If you should be so inclined to support an organization in memory of Claire Ann Schwarz, I thank you very much. I have three recommendations, based on my mother's own activism and deep concern for children. -- Eric Schwarz

The only time I went with my parents to New York City was in 1985 or 1986, taking the bus from Atlantic City. I had pestered them, and they relented, to take me to the Museum of Broadcasting (now the Paley Center for Media), so I could see some of the programs featured in the big 1984 exhibit, Lucille Ball: First Lady of Comedy. Then (and now) you had/have to go to the museum to see their exclusive curated archive of decades and decades of radio and TV broadcasts. It was a great day for me. While I was glued to the monitor watching Lucy (perhaps her Q&A that she did for the exhibit, or perhaps The Good Years, which aired once in 1962), my parents went over to Central Park for a horse-drawn carriage ride. It wasn't often that they did romantic things like that, so I hope my dad still remembers that day fondly.

Then later we went to a burger restaurant right one or two doors down from the museum on 53rd Street. Maybe Burger Heaven (?). People who know the Schwarzes know that we're a burger family (if there are no cheesesteaks around).

Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures that day. 

This photo was from November 2002 at the Showboat Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, when the I Love Lucy set went on tour (memorialized on the Lucy fan club site at http://www.lucyfan.com/lucyanniversarytour.html). It was also the date my parents met my partner, Seth (he and I had met in July).

Those who know me, know that I'm a lifelong Lucy fan. I can't say my parents and brother shared the same passion for Lucy, but my mom was supportive and enjoyed watching Lucy with me (especially Lucy's maudlin movie The Big Street). Mom also came with me to see Lucie Arnaz once or twice when Lucie was performing regularly in Atlantic City.