Letters

Newtown's Embrace Of Hazel And Bezalel

By Dan and Meri Rosenthal

Published: Apr 15, 2015 12:00 AM

To the Editor, We just wanted to take a moment to extend our family’s gratitude to the Newtown Community for how warmly they welcomed our house guests, Hazel Alquilos and her two year-old son, Bezalel...

Growing Up In Newtown

By Sharon Donahue Emerson

Published: Apr 14, 2015 12:00 AM

To the Editor: As my 65th birthday approaches, I cannot help but reflect. My fondest reflections relate to the town in which I grew up. My wonderful Newtown. I think about Dr Draper who let us cli...

A Successful Easter Flower Sale

By Laura Comerford

Published: Apr 14, 2015 12:00 AM

To the Editor: I, on behalf of the Auxiliary, I would like to thank all of you who came out and supported our annual Easter flower sale. We had a successful weekend and are gracious for all your kind ...

When The Anomaly Becomes The Rule

By Michelle Embree Ku

Published: Apr 13, 2015 12:00 AM

To the Editor: Most disclaimers come at the end of statements. In the interest of full transparency, I will begin with one. I am a member of both the Board of Education and the Democratic Town Committ...

Charter Error Needs To Be Corrected, Not Codified

By Kevin Fitzgerald

Published: Apr 08, 2015 12:00 AM

To the Editor: I am writing to share my concern with the community that the current Charter Revision Commission appears to be rewriting the language that will allow any one political party to hold fiv...

There Is Nothing Dignified About Assisted Suicide

By Kathryn Colucci

Published: Apr 08, 2015 12:00 AM

To the Editor: What a disappointment to read The Bee’s editorial “Death and Dignity,” [3/27/15]. There is nothing dignified about aiding someone’s suicide. The language of this can be sugar coated wi...

Finding Common Ground On A Community Center

By Geraldine and Ross Carley

Published: Apr 03, 2015 12:00 AM

To The Editor: As Newtown looks forward to the next steps in the process of finding common ground regarding the Community Center perhaps it would be good to take a deep breath and ask ourselves some k...

Supporting The Garden Club

By Holly Kocet

Published: Apr 03, 2015 12:00 AM

To the Editor: On behalf of the Garden Club of Newtown, I would like to thank all the local businesses for their generosity in donating silent auction items to our 60th Anniversary Luncheon. We also e...

An All-Inclusive Conversation On The Community Center

By Wayne Addessi

Published: Apr 03, 2015 12:00 AM

To the Editor: I'd like to encourage Pat Llodra, the Board of Selectmen and all others who have focused their effort on this topic to gather new organizers and plan a series of forums over the next 9 ...

Good Samaritans

By Sam Mihailoff

Published: Apr 01, 2015 12:00 AM

To the Editor: QUESTION: What would the Newtown motorist do if he/she saw a man in a suit sitting in the lane of traffic at 6:30 pm on Main Street in front of the Honan Funeral home on a Friday aftern...

Boys' Soccer Advances With Win In PKs

Anne LaPorta

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what is the purpose of a turf grass field if you only play on it when the weather is nice?

