Wayne October 2022

For 11-Year-Old Wayne World Ranked Tennis Star, It’s Pinky Promise Fulfilled

By Steve Sears

Perhapsnothing – not even being ranked a #1 under 12 tennis player worldwide – can take the place of a wonderful “pinky promise” being kept.

Just ask Wayne’s Izyan “Zizou” Ahmad, who was recently ranked tops worldwide as a U12 singles and doubles tennis player. As great as that is, perhaps it pales in comparison to this past June, when he was set up pretty good by the Barilla pasta company and his tennis hero, 20-time Grand Slam Singles winner, Roger Federer.

Here’s the backstory. Five years ago, Ahmad was invited to the U.S. Open Tennis Classic in New York City. An organization called Net Generation, which selects youngsters to do fun things at the U.S. Open, understood that meeting Federer was the then sevenyear-old’s ultimate dream. “They set me up with this interview, and I had one shot to ask him any question,” Ahmad recalls.

Face-to-face now with his hero, the youngster asked a whopper. “Mr. Federer, can you please continue to play for eight, nine years so I can play you when I turn pro?”

The press and all in attendance enjoyed a good-hearted laugh at the request, as did Federer, who said a light, “Yes.” After

Ahmad followed up with, “Is that a promise?” Federer grinned and responded, ‘Pinky promise.”

Let’s coin a saying here: “A Pinky is Powerful.” “I said it,” says Ahmad while reflecting back. “I didn’t think it would end up being like this, but that’s just how it came out. Honestly, he just really wows me every time I see him play. He has this kind of aura around him that just makes you want to respect him, and he’s just such a nice person. You don’t get that from other people like you

get that from him. That’s why I’ve always liked him so much.”

Ahmad and his family, and his coach and his family, were flown out to Zurich, the young tennis star under the impression he was going for tennis training. Federer’s agent and Barilla had reached out to both the dad of Ahmad and the tennis academy his son represented and told them of their idea to have Ahmad and Federer meet again and fulfill his dream of playing a few sets against the champ.

The plan met agreement, as long as it would be a surprise.

It would be. “They made the plan and all that, and I thought it was a training practice,” Ahmad says. “Then we got to Switzerland, and the day we arrived at the place where I thought the practice was going to be, they actually had planned everything out. They had hidden cameras, hidden microphones and everything. It worked out perfectly.”

Izyan “Zizou” Ahmad and his family with Roger Federer (courtesy of Nida Haji)

Ranked

After arriving and being treated like a celebrity – he actually signed the restaurant manager’s t-shirt which was adorned with his picture, and a light throng of fans held signs and chanted his name from behind a fence –the 11-year-old was led out to the clay court to take part in a match against…Federer, who appeared from behind a screen.

Ahmad covered his face with his hands, becoming emotional. Federer walked over, hugged the youngster, and when Ahmad said, “Hi, Mr. Federer,” the tennis champ said, “Roger.” The two then walked out to the net at center court, and Federer said, “Let’s have some fun.”

“And we did,” Ahmad says, the duo enjoying a fun match of about an hour. After the match, Federer sat down with the visitors from New Jersey, and all enjoyed conversation and a great meal. “He just told us stories and all about his career and about his kids and his family. And he was just

amazing - just so nice,” Ahmad says.

When the tennis great turned 41 this past August 8th, his super fan in Passaic County was ready with an appropriate, heartwarming birthday greeting on Twitter: When the GOAT makes a promise, he keeps it! That’s what makes him such an idol!

Thank you Mr. Federer, for the best day of my life, for these memories and I am forever grateful that you kept your pinky promise!”

HAPPY BIRTHDAY G.O.A.T!

That beautiful June day in Switzerland is one Izyan Ahmad would remember forever.

“I was shocked – just pure shock! - because I could never believe he would actually keep his promise. But he ended up doing it and my emotions were just too much for me. When your dream is fulfilled, you’re just so happy. They always say you should try to meet your hero, and if that’s how it feels, then everyone should try their best to meet their hero!”

Did You

According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer mainly occurs in middle-aged or older women. In fact, the median age at the time of a breast cancer diagnosis is 62. Though it’s possible for women far younger than 62 to be diagnosed with breast cancer, the ACS reports that only a very small number of women younger than 45 are diagnosed with the disease each year. Despite the average age of onset being over 60, breast cancer is highly treatable. The World Health Organization notes that breast cancer treatments routinely achieve survival probabilities of 90 percent or higher. However, those probabilities decline considerably in lower-income countries

where access to screening and other medical services is limited. For example, the WHO notes that five-year survival rates for breast cancer routinely surpass 90 percent in high-income countries like the United States and Canada. However, those rates are as low as 40 percent in South Africa, where early detection of the disease is less likely than it is in wealthier nations. That disparity in survival rates underscores the need for greater resource allocation in lower-income countries, but also highlights the effectiveness of screening and other measures in high-income countries where women are taught to report any abnormalities with their breasts.

Franklin Lakes Celebrates its Centennial

By Steve Sears

t’s never easy planning a birthday party. Guest lists have to be made, the party planned, and you hope all goes off without a problem.

Now, envision planning a birthday celebration for well over 10,400 people.

Throughout 2022, the Borough of Franklin Lakes has been celebrating its 100th birthday, and Dina Robinson, Community Director of Franklin Lakes since September 2019, was tasked with doing and been at the forefront of the planning the Centennial celebration calendar, and she’s been aided by many people.

“We started the planning in 2019, prior to COVID-19 actually,” Robinson says. “The mayor (Frank Bivona) gave me a call and said, ‘You know, Franklin Lakes is going to be 100 years old in 2022. I’d love for you to take that under your wing.”

From the point of the mayor’s request, planning started and then COVID-19 happened, so it pushed Robinson back a little bit. However, everybody regrouped, and Robinson created a gigantic Centennial Committee. “With all aspects of the borough,” Robinson states, “meaning residents, senior citizens, high school students and college students. I had someone from the fire department, the ambulance corps, Office of Emergency Management, Borough Hall, and many different township employees. Also, every house of worship was invited to the meetings, all the

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- we have two high schools in town,

we have three elementary schools

one middle school – and everybody was included in our large Centennial Committee.” Subcommittees were then formed, and things were broken down by event (there were four big events during 2022), and Arcadia Press in September

of America:

Franklin Lakes, written by the Borough of Franklin Lakes and Colin Knight.

Thus far much has gone on in 2022 in Franklin Lakes, which has as its adopted motto, “The Borough of Franklin Lakes 1922 – 2022: Pride In Our Past, Faith In Our Future.” First up was the Roaring 20’s/Speakeasy Gala on March 19, where 400 people dressed in 1920’s fashion and flapped away to music at the Indian

FALL

Trail Club. Talk about turning back the clock. Courtesy of the Centennial website, “Franklin Lakes past and present residents showed up as a flappers, and gangsters and silent screen stars” and “They experienced living during the Prohibition era during this throwback celebration. Guests enjoyed era cocktails, bountiful fare, dancing and rolling their own cigars.” “We selected that date in March because that’s when we broke off from Franklin Township,” Robinson explains. “So that was our kickoff, if you will. The Roaring 20’s/ Speakeasy Gala party was phenomenal. Everybody was dressed up, and we even had Charlie Chaplin’s in the room. It was cool.”

After the initial event, the Centennial Celebration Parade (May 21) featured marchers who walked from Commerce Street to Franklin Avenue, then to De Korte Drive ending near Borough Hall to celebrate the special anniversary of 100 years. Local businesses and organizations entered floats in the parade, and afterwards live music, food and drink, and

fun games, horse and wagon rides, and a petting zoo were enjoyed at Municipal Field. The Fireworks, Music & Food Festival was then held on June 24, and the final event was of the year, Centennial ‘Eats ‘n Beats” Street Festival, was planned for September 17.

