This Is Not My Beautiful House

I keep hearing the Talking Heads "Once in a Lifetime" over and over in my own head lately, as this journey through time continues.

Yesterday there was another milestone: our friend Jeanette's father Dave died, following complications from a nasty fall. He was in his late 80s.

I always really liked Dave. I met him in '84 when Jeanette and her man Bob moved to Miami . Dave, a Jewban, and his wife Inez, an exotic Honduran Jewess, were already living here  --in North Beach. They were here with their mentally ill son Larry.

Dave always worked, and never became well off, but he first and foremost took care of his family. Jeanette gave him so much joy -- topped off with her two awesome daughters, whom Dave adored. Larry, who he loved, gave him so much grief with his awful journey through schizophenia and substance abuse.  They gave Larry the best care they could, and Larry spent his final years in a secure halfway house in South Miami. The late night calls from police arrests still came, and Dave and Inez just dealt with them, even as they aged.

But when Larry died, in his early 50s, Dave grieved deeply. I remember hugging him at his son's funeral, and saying how sorry I was, that no man should bury a son. And he looked up and me and said "thank you."

We last saw Dave a few months back at his granddaughter's wedding, in Miami Springs. He was beaming. He looked great, and danced with his family.  He and I talked, and he beamed about my D1, who was there with her Latin Jewish husband.  I was so happy for him.

But I guess the Big Man decided it was time to join Him, and Dave did, yesterday. The funeral is tomorrow, and Wifey and I will attend before we leave for France the next day. I'm glad I will get to honor this fine man before we leave town.

So I guess that's the story. You live a long life, if you're lucky. You hopefully mean a lot to your loved ones. I know Dave did -- in his hospital stay, his daughter and granddaughters were there to visit. A lot -- despite their hectic schedules.  Dave gave his heart to his family, and they loved him so dearly.

He died after a full, beloved life.

I guess it was, indeed, his beautiful house...