It’s summertime and the heat index is soaring.  My 14-year-old has a social life that exhausts me, mostly because I’m old and I’m spending much of my “free” time driving him from one place to another. Work has been particularly busy. My garden looks nothing like the one in Eden because I’m too busy working and driving my son around. As I write this, I’m in the throes of a nasty summer cold.

Do I sound grumpy? 

It is in that vein that I have decided it’s time to air some seasonal grievances and musings. So I ask, is it just me or:

• Does everyone still call it “Riverport”?
• Is “Live on the Levee” dying a slow death?
• If Ted Drewes is kosher, why doesn’t Kohn’s sell Christmas trees?
• Does any St. Louis Jewish organization exist that doesn’t have an acronym?
• Why has streaking been resurrected at Busch Stadium?
• Why are these streakers wearing clothes?
• Does anyone understand the rules of lacrosse?
• Why is Zumba more popular than spinning?
• Why does Cincinnati have an IKEA but St. Louis does not?
• How does anyone afford to do all their grocery shopping at Whole Foods?
• Is “Chopped” the best show on TV?
• Why do bicycle riders kvetch about automobiles and then ignore all the rules of the road?
• Why would anyone read a Nook instead of a book?
• Does anyone think the new Nordstrom at the Galleria is an improvement over the old one at West County Mall?
• How in six months can your husband lose 27 pounds while you lose only three?

OK, thank you for indulging me. I feel much better now.

Talking the talk

At 7 p.m. Monday, June 18, I am moderating a panel as part of the latest Can We Talk? installment called “Shattering Stigma: Talking openly about mental illness and developmental disabilities in the Jewish community.” Two of the people expected to be in attendance are Jason Wilson and his mother, Lynda Wilson.

Jason is bi-polar. Because of his mental illness, he has not been able to work for more than a decade, though he says he would very much like to. He feels as if people judge him. He says he is committed to getting better and making people understand that mental illness is not something “you snap out of” but a brain disease that should be treated as such. Sometimes he gets very angry. But he is quick to say his mother has always been in his corner, helping him, listening to him, encouraging him, and that has made a huge difference in his life.

For her part, Lynda Wilson loves her son. She wants to do everything in her power to help him feel better permanently. “With bi-polar, there are ups and downs,” she explains, adding that nowadays, thanks to the right medication and therapeutic treatment, Jason’s bi-polar disorder “is more under control.” “He’s more in the middle,” she adds. 

Like a lot of parents, Lynda, who is 69, worries about what will happen to Jason, 41, when she is no longer around. He does receive federal disability and lives independently, but she is his lifeline, they talk everyday. 

These kinds of issues and many others will be discussed at the Monday night session, which is free and supported by the generosity of the Harvey Kornblum Foundation. Panelists are award-winning artist and photographer Jeane Vogel, who will be speaking as the parent of a 19-year-old with multiple disabilities, including deaf-blind syndrome; Arlen Chaleff, who has lived with bi-polar disorder for nearly four decades and is Vice President of the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI)-St. Louis, and David Newburger, Commissioner on the Disabled for the city of St. Louis and Co-Director of the Starkloff Disability Institute.

The discussion promises to be stimulating and is likely to be emotional. It will take place at the Jewish Community Center’s Arts & Education Building, 12 Millstone Campus Drive. Advance RSVPs are appreciated and you can do so by calling Diane Maier at the JCC at 314-442-3190. 

I urge you to join us.