Robinson also adds, “We have a time capsule we’re going to dig up on that day (September 17) and then we will bury a new time capsule near the end of the year. The time capsule that we have now is buried at that Veterans Plaza on the corner of Pulis Avenue and Franklin Avenue.”

Purchase and reading of Images of America: Franklin Lakes will no doubt be a good companion with the following. Robinson and the borough have a dedicated website for the Centennial that can be found at www.franklinlakescentennial. com. A visit to the gallery page on the site yields photos of old buildings, people, and press clippings of yesteryear. All of this helps you think back to and envision the way things were, and how far forward the borough has come.

In Lush Picture Book, Wyckoff Author Puts Erie Canal and its History in Full Focus

By Alexander Rivero

Kenneth

Silber wants you to know about the Erie Canal, and for good reason. The Wyckoff resident—who has spent the better part of his career working as editor and freelance writer for several publications,

including Scientific American—is also a passionate lover of American history, and feels that popular awareness of the importance of the Canal is sorely lacking in country’s public consciousness. His answer to this dilemma?

A meticulously researched

book of photographs and history of the Canal and the man responsible for it, DeWitt Clinton. The book, called In DeWitt ’s Footsteps; Seeing History on the Erie Canal, was published in September of 2017.

“No question, the Erie Canal is very important to

the history of the country,” says Silber by phone, “and we as Americans should know the degree to which its construction helped open up the interior of the country for Americans living on the east coast in the early days. Thanks to the Canal, it was possible for people and goods to move west and back east much more cheaply.”

Paragon

The cheaper movement of goods, Silber argues, was a major factor in the US’s ability to remain unified during its earliest days, and beyond into the mid and late 1800s.

“The Canal really opened up the interior of the country,” he says, “making it possible for greater movement from east to west, not just of goods but of people as well, who

is

went on to populate the central and western states. It also helped the north industrialize, giving it a huge advantage in the Civil War over the South.”

Even though SIlber graduated with a degree in History and Economics from New York University in 1987, he never stopped

being a student of either field. A voracious reader in his own time, it seems like it was only a matter of time before he tried his hand at a project like In DeWitt ’s Footsteps.

He recalls a 2004 visit to Weehawken, a town about a mile north of the Lincoln continued on page 8

Tunnel in Hudson County, to witness a reenactment of Alexander Hamilton’s infamous death at the hands of political rival Aaron Burr, who shot him in a duel.

“The event heightened my interest in American history again,” says Silber, who recalls reading a fascinating piece on DeWitt Clinton shortly after that day. Within a year, he was dating his future wife, who was living in Weehawken at the time, and happened to be—of all things—a direct descendant of DeWitt Clinton himself.

“When we got married in 2012,” says Silber, “we went and spent some time in upstate New York. We saw the ruins of the Erie Canal, and I realized there was a story to be told there, especially as it pertained to Clinton himself, the man he was and his role in the building of all this.”

Despite having written the beautiful book, which includes some lovely photographs of the ruins of the Canal as it stood, Silber suggests that the best way to experience the Erie Canal is to go up there and see it for oneself, which he did, extensively.

“Really, the way to do it is to tell the story of what you see when you go up there,” Silber says. “It’s a coffee table book, with lots of pictures, each of which were taken

by my friend George Gruel, who walked the trails with me.”

The Erie Canal is about 300 miles in length. There are two versions of it. The first is the one built originally—called Clinton’s Ditch, a pejorative description of the Canal used by its most ardent opponents during the days of its construction in 1825. This version was then enlarged and finished in the 1860s. The second version is the one finished in 1918, which was enlarged even further to fit the expanding size of freight boats and barges (and aptly called the Barge Canal). Needless to say, these developments were absolutely vital to the development of the New York City metropolitan area, and to the rest of the country at large.

The book itself is self-published, and took Silber about five years to finish, from the moment when the idea crystalized in his mind in 2012, to the finishing touches in 2017. The year 2017 is an important one for the Erie Canal, as it celebrates its 200th anniversary of the first breaking of ground, starting construction.

For more information on In DeWitt ’s Footsteps, please visit Silber’s website directly at www.eriecanalbook.com, find it on Amazon, or purchase a copy from the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse, New York.

Anthony

A Most Precious and Memorable Halloween

By Richard Mabey Jr.

Every Halloween, at my church, the big Trunk or Treat Halloween celebration is held. It is a longstanding tradition, filled with all so much fun for children and adults alike. Every year, 20 to 30 cars fill the parking lot of my church, such that the trunk of the cars are facing the main thoroughfare. Children, with their parents and sometimes grandparents, come from far and wide to partake of the wholesome fun and heart-filled excitement of this grand and glorious event.

Each trunk station is hosted by a church member. My mom, Janet Kemmerer Mabey, simply loved this fun-filled event. Mom cherished interacting with the children. My mom had devoted well over 25 years serving as a Crossing Guard for the school children of Lincoln Park, safely crossing them across the street as they walked to and from school.

The Trunk or Treat of 2019 was a most cherished memory for me. For it would become Mom’s last time to partake of this wonderful church event. I think, deep in her heart, Mom knew that it was going to be her last time to enjoy the presence of the enchanting faces of all so many endearing little children.

A photo of Mom and I at the big Halloween Trunk or Treat of 2019, held at Grace Baptist Church in Belleview, Florida.

As each child came to our little station, Mom would smile at the child, with their parent or grandparent standing close by. Mom would make a big deal about the child’s Halloween costume. Then Mom would hand the child two or three little candy bars. Most people would simply throw the candy bars into the child’s trick or treat bag, but I remember that Mom made a point to hand each child his or her candy bars.

Then Mom would simply say to the child, “God loves you very much.” And the child would smile, and Mom would look into the child’s eyes and say, “be a good boy,” or “be a

Peace

good girl.” That evening Mom gave out candy bars to well over 200 children. This was a very special event that was well attended. People would come from Belleview and from neighboring towns to have their children partake of this wonderful Halloween event.

At the end of the evening, Mom only had about a half dozen candy bars left in her big basket, that was earlier filled to the brim with candy. I remember Mom looking down to the basket and tears flowed from her eyes. Mom took out her handkerchief and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

“Well, that’s over, kind of sad,” was all Mom said as she handed me a small Milky Way candy bar. Mom took a Reese’s peanut butter cup for herself. We both ate our little candy bars. Then handed in the basket and three or four left over candy bars to one of the church Deacons.

Less than two weeks after the big Trunk or Treat Halloween event, Mom had heart surgery to replace her Aortic Valve. Sadly, the surgery was not a full success and Mom went Home to be with the Lord, the next month, two days before Christmas Day.

In memory, I return to that very special evening of the big Trunk or Treat Halloween of 2019. Mom touched the hearts of well over 200 children that night. In all so many ways, it was Mom’s farewell to all the children to whom she had safely crossed across the street, on their way to and from school.

Life is short. There really isn’t time for strife and arguments. Love one another. None of us has a guarantee for tomorrow.

Richard Mabey Jr. is a freelance writer. He can be reached at richardmabeyjr@hotmail. com. Please put on the subject line: Halloween Story.

Do Cats and Dogs Really Fight Like Cats and Dogs?

Cats and dogs have long been depicted as ardent foes, consistently getting into scrapes with one another. But are those claims exaggerated?Many cats and dogs peacefully coexist in their homes, where their divergent personalities combine to make homes more interesting. Cats and dogs tend to have different body language, but that should not be mistaken for opposition. Take, for example, a boisterous puppy that excitedly approaches visitors with its tail wagging to show friendliness. According to the animal experts at slimdoggy.com, a resource for dog food, fitness, and fun; cats interpret wagging tails as signs of anger or displeasure. Dogs like to sniff their “friends” and get to know them, and cats don’t favor this attention. When sniffed, cats may run off, unintentionally triggering dogs’ natural predator instincts.

