></span></span></b><br /><b style="color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></b><b style="color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;"><span style="color: black;">My father was gruesomely murdered on this day many years ago, at the age of 42. </span></span><span style="line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;">I was 10 years old. </span></span></span></b><br /><b style="color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></b><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;">He lost his life that day, I lost my childhood, my inner peace, and my soul. </span></span><span style="color: red;">Samuel Wolkoff was MY FATHER</span><span style="color: #222222;">. </span></span></b></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222;">T</span></span></b><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222;">ragically, I hardly remember anything about him, and almost nothing about our relationship as father and son. </span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: red;">Today's Blog is in memory of</span><span><span style="background-color: black; color: red;"> </span><a href="https://silo.pub/blood-relation.html"><span style="background-color: black; color: red;"><span><span><span>Samuel Wolkoff</span><span>, </span><span>My Dad</span></span><span>, tortured and murdered</span></span><span> </span></span><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><span>(</span><span>CLICK HERE TO READ-SCROLL TO P.130 AND P.262-264)</span></span></a><span style="color: #2b00fe;">.</span><span style="color: red;"> (</span><span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1771918559441205756/5268376839554117929"><span style="color: red;">ALSO CLICK </span><span style="color: red;">HERE FOR MORE)</span></a>.</span></span></span></span></b></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; line-height: 33.6px;"><b>The rest of the year, the ever present demons make sure I remember those whose memories others have tried to erase, these are my family, they were human beings who will never be forgotten by me, they lived and never deserved to die in such horribly suffering ways. </b></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; line-height: 33.6px;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; line-height: 33.6px;"><b>To me it's very personal when June 6th arrives every year, a very painful day. It has now been 63 agonizing years since my father Samuel Wolkoff was brutally tortured and murdered.</b></span></span></span></div><div style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;">There are also extremely evil people who visit here. </span></span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">I suppose they come for many different reasons and I can see they are from all over the world.</span></b></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 700;">I get emails frequently, mostly anonymous from others about the monster subhuman animal who murdered my father. They vary from other victims families murdered by the monster, friends of his, and entities that shall remain not named by me.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-weight: 700;"> </span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-weight: 700;">C</span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-weight: 700;">ertain facts in this blog post and also in the book </span><u style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: 700;">"Blood Relation" </u><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-weight: 700;">have been deliberately edited to protect myself and others.</span></span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size: medium; line-height: 1.4;">Some of you are the cowardly, but powerfully dangerous scum bags who murdered my father, some are close murderous associates of my father, as well as those of you in the arrogant, incompetent, corrupt law enforcement systems, whose agencies knowingly covered their asses and continue to do so to this day.</span></b></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><span style="line-height: 1.4;">In doing so, those of you in law enforcement have betrayed your sworn oaths to defend justice by deliberately participating in covering up the truth, lying, withholding documented criminal evidence, and obstructing justice in this capital offense of murder, which has no statute</span><span style="line-height: 1.4;"> of limitations. You have placed your own personal needs above that of the value of human lives.</span></b></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 1.4;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 1.4;"><b>My father believed in kindness, honesty, family, hard work, ethics, and his rights as a human being to reap the fruits of his labor for himself and our family.</b></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b>He was a man who did not run away from the corrupt animals who wanted a "cut of his business" for themselves. </b></span></span></span><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">He believed in himself and the law enforcement, legal, supposedly ethical "systems" to protect him from those that wanted the business that he had built from nothing, with his blood and sweat.</span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">He believed in a code of personal ethics, morality, integrity that dictated honor, family, respect, fairness, loyalty, faith in humanity, and that no one is entitled to steal from another human being their right to live.</span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">On June 6th, 1958 the world was already very evil, corrupt, his life was cheap, and scum bags took what they wanted, from who ever they wanted. That was the day they took my father's life, his business, and all of our souls.</span></span></span></span></b><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">Today, June 6th, 2021, the world is infinitely more evil, more corrupt, life is even cheaper, scum bags enjoy their lives as they take even more of what they want, from whomever they choose.