Normally our Galena Family has 4 offspring (Isaac, Seth, Sarah & Yael)

However the Kaplan SAT review course has endowed us with 3 more: Andrew, Judson & Kari.

It seems that when Yael graduated from High School, Kaplan's could not believe we were no longer supporting them and since the name Yael does not spell check in any system, the name morphed first into Andrew, then Judson and now our darling Kari. 

All three started off with an innocuous folder flyer for the Kaplan review- "Andrew Galena, as you contemplate college…….."; the Princeton review was right on their tail, one year Andrew, the next Judson and the third year, Kari.   

Financial aid letters arrived as well. Well, poor Andrew and Judson, I guess without the prep courses, success is not on the drawing board: Andrew began to get letters from technical schools, secretarial schools, the Air Force, "If college is not your choice………" 

Judson was sought by Community Colleges, the Navy and several shady on-line colleges.  

Our hearts were heavy- had we prevented them from succeeding?  I would open the mail and sign, "Poor Andrew, I'm sure he tried."   "With a name like Judson Galena perhaps he should try theater"-the Armed Forces didn't seem appropriate.

Then wonder of wonders came to our Kari. Without one cent to either Kaplan's or the Princeton review, our little Kari received word just last week that she had been elected to the (and I quote- I'm not making any of this up) The Elite Book Of High School Students "reserved for the top 5% of the class," THE TOP 5%!!!! 

She's the smartest in the family! I'm was kvelling all over the place. I was going to end this article my bragging that Kari is not only smart, but generous- a couple of weeks ago she received a Gillette razor and she let me borrow it without a peep- BUT- and this is almost too much-2 days ago we get a letter addressed to the Parents of Andrew Galena, incoming freshman. INCOMING FRESHMAN! 

You all remember what it felt like to get your first college acceptance- I felt the same way for Andrew- I didn't know who to call first. I had the Galena Dad read the letter several times (it was from a bank about loans) to see if there was a hint to where he had been accepted, but alas, we'll have to wait for the next missile from our friendly postman!

Here are some stories of my children meeting celebrities that I thought I should capture for posterity. But in my mind (which may be slowly going), they are already celebrities or future celebrities, and I am proud to be their mother:....

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....Sorry for that delay, I had to wipe the tears from eyes (I cry watching cell phone commercials) Ok, here are a few:

In 1990, when I was in NYC for a day, little Yael Galena, then 8 yrs old, spotted trailers blocking off the street around the corner from our house - she figured they were shooting a TV commercial. Ever the latchkey child, (if we actually knew where our keys were) was home alone and wandered over after school in the pouring rain. She stood there for about ½ hour, until the driver of a limo got out and said, “Little girl” are you waiting to see Tom Hanks?” Ever the quick thinker, she replied “Yes!” (Thinking “Tom who?”) “Did you bring a paper and pencil for his autograph?” “No, I left it at home.” Doh! The driver hooked it up and when Tom Hanks was on his way out, he sent him over Yael’s way. Tom, in full AIDS guise, exchanged kind words with an astonished Yael, who didn’t recognize him so thin and with a ski cap, probably mistook him as a third string Campbell soup commercial actor.

The next day word got out that it was a movie called “Philadelphia” being shot, and instantly 50 of our neighbors were crowded outside the trailers- but no stars were spotted. It wasn’t till and older man in our library asked me, “Aren’t you the mother of that little girl that got Tom Hank’s autograph the other day?” -I don’t think screaming is tolerated in our library- but I think I let out one of my “shoot me now!!” My daughter has not missed a star spotting since.

Yael was last seen stalking Brad Pitt in LA, making illegal U-turns to follow Aliza Silverstone from Clueless, and rubbing elbows at Cannes last summer. She even managed to sneak into the filming of Friends (ask her about her “Bathroom” trick)

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READER COMMENTS

From the holy Noah Hartman:

In the summer of ’98 Seth was having a run of success in star spotting- he was walking out of FAO Schwartz after applying for a summer job, when he spotted a familiar face in the crowds. “Mr. Rogers?” “YES! Who are you?” The late Mr. Rogers was then so impressed Seth recognized him they ended up talking for a good ten minutes about all sorts of things. The next day Isaac and Seth spotted Marky Marx & Gregory Hines on Central Park South. 3 star spottings in 2 days! There had to be more.

