So I met a friend recently and we went to see the movie Garden State, which I had been anxious to see since its release. Written and directed by a young (29-year-old) New Jersey native, I had read that it was about "coming home" to New Jersey.

Having just returned from a 2-1/2 half week visit to my "native home" of New Jersey, the desire to see this movie and have this experience, went much deeper than any conscious intention could have been. The movie turned out to be fabulous, extremely poignant and moving. Somewhat reminiscent of Good Will Hunting, not only in terms of it being a "coming of age" genre, but also having been written by "youngsters."

(It is mind-boggling to me at my age and stage in life, that someone so young, in their 20's for God's sake, could have such insight--much more than a lot of people I know, two or three times their age.)

After the movie, my friend and I walked around the mall a bit, trying to decide where we wanted to eat. The mall noise was ear-shattering, so we decided to go to Wolfie's for some Jewish deli. We hadn't been seated for more than two or three minutes, when I looked to my right and saw a couple being seated. I glanced at the woman's T-shirt which had the name Ridgewood imprinted on it. Almost without thinking, I turned to her and said