SPECIAL DAY: COLUMN #1242!

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COLUMN #1242!

Notice the address on my house?  Photo by Manny Greitzer, as is the big one above.

Notice the address on my house? Photo by Manny Greitzer, as is the big one above.

I almost let this column pass with no fanfare. And then I realized the number—1,242. Which is a number I never let go by unnoticed.

Why is that, you wonder? Because my address for my entire life, up until May 14 of last year, has been 1242 E. 10th Street in Brooklyn, New York. I loved that address! Still do.

(Okay, truth be told, I officially left home as a teen-ager. But it was always still my house. My parents even told me that they considered it mine because they bought it for me to arrive into the world. And in the last fifteen years, after my father passed and I never wanted to leave my mother un-entertained for too long, I spent almost as much time there as I did in my LA home!)

The number on the clock next to my bed. Photo by Karen Salkin.

The number on the clock next to my bed. Photo by Karen Salkin.

I’ve always noticed that number on digital clocks. Mr. X even does it, too. And, if I ask someone what time it is, no one can ever answer, “12:42,” without me adding the words “E. 10th Street” under my breath. (That’s a tad bit weird when it’s a stranger of whom I’m inquiring.)

A clock in the living room. Photo by Karen Salkin.

A clock in the living room. Photo by Karen Salkin.

I don’t have much more to say about the number than that. I’m sure that many of you do the same thing with your own beloved childhood addresses. If they’re a “time” number, of course. (I know that my pals from 924 Ave. K told me they do it all the time, too.) And if you’ve never done it before, I have a feeling you will start doing it now! (Sorry about that.)

I even notice it on my computer! Photo by Karen Salkin.

I even notice it on my computer! Photo by Karen Salkin.

One interesting thing just happened now–as I was writing “1242” in this column, I decided to add it up, for the first time in my life! I can’t believe I never thought to do that in all these years! I do that with almost all numbers, and have for a very long time. I guess I just wanted to keep it pure—1242, not the sum of its digits. As I just started to add, I stopped and panicked for a brief moment—what if it added up to the dreaded number, whose name cannot be spoken? (As in—a baker’s dozen.) Or one I just do not like, as the evens, (which Mr. X taught me to eschew.) But—lo and behold—it adds up to nine! And guess who’s favorite number that is? Mr. X’s!!! So, I guess I was destined to be with him since I was a little girl! I sure wish I had added it up a long time ago—it would have saved me a lot of strife while we were working it all out.

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1 Comment

  1. As soon as I opened your column and saw the picture, I smiled……………….that was a house of laughter and fun and will always make me smile.

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