Shabbat Shalom

Dear Dad,

Missing you today.  Found this picture in the house when I was there a few weeks back.  Such a good shot of you.  I had seen it before sometime in the sixties hanging around the house, but it grabbed my attention this time and I have been looking at it now and again.

What's new.  Well, your Miami Heat will likely wrap up the Eastern Conference Championship tonight. They are playing the Indiana Pacers who look lost on the court even though they have won two games out of the five played so far.  The Spurs are ahead 3-2 against the Thunder in the west.  My guess is that the Spurs will win in seven.  I know how much you liked the NBA playoffs and now I can't watch without thinking of how you would have enjoyed following the games.

The Rangers are in the Stanley Cup finals. Bobby is on cloud nine.  He was at the Garden last night when the Rangers clinched beating the Canadiens 1-0.  He said the city was crazy after the game and he did not get home to Jersey until the wee hours.

We've got the stone in for engraving with the words you wanted.  It should be ready in a few weeks. We are having the unveiling in early September for both you and mom.  Right near your anniversary. We thought that would be fitting.

I saw Brownie when I was down there. Also your buds from the Cafe--all singing your praises of course.  Mel and Miriam took me out for breakfast.  Wally was out of town but I will see him when I go back again, probably in the next week or so.  Place was hopping for mid May.  Did not seem like the snow birds have gone back yet.

We went to the Yiddish Center on Mother's Day to the show dedicated to you and mom. You would have enjoyed it--"A Musical Tribute to Molly Picon." The emcee made some nice comments about you and the Chicopee folks who, very generously, made the donations that allowed it to happen.  It was a beautiful day in western Massachusetts.  Bobby and I thanked the Chicopee family on the camp site and this, vu den, brought out a series of wonderful comments about you two.

I run into some strange ducks around here and everywhere I've been actually.  I made a comment about this in the eulogy I gave for you in March. The point was/is that one of the things I think about often is how other-worldly these others seemed to me when I first encountered them.  Having lived with such a decent, moral, dad and mom, I was not prepared for the bevy of self serving fools I have run into since.  In some cases morally bereft, in other cases just lobotomized.

In your last months I'd call on Friday and say "Shabbat Shalom."  You'd respond, "Shabbat Shalom, Alan."

I can hear you now.

Love

Alan, ben Meyer.