önder, the table, and dreaming

When I was a child almost every Sunday’s paper would have a small advertisement in the classifieds showing an old photograph of someone. The caption read: “Lordy, lordy look who’s 40”. I don’t know what I found so captivating about this bit of hometown humor. Perhaps it was trying to figure out what 40 year old face the person seen in the photo had morphed into. Perhaps it was just that the age of 40 seemed incomprehensibly old.

We marked Josh’s 40th birthday with a small gathering at The American Hotel and by adding something to the Beekman Mansion that we hope will be there always—a symbol of permanence and stability (click here to read more about The Table)

We marked my 40th birthday with a small gathering at The American Hotel and by adding something to the Beekman menagerie.

In a dog rescue about 2 hours south of the farm, was the offspring of a chance encounter between a retriever and a Great Pyrenees (it was a wild night, and we didn’t ask any questions).

And she found her way to us.

Her name is önder, (pronounced under) and is a combination of “under” and “wonder”. In Turkish, the word means “leader” or “chief”.

As we look into her eyes, we see nothing but a lifetime of love and devotion.

As she looks into ours she thinks: “Lordy, lordy, look who’s 40!”