Football Game Moved To Thursday, Soccer State Playoff Matchups Announced

To the children and their parents: I have delayed this message for eight months because I was in a dark place following the last two of my nine surgeries, in December and February. I apologize for the lack of clarity that resulted. Now again in the light, I want to express my sincerest and deepest gratitude for the life you have given me. For the honor and privilege and indescribable responsibility you have bestowed upon me, as your children’s pediatrician. Twenty five years ago, I was brought to Sandy Hook to practice alongside a friend and colleague. We built something together. And then life, in its stark and brutal efficiency, took that away. A spinal cord injury following the first of those surgeries almost broke me. Just months after that, our community also fractured. The deaths at Sandy Hook Elementary School occurred soon after my paralysis. I learned to walk again—or rather, I had accepted that I would never walk normally, when the loss of life—the only lives I have ever lost in my career as a pediatrician—brought me to my knees. This is what I learned. Three decades of pediatrics have taught me to Live—Love—Learn—Laugh—Listen—Lead. Not in the order you may think or that we may have learned, but in the order we actually come to living a meaningful life. You cannot learn if you don’t listen. You cannot listen if you cannot laugh at yourself—as I have many times in an exam room acting and being ridiculous. You cannot laugh unless you feel free to love—and I truly loved your children, not as abstractions, but as the specific, irreplaceable persons they are. You cannot love without living fully in the present moment. And living fully allows you to lead. Leading requires understanding what you can control and accepting what you cannot. Everything else simply follows. To chase what you cannot control, to chase what follows, is to run behind, never catching what the moment brings. Babies still make me cry. After nearly thirty years, they still make me cry. Two cells become a living human with infinite potential. There is something inexplicable and unknowable in that transformation. I have never grown past that, never wanted to. It is the source of my own personal faith and spirituality. Physics teaches us that energy is never lost. I believe the energy instilled in a child—the force that makes them who they are—is forever. It never truly vanishes. It changes form. It is unique to each living creature. It moves through us, between us, around us. You can feel it in a newborn’s grip. You can see it in a child’s eyes when they recognize you and smile. You can sense it in a room when a family holds their baby for the first time, or says goodbye for the last time. Whatever that energy is— life, spirit, potential, love—it persists. Changed by time, expressed differently by each person, but it remains around us, if not part of us. Anyone who has loved and lost has felt it. Perhaps, unexplained, it is simply accepted as a feeling. I believe it is more complex and never knowable by us, at least not now, not here, as we know space-time. No pediatrician or parent in this community could ever fail to acknowledge how the school shooting tore our community apart. Forever grieving, I will not be defined by that darkness. Instead, I have chosen to be defined by my love of the color purple. I choose butterflies, horses, and whales. I choose kindness and neurodiversity. I choose the memory of our children as they lived and as they were, not by how they were taken. I remember them. I have spoken out and will continue to act. But I will not be imprisoned by that day. I choose laughter as it is the best and sometimes only medicine; and I choose to laugh and lose rather than win and want. We started out on Mount Pleasant Road with a vision. When my health and our community fractured, our practice fractured with it—we separated paths and I moved on. My respect for our shared practice of pediatrics could never be questioned, however; nor would I ever question it’s success. I never felt that I was on my own; many followed, many stayed. My appreciation never wavered. I owe a debt of gratitude to Peggy and Charlene. Together, we would not be diminished. We moved forward and we adapted. I learned that separation is not defeat; it brings clarity of vision and reveals your path and what you are meant to do. We rebuilt the practice on a different foundation but never weakened. We moved from Queen Street to the little blue house on Church Hill Road. Then when it made sense—when the weight of carrying on alone grew too heavy, we merged again. When Danbury Hospital’s pediatricians and nurse practitioners were left without positions, we opened our doors welcoming their practice and their families. We moved, yet again. Almost instantly, the pandemic came. We adapted. The practice grew, but it would never outgrow me. Because I also grew. I grew older because of it; but, as many already know, I will never grow up. Each separation, each merger, and every move reminded me that you do not stay by staying still. Kristen originally joined me as an LPN with a quiet competence. As an LPN, then obtaining her RN and BSN, then becoming an APRN. She became the soul of the practice to Peggy’s heart. Though I name only a few of those with whom I had the honor to work, to employ, and to work for, the unnamed are not—nor ever will be—forgotten. Each of you has left an indelible mark on my soul and every patient has filled a portion of my heart. The practice continued to grow because, together, we were able to move forward—not from weakness, but from a commitment to each other. Not from certainty, but from a willingness to listen and respond. Not from darkness, but to brightness. After two and a half decades, I entrusted the ship to Kristen—not because I relented or because I was weakened by my circumstances, but because the work was bigger and more important than I, as an individual, was; and the ocean was too vast that I could no longer navigate. While I stepped back from daily practice, I am not stepping away from pediatrics. I remain accessible to families who seek counsel. I will be writing a book, because parenting— like pediatrics—is not a destination but a practice; and every parent and every child deserves to know that they are not alone in their uncertainty. I will be teaching. I will be writing. I will be here, even if not physically. I will be listening. I have lived because I was able to listen to you. Laugh with you. Learn from you. Love your children—not perfectly, not without doubt or as you do, but genuinely. And you gave me the extraordinary privilege of helping to lead you and teach you, while being led and taught by you in return. I have held your fear. I have tried to remain steady during uncertainty. I ask you to remember that laughter and love are sometimes the only bridge across those unbearable moments. I learned this with you. I learned this from you. I came here the same way I leave here. I will continue to live, love, learn, listen, and lead—and most importantly I will definitely continue to laugh. To the families who trusted me: your children have forever changed who I am as a physician and as a person. The responsibility you gave me shaped not just my career, but my character. That is a debt that can never be paid; though it will forever be honored and cherished. Thank you. Babies still make me cry. I still hold them in awe, and I will always be inspired by the children and adults they have or will become. That will never change. Be kind. Be present. Be well. Forever grateful, Rick Auerbach

25 Years Of Pediatrics: Rick Auerbach May Have Retired, But He Isn’t Finished Teaching Parents And S

Thank you Sam Cross and The Bee for making this story possible.

For the record, my sons; Matthew and John, know how proud I am. While they were both once brilliantly moronic, they have developed into amazingly bright young men who have the capacity to change the world and mold future generations. I thank Sandy Hook Elementary for part of that, the rest of my appreciation goes to my wife, Julie Auerbach.

Even with a supermajority, Hartford can't seem to get it done. Apparently, perfection is just two more Democrats away.

Letter Of Endorsement

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Newtown's Embrace Of Hazel And Bezalel

Growing Up In Newtown

A Successful Easter Flower Sale

When The Anomaly Becomes The Rule

Charter Error Needs To Be Corrected, Not Codified

There Is Nothing Dignified About Assisted Suicide

Finding Common Ground On A Community Center

Supporting The Garden Club

An All-Inclusive Conversation On The Community Center

Good Samaritans