Today is my son Noah’s 46th birthday. My gift to him and to myself is to write a piece about him and my feelings for him.
Noah is my youngest child. He has an older sister, Sarah, who is determined to be the best at everything she does, and usually accomplishes it. She was an “easy child”–class valedictorian and now a respected Rabbi in Silicon Valley.
Ari, his older brother, had a somewhat troubled childhood and fought with Noah incessantly along the way. Today he is a gifted psychologist and extremely close with Noah and his wife Stephanie and their son, Abe. They see each other almost every week.
Noah had his struggles as a kid. School wasn’t easy, as he dealt with learning disabilities and ADHD. Some teachers were puzzled by him, but many saw his talents. He still communicates with some of his teachers from 30 plus years ago. When he was 5, we found a life-changing educational therapist for Noah, Catherine, who helped him navigate his ADHD and built his confidence.
Noah isn’t a natural athlete. When he was young, we pushed him to try all kinds of sports–baseball, basketball, karate, horseback riding. Nothing clicked. But then he found tennis, a sport I’ve always loved. When he was 10, we went to Wimbledon to see the greatest players in the world. He fell in love with the game. For years, he enjoyed hitting balls off the wall of our local elementary school for hours. He went on to play First Singles on his high school team.
He has always had a desire to create, learn, and expand. When he was 19, he set out alone on a Greyhound bus to California to make his first documentary video called “Where Are You Going.” He filmed and interviewed a host of fascinating characters on their way to somewhere–though many of them weren’t sure where that was. He told me today how he vividly remembers our conversation on the way to the bus station, during which I told him that it was something I would want to do.
He spent a year and a half in Italy growing up in the early 2000s. He tried to start a business making videos for tourists, and made a heartfelt documentary about a 50-year-old restaurant in Florence.
When he got back to the US, he learned how hard it was to make a living as an itinerant journalist, working for Screw Machine World, soon to be Today’s Machining World.
By the time he was in high school, I secretly hoped Noah and I would someday work together creatively or in the machinery business or both. He resisted, of course. Working at Graff-Pinkert was not the creative life he yearned for, but he decided to give it a try 15 years ago. It coincided with the period when my brother Jim and I were splitting up.
He finally could make decent money and be the creative person he longed to be. And he got to do it with a partner who loved him and taught him and learned from him.
Today I’m 81 and Noah is 46. Somehow he manages to put up with me, and we both periodically pause during the day to tell each other that we’re grateful to have the privilege to work together. Being in business with him is a gift that keeps on giving for me.
Happy Birthday, my son.
L’Chaim
Dad
Question: What’s it been like working with your family?