So now on the 3rd day of star-sighting Seth was again leaving FAO Schwartz, with a paying job and was hoping to go 3 for 3- but no sightings. What a shame. That is, until he went to get a train in Penn Station, where low-and-behold he saw Mr. Rogers filming a children’s special he had to say hello. But the assistant soon informed Seth, who was #11 in line for autographs, that Mr. Rogers was only doing 10, when Mr. Rogers looked up and spotted Seth- he said, “I have to do one more.” Mr. Rogers walked out to the line to Seth. Seth, blown away, said, “I don’t know if you remember me…” Mr. Rogers immediately responded, “Why wouldn’t I remember you, I just met you the day before yesterday!” He then signed the final signature “To Seth Galena, With Kindest Regards from Your N.Y. Neighbor, Fred Rogers. (actual signature below signed on Seth's resume)

A sun glasses-wearing customer at FAO Schwartz once tapped Seth on the shoulder and said, “Hey man, can you ring me up, I am kinda in a rush.” Seth looked up at this familiar face the man extended his credit card to Seth, which verified the celeb identity who was non other than KEVIN BACON- how funny is that? (Seth is now 1 degree away from him!) Seth also ended up meeting Billy Joel, Rob Lowe and some sports players at FAO.

My father was at the tennis tournament in France when he spotted a familiar face, walked over to her and said, “I know you, aren’t you from Bayonne, NJ?” My mother informed him it was actually Martina Hinges, the #1 player in the world at the time. A few decades before my parents were leading a teen tour group across the country they were in the Ambassador Hotel in LA when my father asked a guy in a tux where the kids were supposed to sit when my mother informed him it was Tony Bennett. Hey we aren’t perfect!

Isaac and Seth spent part of their YU Graduation night in a midtown lounge with Kevin Spacey who signed their bar napkin “To my Yeshiva Grads, Drink and Live! -K.S ”: They’ve bought sneakers in the same store with Michael Rappaport, and even had coffee in Café Lalo next to Jerry Seinfeld (whom they once mistook for their tall friend Lon Smolensky).

Not to mention, Sarah Galena went to Lower Merion high school with Kobe Bryant!!!! 

I think those are all the stories I remember for now, am I hope you enjoyed reading them. I have told these so many times that I think I add parts each time I tell them. I hope this is testimony to how much I love my children, and how much they in turn, love their celebrities. 

That’s about it- please tell us about your claim to fame-hey,  Send em in! No one else cares as much as we do!

Keep Eating Healthy!,

Rita Lourie Galena
Rlourie1@aol.com

This is an open apology to Isaac & Seth Galena. 

All of your friends and family and many of the bangitout.com readers know how much I have complained about your crying and howling when you were babies (Ok, I guess now they do). 

Well, now I’m sitting in an Infant Feeding Scales training course and I’m learning the there are 76 potent and subtle disengagement cues that infants perform before they actually start to cry.  I was obviously oblivious to all 76. I am so sorry.

Imagine if I would have spotted your oblique lateral turn or your forceful table top pounding, alerting me to your dissatisfaction with your environment (TV was off).  Earlier moves on my part might have saved my hearing (Re: Seth and Isaac's Grandmother). I do blame my hearing loss on your high caliber squeals, your overbearing shrieks.  No, it’s all my fault.  If I had been aware of your diverted gazes, your shaking heads, I might have been able to spend more than 3 minutes inside the library and chosen reading material which would allow me to discuss more than diaper service and baby rashes. If only knowledge of these cues were available to the public, your grandparents might have even volunteered to spend some time alone with you and actually figured out who was who (to this day everyone calls them "The Boys"). 

Imagine if I could have warned baby sitters about potent and subtle disengagement cues- we might have been able to see an entire movie instead of being paged out of movie theaters by frantic sitters w

ho couldn't take the cries of the infamous Isaac and Seth. A babysitter's nightmare.

I might have been able to walk to a shul, shop for clothes, shop for more than Breyer’s ice cream in the supermarket ( I had to prioritize, 10 items or less line is always essential). We might have been welcomed into homes.  We could have stayed in restaurants beyond the appetizers. Think of all the gas we would have saved by not having to drive you around for hours until you feel asleep.  I’m also thinking of money we might have been able to save on water bills- all those showers I took to block out your wails just to preserve my mental health.

Seventy six cues to impending crying and as parents we missed them all. 