</span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">Many of the murderers of my father, their children, and family members are still alive. We know who you ALL ARE. You have done extremely well financially and live with a high standard of living for themselves with their families having all thrived in spite of their evil deeds. </span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">Yes, my father was a hero, he is a hero who sacrificed his life for his beliefs. Seems old fashioned, naive, for someone to believe so strongly in doing the right thing. </span></span></span></span></b><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">Yet somehow, he who had nothing, created a thriving business, and maintained his righteousness of believing in goodness, his business associates, his relatives, the legal/law enforcement system, and that his being a hard working, good person was to be rewarded by having a good life.</span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span></span></b><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">In the end, his naive belief in the humanity of others, particularly his relatives (we know who you are) proved that he was DEAD wrong and he paid for it with his life. </span></span></span></span></b><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.176px;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.176px;"><b>We all know each other, or about each other, you know I have hidden away safely the written confidential secret official documents with my honest law enforcement and political friends, the written proof of all "missing" documented, detailed real facts that would expose the ugly truths. </b></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.176px;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.176px;"><b>Nothing to be concerned about, it will remain buried. </b></span></span><br /><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 22.176px;"><br /></span></span></span></b><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 22.176px;">We know the deal that protects all of us, the reasons that nothing else has been done by any of us about my father's murder, the reason these documents will remain hidden, is the unspoken but very clear mutual understanding we all have forever, of don't ever again fuck with any of my family, and in return, we won't fuck with any of you by making the real truth public.</span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="color: black;">Was it worth the unimaginable pain that he felt as he was tortured slowly for 5 hours on the night of June 6, 1958? </span></span></span></b><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b>What must he have been thinking during those horrific hours of going in and out of consciousness as they repeatedly tightened and loosened a rope around his neck?</b></span></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.4px;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.4px;"><b>Samuel Wolkoff's cause of death, 5 long hours of tortured Murder By Strangulation. </b></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.4px;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.4px;"><b>Try to hold your breath for as long as you can, then wait 40 more seconds, exhale, that will give you a tiny sense of the horrific way my father felt for 5 consecutive hours, a rope tied as a noose, was continuously alternately tightened, then loosened around his neck, while his hands were tied behind his back. </b></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.4px;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="line-height: 22.4px;"><b>Death, when it finally came, must have been a merciful release for my father.</b></span></span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-weight: bold;">The autopsy showed that my father struggled so bravely to live, that his eyeballs eventually burst, and he finally stopped breathing. His body then deposited at a desolate gas station, in the middle of the night, thrown out onto the ground, as a piece of garbage. Hold that entire scene in your mind forever, it is I can assure, gruesome and haunting in its profoundly graphic endless replay, over and over in my mind.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><div style="color: #333333;"><span><span><span style="color: black; font-size: medium; font-weight: bold;">Oh, as an aside, his sister learned about his murder on the radio news, she immediately dropped dead of a heart attack in front of her four children.</span></span></span></div></div></div><div style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span style="color: black; font-size: medium;">The family never talked about it for 40 plus years, not even to speak my father's name, it is the taboo secret code followed by many families of victims, as if somehow, the unbearable pain would get less. I have spent most of my life investigating his case and eventually shared it with our family. Never have figured out if I did good or bad by reopening the wounds, but I do know, those are permanent gaping, seeping, toxic, painful holes, they never really were ever closed.</span></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b>Was it worth it to believe that your goodness would triumph above evil, that god would watch over you, that law enforcement would protect you, that your wife, and children would not suffer beyond imagination for the rest of our lives?</b></span></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b>Justice not served, justice not given, nothing complicated, nothing new, an innocent, honest, good person, a human life stolen without any remorse, it happens all the time. </b></span></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 1.4;"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b>How can a loved one who dies suffering, rest in peace, ever? The answer is they cannot rest in peace because of the way they died.</b></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black; line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Seems like a simple thing to believe and its even reduced to a short acronym, R.I.P., easy to write. I can't write it, not possible, not after all the never ending suffering of my father, and our family.