Such an instance is a rough way for cats and dogs to begin a relationship, and it’s easy to see how such an introduction can lay a poor foundation for their relationship.

Cats and dogs also have different social styles. While a cat may be content to be alone and approach visitors cautiously, dogs tend to be sociable and rush into situations if they think there is fun to be had.

But cats and dogs can peacefully coexist. One way to foster a good relationship be-

tween cats and dogs is to control their initial introduction. If possible, separate the animals initially, giving cats a chance to warm up to their new situation. Upon introducing the two, it may be best to have the dog on a leash so that you can control its desire to lunge. Calmness is key; do not force the cat to come to the dog or vice versa. Reward calm behavior with treats and repeat these steps until the pets appear to be used to each other.

It’s important that pet owners recognize that while cats and dogs may peacefully coexist in a home most of the time, their natural instincts may kick in every so often. Just separate the pets if they have a tiff.

Rumors abound that cats and dogs can’t share a home, but that’s simply not true. With some early socialization, patience on the part of pet owners, and an understanding of cat and dog behaviors; pet parents can ensure both cats and dogs live together in harmony.

Dr. Matthew Krupnick is the owner of the Pequannock Animal Hospital. He grew up in Kinnelon and is happy to be home – with his wife, three cats, and two dogs – to provide quality and compassionate care for pets in the community. The Pequannock Animal Hospital is located at 591 Newark Pompton Turnpike in Pompton Plains. You can reach the hospital by calling 973-6160400.

What to Know About Prophylactic Mastectomy

the most common cancer

in American women, and is the leading cause of cancer death in less developed

the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. According to Susan G. Komen, more than 680,000 breast cancer deaths occurred worldwide in

Breast cancer affects the anatomy of the breasts and can often spread to the lymph nodes. While breast cancer can affect just about any woman (as well as men), certain women are at higher risk for developing breast cancer than others. Such women include those with a family history of breast cancer and/or the presence of genetic markers called BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations, according to the Bedford Breast Institute. Those women have a lifetime risk of up to 87 percent for getting breast cancer and 53 percent for developing ovarian cancer. Other risk factors include the presence of dense breast tissue, exposure to radiation at an early age and having already had cancer in one breast.

What is prophylactic mastectomy?

In instances when breast cancer risk is particularly high, women may opt to undergo prophylactic mastectomy, also called preventative mastectomy. This is the surgical removal of one or both breasts with the intent to dramatically reduce the risk of developing breast cancer.

Rate of risk reduction

The Mayo Clinic says prophylactic mastectomy reduces the risk of developing breast cancer by 90 to 95 percent among women with BRCA gene mutations. It is roughly the same risk reduction for women who already have had breast cancer or have a strong family history of the disease and then have a breast removed.

Studies indicate that preventative mastectomy of the unaffected breast (called contralateral prophylactic mastectomy) in cases when breast cancer occurred in the other

breast, when no genetic mutations or hereditary risk factors are present, has little to no effect on overall survival rate. This is a surgery only for those with very high risk.

Why isn’t risk reduced completely?

Not all breast tissue can be removed during a prophylactic mastectomy. That is because breast tissue can sometimes be found in the chest, armpit, skin, above the collarbone, or on the upper part of the abdominal wall, states the Mayo Clinic. It is impossible to remove all breast tissue cells during surgery. Although risk reduction is significant after mastectomy, that risk cannot be eliminated entirely.

Risks associated with prophylactic mastectomy

There are some risks associated with prophylactic mastectomy, both during the procedure and afterwards. BreastCancer.org says bleeding or infection, fluid collecting under the scar, delayed wound healing, scar tissue formation, loss of sensation in the chest, and complications while being put under anesthesia are all possible. Women are urged to carefully consider the pros and cons before opting for the surgery.

Alternatives

Prophylactic mastectomy is only one option for women at high risk for developing breast cancer. Some alternatives include:

• Ultrasounds, physical exams, and mammograms every three to six months for the rest of the patient’s life.

• Medication that can reduce risk of developing breast cancer.

• MRIs in addition to mammograms.

• Surgery to remove the ovaries, which can decrease both the risk of breast and ovarian cancers. It may reduce breast cancer risk by up to 50 percent if performed before age 50.

Breast cancer risk is higher in some individuals, which may prompt discussions about prophylactic mastectomies.

Morris County Man Releases Book About Morristown Ghost Hoax

By Steve Sears

For Denville resident

Peter Zablocki, it is always a whirlwind of activity, and if you’re a history fan – especially the local stuff – enjoy being swept up.

Zablocki’s latest offering, The 1788 Morristown Ghost Hoax: The Search for Lost Revolutionary War Treasure, was published by The History Press in July, and is available - appropriatelyas the fall and Halloween seasons enter.

“I’m always full of ideas,” Zablocki says. “Once I start researching because I’m curious, the research always leads to ‘Well, I want to tell that story,’ so that leads to me writing. It’s been a lot.” And it leads to more for the ardent researcher. “I always want to write, I’m always asking questions, and especially the research. You find one thing while you’re researching something else, and that gets you going, and then you kind of put it to the side, and then you come back to it.”

His readers, no doubt, are grateful for it, but partner the above with his co-hosted “History Teachers Talking” podcast, his job teaching History and Advanced Placement Research at Kinnelon High School, and also being VicePresident of the Denville Historical Society, Museum, and Research Center, he’s happily immersed in his subject matter.

Minus giving too much away, The 1788 Morristown Hoax: The Search for Lost Revolutionary War Treasure, starts in Schooley’s Mountain, where a supposed treasure was buried. “I call this one of my ‘COVID Trilogy,” Zablocki

says. “I wrote it the same time, believe it or not, as I wrote Denville 13: Murder, Redemption, & Forgiveness in Small Town New Jersey and Terror Over Elizabeth New Jersey: Three Airplane Crashes in 58 Days and the Fight for Newark Airport. I almost felt like a detective to be honest with you. I started doing this because the story of the Morristown Ghost has been told numerous times, perhaps not so much recently, but there are a lot of different books about stories of New Jersey and it’s always incorporated into those fables. It’s very much next to your New Jersey Devil. There’s a ghost, and then so on and so forth, and there had been a reenactment of the story that was done in Morristown years ago in the 1980’s. I started looking into it and asked myself, ‘How much of it is a fable?”

Here’s the gist of it. There was local legend that British Loyalists had

buried a Patriot treasure on Schooley’s Mountain prior to fleeing as George Washington and his troops were approaching. In 1788 Ransford Rogers, a former Connecticut school teacher, led prominent Morristown families to believe that a ghost was protecting the treasure, and that he, Rogers, alone could exorcize it. His goal? Extortion of money from the families.

“Once you start really looking into the sources,” Zablocki says, “you realize that actually, it’s not really a fable at all. It was a real event that transpired in Morristown in the 1700’s. There are court records of it. I was trying to place this story, take it out of fiction, where it kind of has been dwelling for the past couple of hundred years, and put it back into history. How did this happen? So if this happened, and I was able to find out that it did, why did it happen? Why would a

Peter Zablocki (courtesy of Peter Zablocki)

Morristown Ghost Hoax...

group of wealthy members of Morris County, Morristown society, believe there to be a ghost?”

Did Rogers succeed? Read the book.

