One of the joys of living in New York City is the vibrant cultural life. This winter, we have seen several plays and gone twice to the Metropolitan Opera.

In December, we saw Puccini’s La Boheme at the Met, which is a wonderful opera.

Last week, we got cheap (but excellent) seats for Puccini’s Turandot. The music and singing were outstanding, as were the gorgeous sets.

And I noticed that the seat in front of me had a name plaque on it, honoring someone who had made a generous donation. The plaque said “Judge and Mrs. Samuel I. Rosenman.” The name was familiar but I couldn’t place it. I couldn’t google during intermission because there was no guest internet service.

I googled when I got home and learned that Judge Rosenman was one of FDR’s closest associates. Wikipedia said that he wrote almost every speech that FDR gave, and he assembled FDR’s brain trust of advisors. Reading more, I learned that the granddaughter of Judge and Mrs. Rosenman is married to Merrick Garland.

What’s the point? Small world. History is all around us. Can you believe it?