Love, MOM - rlourie1@aol.com

As many of you know, Isaac & Seth are identical twins (DNA tested, mother approved!) who used to, and to most still do, look exactly alike. It was suggested by our first pediatrician that we have an absolute method to tell them apart. So we left Seth's hospital ankle bracelet on and then bought him an anklet with his name on for the first year (How cute was that?) I thought it beat out the other suggestion of coloring his toes with nail polish, or the standard, eyebrow piercing. Some of you who read the last installment might be wondering "well, if he's smiling, it's Seth!", but that posed a serious problem when they were both found crying or sleeping (please click on The Early Years or the Crying Game for more insight).

We decided (after they outgrew all the identical gift outfits- email me now for those sailor suit pics!) that we'd color code the kids. (This made is a lot simpler than the ankle search.) Isaac always wore blue and Seth wore whatever- yellow, green, red - anything but blue. (A little insight on who is the more methodical). It worked for most of the adults, but not my mother who is severely color blind, or for those who had keep asking me "which one wears blue again?"

My favorite little story is when Avi Korn and the boys were in kindergarten and Avi's mom, Helene, asked Avi- "How can you tell the Galena twins apart? He looked at her quizzically and said "Isaac's Isaac and Seth's Seth!" (Early admission to Wharton on the spot). Anyhow, how do you tell Isaac and Seth apart? My parents are still
wondering.
 

PS. Speaking of my parents... my Dad (age 92) is being inducted into the Bayonne High School Hall of Fame. Let's hear that Bayonne High Marching Song one more time! (note: if you have any information or whereabouts of people who grew up in the Bayonne Area please email mom now!)

Today, I'm sitting here in Philadelphia in a Nursing training session (I teach Nursing), watching videos on, get this, "infant status". I'm forced to remember that "the boys", as we fondly refer to them, never experienced what is technically termed the "Quiet Alert State", which, surprisingly, is when an infant is quiet and alert. Seth and Isaac were either sleeping or screaming at the top of their lungs. Which may come as no surprise to those who can always hear their voices among the crowds on all the wedding videos. (BTW, who do you think will get married first? Isaac or Seth...email me with answers)

Wow!, the instructional video continues, "The more organized the 'Sleep Wake Cycle', the more neurologically intact an infant is…" I'm just wondering if their completely disorganized sleep wake cycle (Boys: "Mom, when's bedtime?" Me: "Whenever") has led to their unique creative processes or the present state of all the Galena's amazing organizational abilities.(Where are my KEYS??)

Wow again! The video just related that the 'sleep wake cycle' gives way to maturation: another clue to "the boys" ability to act as if they are not remotely close to losing touch with that inner child. (ie. Bang the Rabbi?) As a person who just recently went from being described as "immature" to "acting young for her age," I certainly am not critical, just insightful.

As many of you know from my last missile on this web site, Isaac was born seven minutes before Seth and, more or less, forged the way for Seth's entrance into this world. As a result, Isaac was quite bruised while Seth was perfectly formed. Isaac had to stay in the hospital an extra day while Seth came home. As if to prove his discontent with the situation, Isaac did not smile for the first year. Seth cried as much as Isaac, but he was able to smile once in a while (or was it gas?)…
"Oh," people point out, "They weren't crying in every single picture."

"Oh," I reply, "That's because I put my fingers in their mouths and then we had the photographer count 1,2… in-between 2 and 3, I abruptly withdrew my fingers- so instead of crying, they have a look of shock or surprise, as to say, "What the hell happened to my pacifier!" in every picture.

Click here for a perfect example.(Coming Soon, missing the pic, along with my keys)

Well that's all for now, stay tuned...for next time: "How can we tell them apart?"

Email mom with comments or questions

PS. Does anyone remember the Bayonne Highschool Marching Song?

PPS. How great was Arye's Standup night?

Once upon a time there was an enormously pregnant woman who was expecting one enormous baby. One day, one week before the blessed event, a doctor declared, "The baby has a Small Head!"

"Small head + large baby", thought the concerned enormously pregnant woman, not exactly your Gerber dream. But, Lo and behold that apparent anomaly turned out to be our own Isaac & Seth, the incrediably identical twin babies.

• the 7th month
• of the 77th year
• 7 minutes apart
• by a doctor with 7 children

How mystical is that?

So nu? No wonder we’re so proud of this website.

Keep on clicking!

Cheers,

Rita Lourie Galena

Ps. Did you know I am from Bayonne, NJ? Anyone from bayonne, please email me: Rlourie1@aol.com