Stepdad was the real deal
George Friedman in 1957: His “Bunny” says he was the best. Credit: Handout
My stepfather knew my mother only three weeks when they married. I was 10, and he never had children but wanted them, and I fit the bill.
He adopted me, and gave me the nickname "Bunny" because, he said, I was cuddly. He took the place of my biological father, who died in an auto accident when I was 7.
My new dad did things like take me to an ice-skating rink in freezing weather while he waited outside the chain-link fence. I didn't know at the time that he didn't have enough money for two to skate.
When I was 11, a friend slept over, and he got up early to make us pancakes. Because there was no syrup, he tried to make some with Kool-Aid and sugar that he stirred on the stove. It wasn't the best, but he was so sweet to try this.
When I was 12, he surprised me when I got home from school by giving me a professional accordion and clarinet to replace my used instruments. When I was 15, he approached a radio host to come to our home and hear me sing with two friends the song I wrote and harmonized. This led to us recording a record that played on the radio and made me a star in the eyes of my classmates.
There was nothing that this man ever denied me. He was a father in every sense of the word. He was so proud of me. He wanted me to "do something with my music ability."
Today, I am a performer in New York and Florida with my husband. How I wish this dad was still here so I could honor him. I tried to do that when I used his last name on my master's diploma, even though I was married by then. He became my dad when I was 10. That was 56 years ago. He was only 56 when he died from leukemia. Being a dad isn't just a biological issue. My dad was the best dad ever!
-- Bunni Gelbman, Yaphank
