Being confined to a room in one's house is a fascinating experience. The family check in on me from time to time, Diego less so. At 17, he seems put out by everything and everyone most of the time, including me and my annoying COVID scare. Jackson and I even watched a movie "together" last night (me on my makeshift bed in the office and he on the living room couch).
I'm really only "quasi-" or "semi-" isolated, and have noticed restrictions loosening as the dirty dishes pile up. (It's good to be needed...)
But seriously, I do place value on limiting contact until the lab results are in.
Yesterday, I spent some time working on our family "Emergency Binder." I printed out a form for our memorial preferences, and realized a few things, in real time, about myself as I filled one out. One is that I don't want to be buried, I want to be cremated. Another is I don't want any of my end-of-life stuff to happen in Texas. I started in New York, and I want to finish my current adventure there, as well. I want everyone to gather in the Union Church in Pocantico Hills, surrounded by Marc Chagall's stained glass windows for my memorial service. And whether they allow it or not, I want my ashes to be scattered in the Cherry Esplanade at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, where I sat on a bench in the rain with a beautiful young woman who is now my wife. I'd never met anyone who made getting rained on seem like such an amazingly pleasant experience.
I also realized I want an old friend, Nate Dudley, to preside over my memorial. He knows what I'm about, comes from a good spiritual and political place, and can officiate in both English and Spanish, a necessity, since approximately fifty percent of my loved ones are Spanish speakers. When I texted him we promptly had a FaceTime conversation, and caught up after many years. We asked after each other's families, compared notes on what opening our respective school systems might look like, until I finally, nervously asked the question I had originally texted him about.
Elder Dudley's answer to my entreaty was perfect: "Very honored by your request. Thank you. But let's make a date in 30 years. 2050 sounds good."
Sounds good to me too, Nato. Sounds good to me too.
 |
| Old pal, and church elder, Nate Dudley, with his two greatest creations |
snaps
ReplyDelete