Zablocki has been churning out books with regularity the past few years. In addition to Denville 13 and Terror Over Elizabeth, he has also had published Bullets That Changed America: Thirteen Historic Assassinations, Duels, Misfires, and Murders, Denville Goes to War: Denville’s Story of World War I, and the follow-up, Denville in World War II. And with The 1788 Morristown Ghost Hoax, he is quick to recognize those who, during the pandemic, were kind enough to help when needed. “The libraries were super awesome,” Zablocki says. “A lot of different local libraries, including the Denville Library in Denville, as well as the Morris County Library or Morristown Library, were able to get me the books that I needed. I would pull up and they’d put them in my trunk. Also, the Morris County Historical Society actually opened the doors for me during the lockdown with the primary documents and files that I needed with regards to this case. I’m very thankful to local historical societies and libraries for allowing me to do research regardless of the fact that most of the world was locked down.”

The 1788 Morristown Ghost Hoax: The Search for Lost Revolutionary War Treasure, is available at both www. Amazon.com and www.BN.com. For more information about Peter Zablocki and his work, visit www.peterzablocki. com.

Two New Sculptures Installed at Laurelwood Arboretum

ASculpture

Trail at Laurelwood Arboretum recently welcomed two new sculptures —TULIPULA by Babette Bloch and Ferrous Couture by Robert Koch. The multiyear Sculpture Trail project, which showcases 15 unique works of art placed throughout the arboretum, is sponsored by Friends of Laurelwood Arboretum. Laurelwood Arboretum, a public park located at 725 Pines Lake Drive West in Wayne, is open daily from 8 am to sunset TULIPULA, installed at Sculpture Trail site 5, is a 78” x

53” x17” stainless steel piece featuring tulips cut from a single sheet of metal. “Babette Bloch’s masterful use of a grinder as a paintbrush makes the flowers strikingly threedimentional,” said Scott Broadfoot, curator of A Sculpture Trail. “When seen in soft light with the sunken hollow of the riverbed behind it, the sculpture appears as if it’s glass or lucite. In the early afternoon when the sun suffuses it with warm light, TILIPULA reflects the vibrant colors of the foliage surrounding it.”

Cherish Thy Beloved Memories: The Cousin As Close As A Brother Be

By Richard Mabey Jr.

Ifthere was ever a true-life Richie Cunningham and Fonzie, it was my cousin, Edward Mabey and myself. I was the clean-cut scout leader, being a bit shy and Ed wore a leather jacket, was outgoing and was bigger than life.

Although we were cousins, we were closer than a lot of brothers are. Ed is a few years younger than me. Ed was in his early twenties, when his mom and dad moved to Nevada. Ed moved into the old Mabey Homestead with us for a few years. It was during those years that Ed and I grew to become brothers in spirit.

It was in the late 1970’s that Ed, my sister Patti, and myself were all taking evening classes at County College of Morris. Ed was studying engineering, Patti was studying psychology and I was taking a lot of various writing classes. After working all day at our respective jobs, we would quickly eat supper and then zoom up Route 10 to County College. It was a grand and glorious time.

Ed was an outstanding bowler and I was a wonderfully mediocre bowler. But it didn’t matter at all. I remember it was on Wednesday evenings that none of us had any classes. Ed and I would drive out to Boonton Lanes and bowl two or three games. There

was the old refreshment stand, the sound of all the bowling balls rolling down the aisles and hitting the pins, and the echo of a dozen different conversations filling up the bowling alley. I remember it as a most magical and wonderful era.

Ed and I actually fell of the Grand Canyon for the girl next door. For a while, it created a bit of a conflict for us. It was Ed who won Tammy’s affection with his outgoing charm. They did date for a while, but both of them decided that it was better for them

to be neighborhood friends than to have a romantic relationship. Despite it all, Ed and I remained as close as brothers.

Today, Ed is married and has two sons. While we do keep in touch with Facebook, our rapport of being as close as brothers had dissipated quite a bit. Kind of sad in a way, but it’s just the way life is at times.

In memory, I can return to that magical era when Ed’s bedroom was just down the hallway from me, in the old Mabey Homestead. We would take breaks from studying in our rooms, and go downstairs and have hot chocolate and a couple of oatmeal cookies. It was a simpler time.

The fiber, the weave, the echo of those days that we thought we’d stay young and never grow old, haunt me at times.

Sometimes, I awaken at two in the morning from having dreamt of their memory. At 69 years old now, I regret not taking more pictures during that magical and mystical era.

As George Harrison sang to us all those years ago, “all things must pass.” Cherish your loved ones, that you still have with you. Hold them dear to your heart. Time and physical distance can often cause close

family ties to fade. Sometimes, the good Lord will call a loved one Home to Heaven. For all that any of us really have, is this sacred moment in time. Show your dear family members the love you have for them. None of us really know what tomorrow will bring.

Richard Mabey Jr. is a freelance writer. He can be reached at richardmabeyjr@hotmail. com.

An old photograph from 1980 showing my cousin Edward Mabey (left) and yours truly (right), in the living room of the old Mabey Homestead.

Celebrate

the season and create longlasting memories this year by serving tasteful main courses centered around tender cuts of beef.

With hand-cut choices like a Bonein Frenched Prime Rib Roast, Butcher’s Cut Filet Mignons, a Beef Brisket Flat and Premium Ground Beef from Omaha Steaks, you can create elegant holiday centerpieces such as Steak Au Poivre or a unique generational recipe, the Simon Family Brisket. Each cut of beef is handcarved by expert butchers, flash-frozen to capture freshness and flavor at its peak and delivered directly to your door.

Find more inspiration to create a memorable holiday meal at OmahaSteaks. com

Steak Au Poivre

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Servings: 2

2 Omaha Steaks Butcher’s Cut Filet Mignons (5-6 ounces each), thawed

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 tablespoons butter, divided

1/3 cup brandy or cognac

1 cup cream

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Season steak with salt and pepper. Press seasoning into meat to create even coating.

In large skillet over medium-high heat, heat vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon butter until just smoking. Add steak and sear 4 minutes on each side for medium-rare. Once cooked to desired doneness, transfer steak to cutting board and tent with foil to rest.

Reduce heat to medium and add brandy to skillet. Allow to cook down about 1 minute while stirring to scrape off any browned bits from bottom of pan. Once brandy reduces by half, add cream, Dijon mustard and remaining butter; continue cooking until mixture begins to reduce and thicken, 5-7 minutes.

Slice steaks against grain and top with

sauce.

Simon Family Brisket

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 4 hours, plus 20 minutes resting

time

Servings: 4

1 Omaha Steaks Beef Brisket Flat (2 pounds), thawed

Savor These Holiday Centerpieces continued on next page 17

Savor These...

from oven and let rest

brisket from baking dish

on cutting board. Slice brisket

dish.

Bucket List Travels

Morristown resident Paul Partridge has been building a travel bucket list for years. Now he’s diving in – near and far – and shares his adventures in this column.

by Paul Partridge

Swimming with Sea Lions

The Galápagos Islands were everything I expected – and even more that was

Day 1: Salvador Dalí on Mars

A sunrise flight from Ecuador’s capitol city Quito brings us to Baltra Island and the waiting cruise ship La Pinta. With only 24 total cabins, La Pinta is an ideal size – big enough to have all the amenities you need/ want and small enough to provide lots of personal attention. The cabins are larger than typical cruise lines.

Within hours we’re into our first island expedition – exploring South Plaza Island. Ten eager passengers leap into a Zodiac boat a la Jacques Cousteau (the locals prefer the name panga boat). Approaching the island, I’m expecting to see exotic wildlife, and I’m not disappointed. Sea lions, iguanas, fieryred crabs, sea turtles, albatrosses – they’re all here in abundance. But what I’m not prepared for is the strange landscape they inhabit:

A cross between an Arizona desert, a Dali painting, and the surface of Mars –stunning . . . spectacular . . . otherworldly.

Seeing the Galapagos in person vs. in books is like seeing Bruce Springsteen in concert vs. reading the liner notes on his album.

