The Gottlieb Clan Celebrates Al's 75^th Birthday
Thanksgiving 2006

My 75th birthday was around Thanksgiving, so Anne and I took advantage of the 4-day recess to have 26 of our children, their spouses, and the grandchildren (see attached photo) come to White Plains from all over the country to a have a long weekend of birthday/Thanksgiving events. It was an absolute joy - theaters, dinners, athletics, etc., and great conviviality. The children had secretly, with Anne's collusion, spent much time putting together a very professional 20-minute DVD of my life; when they rolled out a screen one night and showed it, frankly, I truly became speechless (not at all a usual occurrence for me).

As for work, it's still 24/7, and the bank clients of my team continue to benefit from the quality of expertise that we bring to the real estate needs of their retail branches. When my contract expires, two years from now, I'm planning on retiring to what will be my third career, that is, to be a volunteer for Teach for America, to assist in fund raising and, hopefully, to do some teaching in rural and urban schools for them. Anne deserves a lot of credit for tolerating me for 30 years (so far), and for playing such a major role in the togetherness (an overused word) of our extended family.

Happy Holidays!
Albert Gottlieb