Rosenbush Cafe

Frances and Bernie at his surprise 80th birthday party August 2, 1990. Dad had undergone near fatal triple bypass surgery in January and Frances planned, invited, selected the Sheraton on Bear Bryant drive and paid for it all. My only duty was getting dad there without raising suspicion. He was surprised and several of the invited guests, all friends from the District Exchange Club would die within a year. Dad died February 24, 1995. Frances died Sunday, September 23, at the age of 93, after suffering for years with Alzheimer’s disease. She is finally free of the pain and in the end, she told me good bye. The promise I made with dad on his deathbed came to pass as I managed to keep her at home where she could leave the world with dignity.

TUSCALOOSA, AL-Alabama fell to 3-7 in overtimes with a 26-23 loss to Georgia in a game reminiscent of Auburn’s loss in OT to South Florida earlier this year. In both games the visiting team won the toss and elected to give the home team first possession and both Auburn and Alabama kicked field goals only to have the opposition score a touch down in the left corner of the end zone. The Southeastern Conference match up saw the Bulldogs defeat the Crimson Tide at Bryant Denny Stadium for only the second time in nine tries.
(continue reading…)

While visiting my father’s grave, prior to sunset Friday for Yom Kipper, I recalled the many times he and mother sat in that stadium watching Alabama Crimson Tide Football. The stadium was much smaller then. My father was an alumni, Class of 1932, and a fan for all of his life. Football has changed even from the Paul Bear Bryant days when you had over a hundred guys on the team and everyone played. One year they beat my alma mater, USM 60-0. The Golden Eagles were scored on by first, second, third and fourth string players.

Today it is far more specialized and position players are groomed for eventual National Football League drafts. Dad taught me much about life and when it came to football he told me to never take it too seriously, so I rarely do anymore. As I drove down Univesity Blvd I noticed the ESPN control center sat up in front of the stadium for today’s match of Southeastern Conference rival Georgia (1-7 here). The excitement is obvious outside my office window, even at 1:18 a.m. people are on the move throughout the campus. Drunken, profane fellow across the street sitting against the bumper of a car and surrounded by other inebriated guys and gals.

It is a pleasant night, 76 degrees and tonight’s game looks to be 69 with isolated thunderstorms. Pleasant enough now; my lot will be filled to capacity with Alabama tailgaters, and at least one Georgia fan, David Schuessler who lived in L of the Henri Villas, with roommate Matt Alexander in 1991-92.

After the 26-23 Overtime win by Georgia, David was humble in his team’s success; he did after all go to UA but we hung out for a while and he enjoyed the comfort of my office apartment for the first time in many years.

In observance of the Jewish High Holy Day of Yom Kipper we will be closed from Sunset Friday until Sunset Saturday. Happy New Year 5768 to all our Jewish friends and readers worldwide. The Kaddish Yatom (Mourner’s Kaddish) is at the bottom of this page. No updates will be posted until the Saturday night Alabama Crimson Tide (16th) football game against the visiting Georgia Bulldogs (22nd). Kickoff is at 6:45 p.m. and televised by ESPN.

Art by Natalia: Hypnagogique dreamer enters the universal bloodstream Copyright © 2003 TaliaArt

By Henry B. Rosenbush
Contains adult themes and profanity
Updated 7.27.09

When I envisioned Rosenbush Café it was with the love and help from my partner, Natalia, and encouragement from a former friend and colleague an online news publisher (it would be foolish to waste time explaining why we are former friends but, alas, we are). I am First Class in Procrastination having proved it repeatedly over the years by beginning novels, house cleaning and selling antiques without completing them.

In 1984, while taking a creative writing class under the late popular southern writer and educator Fred Bonne, at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, I penned a two and one half page short story, simply called, He’s Out.

My late Aunt, Virginia “Gin & Tonic” Bridgewater was the biggest supporter of my writing and she thought He’s Out was wonderful in its simplicity. At the time, my brief journalistic career had ended and I was ready to return to the creative writing I started when I was 12 years old with The Haunted Mine.

Virginia always encouraged me to write and since I was without a job and living with her briefly in Birmingham I figured maybe I could freelance. That took more dedication than I was willing to expend so I ended up by in Tuscaloosa, later taking over The Henry Apartments in 1987 from my father and mother, renovating them and hoping to get back into serious novel writing.
(continue reading…)