</b></span></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><b>Was it worth it, my hero, my dear beloved father? </b></span></span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 1.4;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 1.4;"><b>Was it worth it?</b></span></span></span></div><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: medium; line-height: 33.6px;">The march of the dead continues, May/June are the saddest months for me, I dread this time of the year, horrifically gruesome memories of human, innocent lives of my family wasted. </span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: medium; line-height: 33.6px;"><br /></span></span></span></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: medium;">I am often intrigued as to why over 143,000 people as of this date have visited my Blog. </span></div></div></div></h3><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><div class="post-body entry-content" itemprop="description articleBody" style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 620px;"></div></h3><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"></h3><h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name" style="color: #222222; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0.75em 0px 0px; position: relative;"><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6810228199122209907" itemprop="description articleBody" style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 620px;"><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: medium; line-height: 33.6px;">There are many good people who come here, victims, families of victims, people seeking justice, those who are fighting against injustice, human beings who care. </span></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">I see search terms on my Blog from people who arrive looking for information about my father, a lot of other interesting search words that only "you" would know. </span></span></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: medium; line-height: 1.4;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">There are visitors here to this Blog who are criminals, the very worst evildoers of all kinds, organized crime family leaders, law enforcement, the curious, all are responsible by their actions or inaction's for the injustices that are specifically detailed in many of my different blog posts about all the victims I write about.</span></div></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: medium; line-height: 1.4;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.176px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;">For an ultra private person like me, a Blog is obscenely public, personal, grossly revealing, definitely not my style, but interestingly, momentarily cleansing, a way of coming out, being up front with unbearable realities, my reality. Mostly</span><span style="color: black;"> I do it for those that can no longer speak for themselves, </span>who experienced unimaginable suffering that ended their lives. In this moment, my father's reality.</span></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.176px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 1.4;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="line-height: 22.176px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 1.4;">I do know that MY FATHER was a courageous HERO. </span></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;">Dead heroes, no matter how courageous they are, never get remembered by society for their acts of courage. They are quickly forgotten, except by those who loved them.</span></span></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: medium;">Was it worth it for MY FATHER, Samuel Wolkoff, to stand his ground and give up his life in such a terrifying, grotesque manner at the hands of cowardly pussy punks? </span></span></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div></div><div><div style="padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: medium;">The world did not care about his life and did nothing.</span></div></div><div style="padding: 0px;"><div style="padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;">My father's fatal errors that cost him his life? He believed in trust, in the sense of obligation to very close members of his family, by giving them a chance to change their ways.</span></span></div></div><div style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><div style="background-color: white; padding: 0px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: black;">The good deeds he did, paid back by these very same, who had him murdered. Horrifically ugly, but brutally true, and they all got away with it, no guilt, no conscience, didn't bother any of them, never mattered to them.</span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Today we remember my courageous father. He is not resting in peace, and he never will rest in peace, that is certain. </span></span></div></div></div></h3></div>Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1771918559441205756.post-33982422704723411142021-05-28T00:10:00.004-04:002022-05-04T20:19:45.732-04:00MY SISTER IRIS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnQ3-OA6UUMd87ISP8ZoEGnAQkGEEaJbKw_FnLR6aq38H0Bb5uZOGcvWLUFNpAQWmUdoxd5Nh1mNnPb6agsNHRELGZu9YjNMFH8rrxMWHWvGVJrPBjHNeDJU9E-v4zQxkA-QCV8HvQMYXD/s1600/Animated+flickering+candle+.gif" style="color: #cc4411; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 30px; font-weight: 700; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" height="95" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnQ3-OA6UUMd87ISP8ZoEGnAQkGEEaJbKw_FnLR6aq38H0Bb5uZOGcvWLUFNpAQWmUdoxd5Nh1mNnPb6agsNHRELGZu9YjNMFH8rrxMWHWvGVJrPBjHNeDJU9E-v4zQxkA-QCV8HvQMYXD/w160-h95/Animated+flickering+candle+.gif" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="160" /></a></div><p> <span face="arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700;"> </span><span