Day 2: “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”

I suspected it yesterday but now I’m convinced: there’s some sort of intergalactic transformation that happens in the panga ride from La Pinta to the island. Because once again, we’ve landed on another planet. This one is called Santa Fe Island. It looks nothing like South Plaza Island – or anything else on earth. More like something created by Dr. Seuss.

We’re greeted by a welcoming committee of sea lions and Santa Fe iguanas. Like my wife’s Italian aunts, these iguanas never leave their neighborhood throughout their life.

After the hike, it’s time for snorkeling. We’re swimming alongside so many fish and sea turtles that it makes breathing difficult. Not because our snorkels don’t work, but because we’re stopping to laugh out loud at the shear spectacle of the show.

Shrieks of, “Did you see that?!” echo across the bay.

Day 3: Swimming with Sea Lions

The La Pinta guides are impressive in

Saddleback tortoises looking for food. Photo by Paul Partridge.

their knowledge of and respect for the Galapagos ecosystem. They’re happy to share as much information as we can absorb. The crew, likewise, is first-rate. They take care of everything from our wetsuits to our favorite cocktails.

Today our guide Dries takes us for a

rigorous morning hike on the eastern tip of San Cristobal Island. We’re negotiating boulders and climbing cliffs. The effort is worth it. San Cristobal evokes Utah, Nevada and Colorado crossed with Catalina Island. Around each corner is a more spectacular

continued on page 19

view.

After the hike we paddle kayaks for a bit, then go for a swim. What starts off as a cooling dip turns into frolicking fun with sea lions. Curious and puppy-like, they seem as fascinated with us as we are with them. Their favorite trick is to swim right up to your face and peel away at the last second.

As my wife is snorkeling, two sea lions swim alongside and a third one jumps clear over her as if performing at Sea World. I put on my mask for an underwater view. The jumping one comes at me so fast that I leap up, startled. He glides over and sticks his head above the water. Wait – is he laughing at me? Then he playfully nibbles my leg as if to say, “Hey, don’t worry – I’m just having fun.” I’ve swum with dolphins before, but nothing matches this experience.

In the afternoon we’re back in the panga for a coastal expedition of Cerro Brujo. Then some r&r on Cerro Brujo’s gorgeous white coral beach. I hear one woman – a very experienced world traveler – say this is the prettiest beach she’s ever seen. Difficult to disagree.

As La Pinta sets sail for Isla Espanola, it’s happy hour on deck. Look off the stern. There’s an orca whale breaching. Look west and there’s a jaw-dropping sunset over Sleeping Lion Rock. The sunset has 3 acts: Wow!... Glory be!!... and, Are you kidding me!!! as the colors intensify and burst across the sky like fireworks.

Day 4: The Blue-Footed Booby Dance

Today we explore Punta Suarez on Espanola, the southernmost of the Galapagos Islands. Its flat, lava/ boulder terrain is home to many bird colonies and iguana

– including the Christmas Iguana, named for its green and red coloring. So far we’ve seen mockingbirds, frigatebirds, albatrosses, red-billed Tropicbirds, three kinds of boobies (red-footed, blue-footed and Nazca), the Galapagos hawk, doves, gulls, and the legendary finches of Darwin fame. A blue-footed booby calling all the single boobies with a leftfoot-in, left-foot-out hokey pokey mating dance gives us a chuckle. Albatrosses doing beak-fencing is also a hoot.

Fatima, our guide, leads us to a cliff on the southern side of the island. “Wait for it!” she says. We watch in anticipation as a large wave rolls in. A loud whoosh, then a geyser of water blasts through a lava blowhole, spraying water 70 feet into the air.

More great snorkeling in the afternoon, and another chance to swim with happy-go-lucky sea lions. Schools of fish are everywhere, including yellow-tailed surgeon fish, king angelfish, sergeant majors, parrotfish, and sea turtles.

Day 5: Giant Tortoise

The last day is giant tortoise day. Weighing up to 550 lbs., their huge size led 16th century Spanish explorers to apply their Spanish name to the whole archipelago. We visit the Charles Darwin Research Station, the captive rearing grogram for giant tortoises, and see these impressive creatures up close. Young tortoises are protected here until they have grown large enough to be safely released into the wild.

When septuagenarians get together, they talk about their aches and pains. I wonder what tortoise groups talk about when they reach 90 and 100 years old.

Maybe their great-great-great grandchildren. Or how fast time goes by.

[Resources]

Quito

Galapagos

New Jersey Ghost Hunters Share Some Paranormal Adventures

by Elsie Walker

aranormal activity generally spikes in October according to Maryann Taylor of Hackettstown. Taylor, a paranormal investigator

four years, is administrator of the Facebook Group,

Midlife Spirits and a member of the New Jersey Ghost Hunters Society (NJGHS). That society, a non-profit paranormal investigation organization which meets in Hackettstown, was founded in 1998 by L’Aura Hladik Hoffman. Recently, Taylor, Hoffman and another NJGHS member, Linda Wielkotz, of Fair Lawn, shared some of their paranormal experiences.

Taylor got involved in paranormal investigation about four years ago. A group on Facebook called Lady GhostBusters was looking for people who had had paranormal experiences. Taylor replied about living in a haunted house. (Her family lives in her husband’s childhood home and has had experiences showing that his parent’s spirits are there.) From that connection, Taylor got involved in her first paranormal investigation. In 2019, She went to Sterling Mines in Sussex County. In the temperature-controlled environment, suddenly there was a mist that would come up to the camera. When the mist was gone, it would return, if beckoned. The members of the group would feel a chill. The chill would move around the circle of members as though it was someone moving around them.

Taylor describes herself as “old school”. While other investigators use a variety of

technology, she uses a camera and audio playback. She recalled an investigation of a boy scout camp. During it, she and another investigator got separated from their group when they went back to get a camera that had been left behind. After getting it, as they walked to rejoin the group, they heard growling behind them. Thinking a bear was close behind, they ran and got to the building where the rest of the group was. They told the others of being chased by a bear, but when the others looked outside, there was no bear. Someone mentioned that they were in an area where you don’t really see any bears. Later, they listened to the audio playback of the incident. The growl had some distinguishable words in it: “Don’t let them get away. I want that one.” Taylor hopes she wasn’t the one they wanted.

Unlike Taylor, Wielkotz has been interested in the paranormal since her teens, Wielkotz noted that her mother would feed that interest by buying her books by parapsychologist Hans Holzer. After her mother died in 1984, Wielkotz had experiences of her mom visiting her. That prompted Wielkotz to find an organization focused on the paranormal: she found NJGHS.

Wielkotz noted that one of her most memorable experiences was with the NJGHS during one of two investigations done at Rose Hill Cemetery in Matawan in July 2006.

continued on page 21

L’Aura Hladik Hoffman, founder of the New Jersey Ghost Hunters Society and the cameraman from a German TV crew that went on an investigation with her and a team in Carlstadt.

Wielkotz could not make the first investigation but was very intrigued when an email about the second asked for “serious ghost hunters.” When she arrived at the location, it was explained to those present that during the first investigation, stones were thrown at investigators by unseen forces. The cemetery had been checked to see if anyone was there before Wielkotz and the others came. However, those assembled were told they could leave if they were too frightened. Wielkotz stayed. She shared her account of what happened that night;

“As the group walked up to the old crypt area where the attacks took place, we were there maybe two minutes when the same thing happened. Stones were being thrown from trees. Many people had experiences with Elementals (spirit ghosts) running around them feeling their energy. When we left to go back to the gate, we stopped at the crypts and a piece of metal was thrown from a bush and a rock was thrown from the top of the crypt hitting an investigator in the side of the head. Again, unseen forces. As we walked down the path, stones were still being thrown at investigators, hitting backpacks until we reached the main path. The spirits in that area did not want us up there for some reason.”

