News — Relatives

  When I was little, every Sunday morning started by walking with my dad “to get the paper.”  Instead of The New York Times being delivered to our house, he liked to go down to the local drugstore for it, and I would accompany him.  As the eldest child, my sister still a toddler and at home with my mom, I basked in his full attention.   The neighborhood I lived in was called Indian Village, and all of the streets were named after Native American tribes.  Probably less for tradition and more as a deterrent for cars, almost every...

First, fall desperately in love with one of the classiest women you can imagine. Live and be with her for half a lifetime, and become her best friend.  Know her deeply. Know her so well that you decide to throw a celebration for her 80th birthday.  It will be the first huge party anyone has organized just for her, and keep it a big surprise.  Weeks will pass, and no one will slip up.  Get very excited. And when she goes into the hospital from fatigue two weeks beforehand, when the long term serious illness is discovered, don't cancel anything. ...

One of my favorite relatives, my dad’s older sister, Ruth, was supposed to turn 80 this Friday, and for weeks, a big birthday party was being planned for her this coming weekend.  But yesterday morning, I learned that she had died the night before, and everything has been completely upended. It’s so strange to lose someone you have known your entire life, someone who in a fairly small family, has always been a fixture.  She lived about four hours away, but often traveled through the area, as she and her long-time boyfriend and partner had an antiques business together, and...