face="arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXApHRt5VufG0ndvdIbWaBglSpqAkQR83SS1aKXNfrn9jMkCXU4FwGgDnu8BxwHRPjkYPyG_Q1Km2o39qIO9R3t02htZbbPvKJzygy39AUvj2KQ4AxUc9A78Un6iqghXFvY59vIHfPdqS1/s1600/IMG_0016+%25282%2529.JPG" style="color: #771100; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="916" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXApHRt5VufG0ndvdIbWaBglSpqAkQR83SS1aKXNfrn9jMkCXU4FwGgDnu8BxwHRPjkYPyG_Q1Km2o39qIO9R3t02htZbbPvKJzygy39AUvj2KQ4AxUc9A78Un6iqghXFvY59vIHfPdqS1/s400/IMG_0016+%25282%2529.JPG" style="border: none; position: relative;" width="227" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEviQiebX71sI_XdVTVtyLhzx7X8kWLfJYPOOLQcpN9jDBx-X_KwDP9wGq2tsBoDFPZfQRjHQcuku613z2Psivw8I-Qb2ryiPuu0FSQ-VwXyptWLw4964fxokJzJW2_lMMAox_c8ZbGyKd/s320/IMG_0224.JPG" style="border: none; color: #cc4411; position: relative;" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 15.84px; font-weight: 700; text-align: center;"><u style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 1.4;">It always begins on this date every ye</span><span style="line-height: 1.4;">ar</span><span style="line-height: 1.4;">.</span></span></u></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; line-height: 22.4px;"><div style="color: #222222; font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-weight: bold;"><span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;">My beloved sister Iris died </span>on May 28th, 2004, and this marks the beginning of the period each year that fills me with incalculable suffering,<span style="line-height: 33.6px;"> inexplicable unfairness, </span><span style="line-height: 1.4;">tragedy that has wrought its massive destruction of so many good, loved members of my family, who deserved so very much better than they received in life and death. </span><span style="color: black; line-height: 1.4;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black; font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Once again, another year has passed and I dread the intensified agony of overwhelming grief that envelops me for these lost souls of my family during the upcoming months.</span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 33.6px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;">I need not be told that it is here, since the pain is always present, all the time, year round, but becomes insi</span></span><span style="line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="line-height: 33.6px;">diously unbearable as of this date, and in the next few months, every year.</span></span></span></span></div><div style="font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 1.4;">I painfully miss and mourn those of my immediate family who have died, more so than at any other time, as each year passes.</span></span></span></div><div style="color: #222222; font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 1.4;"><br /></span><span style="color: black; line-height: 1.4;">Increasingly difficult, filled with the aching of a lifetime beaten down into the ever present, toxic, non stop personal demons, nightmares, flash backs, with memories vividly stamped inside my brain, as if it were just yesterday that we were all together as a family and of course, big sister and little brother.</span></span></span></div><div id="AOLMsgPart_1_157a3789-bd2e-447a-ba6e-397d1e877a87" style="color: #222222; font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: bold;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black;"><br />I planted purple Iris flowers, one of them pictured above in the garden out front of my house when my sister died.</span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span><span style="color: black;">Each year I take new pictures as they spring to life and insert one on this blog in memory of her. </span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span><span style="color: black;">I like the idea that they are perennials, returning every year, flowering in all their beauty, now looking so alive on another anniversary today of the day she died, after a courageous, painful battle to live. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: black;">We do that a lot in my family, fighting to live life to the fullest, and when our time comes, refusing to let go until our last precious breath. </span>They call our family fighters, survivors, and that is what we do in both living our life with happiness as a gift never to be taken for granted, and also the darkness which is part of remembering.</span></span></div><div id="AOLMsgPart_1_157a3789-bd2e-447a-ba6e-397d1e877a87" style="color: #222222; font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: bold;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Iris was a unique and compassionate person who quietly touched everyone she met with her kindness and strength. </span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Iris is missed by all of us who loved her. We will never forget her beautiful smile.<br /><br /><span style="color: black;">My sister was full of life, insightful, quiet, brave,</span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black;">loyal, sagely wise, and then she was gone forever, horribly, excruciatingly painfully, and irrevocably. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: black;">She deserved so much better in her short time on this earth but it was not to be.<br /><br />Iris, my sister, a gift to me in life, was more beautiful in a million ways than these magnificent flowers. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: black;">I will miss you forever my dear sister Iris, most of all, </span></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span><span style="color: black;">I will always miss your caring love. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: black;">I love you. </span></span></span></div><div id="AOLMsgPart_1_157a3789-bd2e-447a-ba6e-397d1e877a87" style="color: #222222; font-weight: 400; line-height: 22.4px;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="color: black;">Love, Your little brother- Jerry.</span></span></span></div></div>Jerry Wolkoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01912555663148466336noreply@blogger.com0