Slightly Eerie Life Parallels
I’m quite sure that Jerry Seinfeld has no idea I exist, let alone that our personal lives share several uncanny similarities.
Nor have we ever met (though my then-single wife DID stand next to him in line at a coffee shop on the Upper West side in the 1990’s).
But, consider the following parallels:
–We both met our future wives on the same block in Manhattan, within a year of each other in the late 1990’s (Seinfeld rather infamously met his wife at the Reebok club — or reportedly she met him; I met my wife at Barnes & Noble a block away).
–We both got married in New York in 1999, to Jewish women from New York (my wife is from Forest Hills in Queens; his is from Long Island). Which means that we’re both celebrating our 17th wedding anniversaries this year.
–We were both relative geezers when we got married — close to 40 (me), or on the downslope from it (Seinfeld was in his mid-40’s).
–We both had our first kid 11 months after getting married.
–We both have 2 boys and a girl, whose birthdays are less than 15 months apart total (Seinfeld’s daughter is the oldest, mine is the youngest). That translates into a 16 year old, a 13 year old, and an 11 year old (not sure if the Seinfelds have a Golden Retreiver).
Similarities — and a Few Differences
That said, I will allow that there are a few, trivial differences between us.
Like, I’m not globally famous; don’t own over 70 vintage cars; don’t have multiple, million-dollar homes (or even one); or have a net worth near $1 billion.**
You know, little stuff . . .
P.S.: the above overlap came in handy when our wives were both expecting child #2 almost 14 years ago.
Just before my son was born, I saw Seinfeld on “Letterman” discussing his wife’s pregnancy. When Letterman asked Seinfeld if they were having a boy or a girl, he answered, “we don’t know the gender, but we hope it’s Jewish.”
I borrowed the line scarcely two weeks later at my son’s bris (Jewish religious ceremony).
**When one of Seinfeld’s kids asked if they were rich, Seinfeld replied, “Your Mom and I are.”
See also, “Kaplans Host President Obama at Their Minneapolis Home“; “Obama and Seinfeld on a (Coffee) Date”; and “That Guy’s a Real Ottoman.”