As for Hoffman, according to the NJGHS website, she “has been officially ghost hunting since 1993 and founded the NJ Ghost Hunters Society in 1998, which to date is the largest paranormal investigating organization in New Jersey.” Recently, Hoffman recalled an incident around

2006/2007 when she led a team, which included their “tech guru”, Brian Sandt, in investigating the happenings at a private family house, down the shore in Spring Lake. The residents of the home had experienced such terror that they could not sleep or live in the house and had moved into a local hotel. That investigation got off to a rather funny start.

“While we were investigating, in the dark of course, suddenly, bright lights were flashed upon Brian and I and a male voice shouted, ‘Hands in the air!’ Brian was holding his thermal scanner and to the police it appeared as a firearm, given the low light and shadows. Brian exclaimed, ‘Don’t shoot! Please! It’s a thermal scanner! Not a gun!’” said Hoffman. Hoffman noted that’s not usually the kind of response police expect to hear. The police turned on the room lights and checked their IDs. Hoffman and her team explained they were there checking out reported paranormal activity. Suspicious, the police contacted the homeowner who came to the home and verified who they were and their story.

After the homeowner and police left, Hoffman and her team started the investigation. They discovered a strong poltergeist energy in the house. Hoffman explained what happened next:

“We experienced golf balls being thrown at us while coming down the stairs from the second floor. We tracked unusually high EMF within the center of the living room [though there were] absolutely no electric outlets, ceiling

lamps, or power source available to supply such readings!

And the ‘wow factor’ of this investigation: we were gathered around the center island counter in the kitchen. I had my digital audio recorder in the middle of the counter recording our discussion. It was positioned parallel to me on the counter. Suddenly, it made a 1/4 turn and was now perpendicular to me on the counter. We all saw it move by an unseen hand! Concurrent to this movement, Brian’s EMF Meter chimed out a spike in the EMF reading. We could ‘feel’ the energy pass right through us and then we heard a loud knock come from the living room. We went to inspect and found another golf ball still slightly rolling on the floor at the foot of the stairs. Apparently, the ghost was having fun showing off its ability to move the audio recorder and hurled another golf ball.”

Besides being the founder and director of NJGHS, Hoffman is also an author and does presentations on the paranormal. On October 17 at 6:00 PM, she’ll be presenting “Ghosthunting NJ & NYC: Updated!!” at Emmaus Public Library, 11 East Main St., Emmaus, PA. On October 27th at 7pm, she’ll be at the Old Bridge Public Library, Central Branch, One Old Bridge Plaza, Old Bridge, NJ, presenting “Ghosthunting NJ & NYC: Updated!!”. On October 29th at noon, she will be presenting “Mysteries of the Paranormal” at the Plumstead Branch of Ocean County Library, 119 Evergreen Rd., New Egypt, NJ.

For more information on the NJGHS, visit its website www.njghs.net/njghshome.html

No Puppy Left Behind- A Woman’s Mission to Bring Safety and Shelter to Dogs

By Megan Roche

When you talk to Jessica DonnellyKnissel, you can tell that her heart beats for any and all canines. Rescuing dogs of all shapes and sizes is one of the things that keeps her going back for more. She’s a proud canine advocate.

“When we saved the original six, I never anticipated falling in love with them the way that I did. I ended up with a beagle and she has provided me with so much joy. Since the COVID-19 pandemic and going through my own medical issues, I felt this finally gave me a reason to keep moving forward. As a human, I am able to advocate for myself and these dogs cannot. I’ve designated my whole entire being to advocating for these dogs and getting them the care they deserve,” Donnelly-Knissel shares proudly.

In February of 2022, No Puppy Left Behind was born.

“Our mission is to bring light to the public that puppy mills do exist. While we cannot save them all, we have saved 60 puppy mill survivors to date, but there are still so many more who need our help. The basic needs of the poor animals are not being met. They never know when they are going to have their food and water bowls filled, and some have serious medical concerns that need to

be treated. If we do not intervene, and get these dogs out, they will continue to suffer in silence,” Donnelly-Knissel says.

Donnelly-Knissel and her team continue to rally behind dogs, helping to bring them to safety as soon as possible.

“I have seen firsthand just how stressed out these dogs are because they are starving, or so thirsty that when I give them water, they drink the whole bucket in one sitting and get sick,” Donnelly-Knissel shares.

The No Puppy Left Behind team is actively rescuing dogs from puppy mills. According to the humane society, puppy mills are inhumane high-volume dog breeding facilities that churn out puppies for a profit, ignoring the needs of puppies and their mothers. In most puppy mills, once a mother and father are no longer able to breed, they are often killed.

How can the public help No Puppy Left Behind? Continue to spread the word, donate toward the rescue, and even adopt one of their furry friends.

“We’ve had many people reach out and ask how they can help, and we’ve had so many people step up to accept these precious souls into their homes… but realistically speaking? Not everyone is in a position to do so & we get that. The

outpouring support of our friends, family and community has been so heartwarming! Without all of you, this would be way more difficult than it already is! We’re trying to get as many dogs out as possible before the winter. If you, or someone you know is looking for a new ‘furever’ friend please contact me directly. Please share our mission to spread awareness for puppy mills, as they are far more common than people realize,” Donnelly-Knissel says.

Donnelly-Knissel has set up a GoFundMe page, www.gofund.me/7c0cfb12, where donations are being accepted for the cost of transporting dogs, medical attention, and more. Many of the dogs who come through No Puppy Left Behind need to be treated for raging ear infections, open wounds, nails growing into paw pads, and some have even tested positive for heartworm.

“Their stories will literally bring tears to your eyes, as we see dogs who were once completely shut down that now open up and get to enjoy life like every dog should,” Donnelly-Knissel shares.

In the end, Donnelly-Knissel knows the dogs are grateful to be saved.

“If you can donate even $5 towards our mission, or share our fundraiser, we would be forever grateful, as will these dogs. Even

Jessica Donnelly-Knissel’s beloved beagle Violet, saved from a puppy mill

after all they’ve endured, they are the sweetest, kindest souls you will ever meet,” Donnelly-Knissel says.

To keep up with No Puppy Left Behind’s rescue efforts, follow them on TikTok at @ nopuppyleftbehind and Facebook at www. facebook.com/jessica.donnelly.54

5 Tips for Organizing Your Home Office

Whentemperatures creep up again, it signals time for an annual tradition: spring cleaning. While big projects like windows are hard to overlook, don’t forget smaller areas that need attention, too, such as your home office.

Making sense of a year’s worth of paperwork and clutter can take some serious time, especially as many people have been working from home more than normal, but getting organized can help you tackle home management tasks more efficiently. Making the office a priority can reduce frustration when it comes to spending additional time in your office while working from home.

These five tips can help get you started:

1. Make sure you have furniture that can adequately store your stuff, including plenty of space for files, reference books and computer equipment. Pieces need not be costly to be functional and there are plenty of attractive options available online and at both small and major retailers.

2. Arrange the space with its intended use and your own work style in mind. For example, if you don’t need ample space to spread out over a large, flat work area, eliminate that space - it’s simply an

invitation for clutter.

3. Place items you rely on frequently, such as a calculator or ruler, within arm’s reach so they can easily be put away between uses. Capture these items in containers and bins to keep the space looking neat and free of clutter.

4. Establish a filing system that lets you keep track of important papers you need to keep and have a shredder handy to help you discard any sensitive documents. Whether you alphabetize, color code or use some other method, group paperwork into segments for categories such as bills, banking, health care, auto, insurance and so on for easy access in the future.

5. Tangled cords can make even the most organized spaces look messy, and they may pose a fire or tripping hazard. Get control of your cords by storing devices you don’t use regularly and securing the remaining cords with twist ties or clips. Remember to use a surge-protected power strip to minimize the chance of damage should a power surge occur.

