Paean to Stairs
(2/5/20)- Recently, I
had written about the stairs that appeared in the movie "The Joker" .The
theme of the article stressed the way the stairs lead to my reading haven, the
library.
The
brain is wonderful in the way it can bring up all sorts of relationships with
present and past events. Recently, as I reflected more about the stairs in that
movie, my thoughts conjectured all sorts of encounters I have had with stairs
and the part they have played in my life..
I
am the oldest of two sons, born to Nina and Sam Rubin,
21 months apart. Living in a six floor walk-up in those early years (no elevators),
I had to learn to climb stairs at an early age. Simply, they lead to the
comforts of our two bedroom apartment and a reward. You held on to the railing
and climbed, climbed, climbed six flights. No excuses could help you avoid this
activity. A cookie awaited you. What could be better than a black and white or
a mallomar cookie.
Then
in my teen years came the now famous Bronx stairs off Edward L. Grant Highway,
all 132 steps. Racing up the stairs was a challenge, but done with ease. The
synergy of early stair climbing and youthful energy and of course they led to
the library and Zane Gray.
The
next set of important stairs pertained to my
higher education. These were the stairs that lead to NYU Heights, Arts and
Science University also located at that time in the Bronx. These steps, still
in existence as part of Bronx Community College, located off Burnside Avenue,
were climbed every weekday for four years. I do not remember how many steps
were involved. Maybe some reader who climbs them can inform me. Then there was
the #4 train to get to the college. You climbed the stairs at 167th Street and
on the way home it was the stairs at Burnside Avenue stop.
Then
in my adult years came the three flights of stairs climbed in the early years
of my marriage as a way of keeping myself in shape. This stair climbing lead to
my summer resort climbing the 4000 feet mountain trails (no stair climbing) in
the White Mountains of New Hampshire, where I spent 7 summers in the month of
August
Alas,
climbing stairs as I enter the 89th year of my life has become a challenge that
is hard to accomplish due to the ravages of aging. Elevators and escalators
have become new friends. I have developed COPD and the 44 stairs to get
out of the subway means that I need a measured inhaler to open my lungs and
move slowly up into the street. This task is accomplished almost daily (some
parallel to my early Bronx stairs ), but who knows how
long it will be before stairs become an improbable part of my daily life
yet full of warm feelings.. Nostalgia is a wonderful palliative in
many ways but still fails to negate the ravages of aging..
Yes,
there is still joy in climbing stairs. A physical activity
that has mental ramifications.
Harold
Rubin
FOR AN INFORMATIVE AND PERSONAL ARTICLE ON PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS WHEN
SELECTING A NURSING HOME SEE OUR ARTICLE "How to Select a Nursing Home"
by Harold Rubin
posted February 5, 2020
http://www.therubins.com
To e-mail: harold.rubin255@gmail.com
or allanrubin4@gmail.com