Find more tips to make your workspace tidy and organized at eLivingtoday.com. (Family Features)

7 Ways to Reduce Breast Cancer Risk

Manywomen are concerned about the potential for developing breast cancer in their lifetimes. Breast cancer is the second-most common cancer among women in the United States and Canada. Despite that prevalence, there are ways for women to reduce their risk for breast cancer.

While it is impossible to change family history or genetic markers like gene mutations that increase breast cancer risk, the following are seven ways women can lower their risk.

1. Exercise regularly and maintain a healthy weight. Physical activity and monitoring calories can keep weight in check. The Mayo Clinic recommends at least 150 minutes per week of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic activity. Strength training at least twice a week also is recommended. Being overweight or obese increases a woman’s risk for breast cancer.

2. Consume a healthy diet. The link between diet and breast cancer risk is still being studied. However, research suggests that a diet high in vegetables and fruit, and calcium-rich dairy products, but low in red and processed meats may lower breast cancer risk.

3. Avoid or limit alcohol consumptions. Alcohol increases risk of breast cancer, even in small amounts. For those who drink, no more than one alcoholic drink a day should

be the limit. The more a woman drinks, the greater her risk of developing breast cancer, states the Mayo Clinic.

4. Undergo genetic counseling and testing. Women concerned about a genetic connection or family history of breast cancer can speak to their doctor about testing and counseling that could help them reduce their risk. Preventive medicines and surgeries might help those at elevated risk for breast cancer.

5. Limit hormone therapy. Combination hormone replacement therapy for postmenopausal women may increase risk of breast cancer, indicates the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Similarly, taking oral contraceptives during reproductive years may increase risk. Women can speak with their physicians to weigh the pros and cons of taking such hormones.

6. Breastfeed children, if possible. Breastfeeding has been linked to reducing a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer.

7. Learn to detect breast cancer. Women should get to know their bodies so they can determine if something is awry as early as possible. Early detection of breast cancer increases the chances that treatment will prove successful.

Women can embrace various strategies to reduce their risk of developing breast cancer.

Main

Family History Increases Risk for Breast Cancer

people across the globe

this year. In fact, only certain skin cancers affect more women than breast cancer within the United States

The World Cancer Research Fund International says breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women across the globe. Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg had the highest number of breast cancer cases in 2020, while Barbados and Fiji had the greatest number of deaths attributed to the disease. Some of these high case numbers may be attributed to women with family histories of breast cancer — something that increases risk significantly.

BreastCancer.org indicates that women with close relatives who have had breast cancer, such as sisters, mothers or grandmothers, are at considerably higher risk of developing breast cancer themselves. Also, breast cancer may occur at a younger age in women with family histories of the disease.

Understanding breast cancer risk is vital for women’s health. The following breakdown, courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, can help

women from all backgrounds understand their risk for breast cancer.

• Average risk: No first- or seconddegree relatives with breast or ovarian cancer, or one second-degree female relative with breast cancer (in one breast only) diagnosed after age 50.

• Moderate risk: This is a somewhat higher risk that may not turn into breast cancer. It occurs when there is one or two first-degree or two second-degree female relatives with breast cancer (in one breast only), with both relatives diagnosed after age 50; otherwise, one or two first- or second-degree relatives with high grade prostate cancer.

• Strong: Women with strong risks have much higher chances of developing breast cancer than the general population. Conditions like having one or more first- or second-degree relatives with breast cancer diagnosed at age 45 or younger, triple negative breast cancer, primary cancer of both breasts, and both breast and ovarian cancer in the same relative are warning signs of increased risk.

It’s important for women with increased risk for breast cancer due to family history to discuss options with their doctors. More frequent mammograms and other screening

tests may be recommended, and screening at younger ages than the standard age also may be considered. Women who are at high risk may be urged to undergo genetic counseling and testing for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer markers.

Breast cancer can be an especially scary prospect for women with family histories of the disease. By familiarizing themselves with their risks for breast cancer, women can take the necessary steps to protect their long-term health.

Potential Warning Signs for Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most commonly occurring cancer in women across the globe. According to the World Cancer Research Fund International, there more than 2.26 million new cases of breast cancer in women in 2020. Such figures are sobering, but it’s important to recognize that breast cancer survival rates have improved dramatically in recent decades, providing hope to the millions of women who may be diagnosed with the disease in the years to come.

Various factors have helped to improve breast cancer survival rates, and education about the disease is certainly among them. Women are their own greatest allies against breast cancer, and learning to spot its signs and symptoms is a great first step in the fight against this potentially deadly, yet treatable disease.

Knowing your body

The American Cancer Society urges women to take note of how their breasts normally look and feel. That knowledge is vital because it helps women recognize when something does not look or feel good to the touch with their breasts. Screening alone may not be sufficient, as the ACS notes that mammograms do not find every breast cancer.

Signs and symptoms

When women are well acquainted with how their breasts look and feel, they’re in better position to recognize any abnormalities, which may or may not be indicative of breast cancer. The ACS reports that the following are some potential

warning signs of breast cancer.

• A new lump or mass: The ACS indicates that this is the most common symptom of breast cancer. A lump or mass that is cancerous is often painless, but hard and has irregular edges. However, lumps caused by breast cancer also can be soft, round and tender. Some even cause pain.

• Swelling: Some women experience swelling of all or part of a breast even if they don’t detect a lump.

• Dimpling: The skin on the breast may dimple. When this occurs, the skin on the breast sometimes mimics the look of an orange peel.

• Pain: Pain on the breast or nipple could indicate breast cancer.

• Retraction: Some women with breast cancer experience retraction, which occurs when the nipple turns inward.

• Skin abnormalities: Breast cancer may cause the skin on the breast to redden, dry out, flake, or thicken.

• Swollen lymph nodes: Some women with breast cancer experience swelling of the lymph nodes under the arm or near the collarbone.

The presence of any of these symptoms merits a trip to the doctor. Women with these symptoms should not immediately assume they have breast cancer, as the ACS notes that various symptoms of breast cancer also are indicative of non-cancerous conditions that affect the breasts. Only a physician can diagnose breast cancer, which underscores the importance of reporting symptoms to a doctor immediately.

Women are urged to report any abnormalities in their breasts to a physician immediately.

By Steve Sears

NJStarz

NJ Starz: Cat Bauer

Hometown: Pompton Lakes

When writer Cat Bauer left the United States in 2006 for her new home in Venice, Italy, she didn’t look back.

And her life has been very rewarding. “I’ve lived in diverse places, from the suburbs of New Jersey, to the West Village of Manhattan, to the Hollywood Hills, to Venice, Italy,” Bauer says. “Each place has its own colors and feelings, lessons and experiences, loves and friendships. I’m grateful that I’m a writer, and all the doors that gift unlocks. Especially here in Venice, where it seems the entire world passes through -I’ve met everyone from fishermen to heads of state. It’s like a pawn becoming a queen on a chessboard. Challenging but gratifying.”

And then there’s this. “In Venice, we don’t have cars at all,” Bauer says, when referring back to her New Jersey days when congestion sometimes reigned on Hamburg Turnpike and Route 23 near her Pompton Lakes home. “We don’t have a traffic problem here.”

However distant she may be from her childhood stomping grounds, she will forever be entwined with her hometown courtesy her young adult novels set in a “Lenape Lakes,” a play on her community’s name.

Bauer, the oldest of five children, was born in Greenville, South Carolina, and then lived with her “beloved grandmother and grandfather – my father’s parents,” she says, in Kearny for four and a half years, prior to moving to Passaic County and Pompton Lakes, where she lived until she was 18.

The interest in literature for Bauer started at a very young age. “I could read before I went to kindergarten,” she says. “That was my big thing, I was a great reader. I was one of the best readers in my class, and I loved books very, very much. They were like candy to me.” She then started writing her own books – at age six. “It seemed like a fun thing to do.”

Bauer’s first “book” was called Children of Other Lands, which she also illustrated. The idea came courtesy of her grandmother, who had gifted her granddaughter with a deck

Cat Bauer (credit Roberto Silver) continued on page 29

page 28

same name as her eventual creation.

“I think I sold it,” she says with a laugh of that first book. “That was the whole idea. I said to myself, ‘I need some money, so I better write a book.’ It’s sort of a funny thing because there were no writers in my family. My father was an engineer and my mother was a housewife. It was just something that I could do. For me, it was so easy and so natural to do. It was something I was very confident about, and I got a lot of praise for it, and it was something I was very secure about doing.”

Bauer, 67, graduated Pompton Lakes High School in 1973, but she spent much of her time in New York City. “The thing about Pompton Lakes is it’s so close to New York City, but nobody ever went to New York City.” However, Bauer did, both during (yes, she played hooky) and after school hours. “I was a struggling actress,” Bauer says, “and because writing was so easy for me, it was not a challenge. To me, the challenge was to be an actress. That’s what I wanted to do, and I got into my mid 30’s, and I was doing a commercial, and I said, ‘No, this is not it. If you’re not a movie star, being an actor is a very difficult life.” She eventually married a television director, had additional insight into the realm, and realized it was against her nature.

She then switched to what she coins her “fallback career,” and headed to the library to get magazines that sold fiction, and submitted her first short story to the now-defunct Sassy magazine. It sold immediately, and the pay was generous. “I then wrote my first book based on that short story, and that’s how I wrote Harley, Like a Person,” Bauer says. “I fictionalized

a lot of Pompton Lakes and called it ‘Lenape Lakes.”

That first young adult novel, which featured teenage protagonist, Harley Columba, was well received by the reading public, and it was awarded much. Among the accolades were a “Booklist Top Ten Youth First Novel,” “American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults” and a “New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age. Afterwards, while living in Italy at the time, Bauer returned to her former but familiar stomping grounds to research her another book. “When I went to Pompton Lakes - because I hadn’t been there in years - the things I had created in my second book (Harley’s Ninth) actually existed. All this stuff that was in head that I had never seen now existed. It’s a surreal experience.”

The plan for Bauer was to write for more “Harley” books, and she still may do that. “There’s a lot of me in Harley – a lot,” Bauer says. “But because in the first book she’s 14, she can say things I can’t say that come out of the mouth of a 14-year-old girl. Its kind of cute, but out of the mouth of a 67-year-old woman, it’s kind of difficult. I do like the teenage girl voice, because teenage girls are very powerful. Their emotions are very powerful.”

When Bauer first visited Venice, she fell in love with it. She afterwards in 1998 told her agent that she needed to head back overseas to write a book for three months, and her agent agreed. When the three months were coming to a close, Bauer was in tears. “I felt very much at home in Venice,” she recalls. “I was raised Catholic, and there are over 100 churches in Venice. You can go in and feel very comfortable. I love all of the pomp, I love all the ritual, I love

all the imagery.”

Bauer now blogs about the land she loves (posts can be read at www.venetiancat.blogspot.com), and she is currently at work on another offering that she says is difficult to write.

“It’s real,” she says. “I don’t want to fictionalize it. I want it based on a true story, but I don’t want to use people’s real names. I have to create a new way of formatting it. That’s the challenge. I’ve been writing it by pieces and putting it together.”

When asked if there is one thing that she hasn’t done that she’d like to, Bauer’s list has multiple entries. “One thing?” she asks. “I can think of a zillion things I’d like to do. Travel to India, Africa, Russia and China. Witness lions in the wild and explore the pyramids of Egypt. I was also going to say “fly a plane” but then I remembered I did do that on August 20, 1966 when I was 11-years-old (I know this because I wrote it in my diary -- that is something I still have from childhood). My Uncle Bob, who is a pilot, flew me and my sisters down to North Carolina by private plane to visit our grandparents. I sat in the co-pilot seat. As my sisters wailed and sobbed in the back, my uncle let me take control of the plane. It was thrilling. I remember the one thing I wanted to do back then was find Amelia Earhart.”

However, the writer at heart knows exactly what she’d really like to do, and what her loyal readers hope she will, too. “If I have to pick one thing to do today,” she says, “it would be to write something that endures through the ages.”

For more information about Cat Bauer and her work, visit www.catbauer.com.

Utah Man Walks Across the United States and Enjoys the People and Places in NJ

By Steve Sears

Utah resident, Isaiah Glen Shields, has been walking across the United States for the past 18 months, and recently arrived in New Jersey.

While passing through, he strolled the streets of some of the My Life Publications publication areas, and he met up with some very nice people and beautiful landscape.

According to his Facebook page, Shields passed through Phillipsburg, Hackettstown, Roxbury, Denville, Butler, Pompton Lakes, Riverdale, and Oakland. When contacted by phone, he was on a traffic heavy street in Norwalk, Connecticut, but he had not forgotten stepping through the upper portion of the Garden State.

Shields first entered New Jersey in September by crossing over the Route 22 bridge from Easton, Pennsylvania, and landed in historic Phillipsburg. “I think I had looked at New Jersey on the map to just sort of get the gist of what I was going to be expecting. I guess everybody has a little bit of an inkling of what places look like,” he says. “I’ve never been to India, but when

I picture India, I picture the Taj Mahal and crowded streets. I don’t think I’ve ever spent much time in New Jersey, and I saw a picture with a lot of suburban build up. But what I wasn’t really expecting to find was so much nature, and I guess ‘The Garden State’ is a slogan that people haven’t really understood well outside of New Jersey. There’s a lot of really, really beautiful things here.”

Shields’ videos show him walking the industrial area of the city of Phillipsburg, but in contrast also strolling by serene farmlands right off of Route 57 in Washington Township prior to hitting Hackettstown. “No matter where I go, the sunset is visible there if you’re there at sunset, and with the people I met, there’s a lot of value in their story no matter what area it happens to be in,” he says.

“There was no major source of inspiration,” Shields says regarding his reasons to walk across the country.

“Everybody has ideas that cross their mind from time to time. Some people have the idea to join a high school football team or

to open a popcorn stand, restore an old Corvette in their garage. I was sitting at work one day and I had the idea, got kind of passionate and couldn’t stop thinking about it, and eventually I just left. It was pretty uncomplicated, just really pretty random and arbitrary, and sounded like something I wanted to do.” Shields’ career is what you see. His walk has become a source of revenue on social media for him. “Hopefully I can just keep doing something like this. But prior to me departing, I worked as a corporate finance analyst.”

Shields also has created a You Tube channel titled “You Do You.” “I often tell people that in order to be happy, they need to radically change their lifestyle. My core thing I kind of believe is that ‘You Do You’ is supposed to embody is just to act on those things that speak to you most deeply. I just bought a house, graduated college, had a mortgage, and was sort of on a good path for security. But I had this idea that just kept me up at night and really, really spoke to my soul in some way.”

Shields’ ultimate destination is Lubec,

Great Golf

Maine, the eastern-most point of the United States, and will eventually commit his travels to a book project.

Shields also discovered that New Jerseyans can be pretty congenial folks, too. “People told me there might be some people who are less interested in my journey while I was in New Jersey, and I’ll just have a bit of an experience there,” he says. “Really, there’s just as many people kind people in New Jersey as anywhere. I had people open their homes to me, I had people letting me stay on their property, and people inviting me in to show me their lives and their lifestyles.”

Shields met one couple who worked for M&M Mars in Hackettstown. “They met me on the streets of Hackettstown,” he explains.

“They didn’t really know a lot about me at the time, but they looked me up later. Then, when I was in New York City, they drove out and gave me a tour of the M&M store there in Times Square. You never know what kind of opportunities are going to come when you do something like this.”

The Beer Garden!