Turning Up Dead

 So it's been a pretty busy grandparent few days around here. Sunday Wifey and I spent a lovely day with the boys and their parents, and Monday I drove back to the Shores area to fetch Baby Man with D2 -- Joey's out of town and D1 needs some family Uber help.

After the fetch, we had a great Monday night getty -- Jonathan came home early, and Dr. Barry and Donna and their boy Scott all convened at D2's house - Scott in town from D.C. for a few days. I checked the vodka supply for martinis, and realized there was a serious shortage. But UberEats delivered some Tito's and a bottle of Maker's in precisely 25 minutes -- from the North Miami Big Daddy's.

It occurred to me I never want to live in an area too far from delivery services -- I have become QUITE spoiled. What if the vodka shortage happened at a rural outpost? It may have been tragic.

Anyway, we caught up, and then caravanned to New Schintzel House, which was happy to have our party of 6 on a slow Monday night. It was lovely.

Yesterday, Wifey felt up to another drive, and we fetched Baby Man at his preschool, and went to D2's again -- he happily played and watched his favorite, Elmo, on the big screen TV. Then we dropped him at his house, and made the traffic drive home, so Wifey could greet her at-home PT, who is helping with neck pain.

But the other day, I learned an old business contact turned up dead. It was the second time this happened. The first time was with a Jewban fellow named David, with whom we handled a LOT of cases during our busy days. We lost touch with him after we turned down a chance to handle his wife Rosa's claim against a condo, and a few years went by. And then, at the funeral of our friend Jeannette's father, also a Jewban named David, as we stood in the pouring rain graveside, Wifey noticed another stone and said "Look -- that fellow has the same name as your old friend."

Well, it WAS the old friend -- he had died a few years before, as we learned as Wifey did a quick search in the car afterwards. He was in his 70s. It struck me how a fellow who was so much a part of our work life -- handling big cases, and partying afterwards, was now permanently lying in the Jewish cemetery beneath the loud flight path of jets landing at MIA. 

The other day, I was looking for another obit for a friend -- guy named Howard who had died at 59. I typed in "Miami, Howard, Obituary" and found him -- along with ANOTHER former lawyer with whom we had a lot of cases!

Howard and Alan were major advertising lawyers -- huge billboards and lots of TV ads, with a building  on US1 that everyone passed. We handled a lot of cases with them, too.

The first time, Howard called me for a second opinion -- he was going to settle a near drowning case of a little girl for the $300K of homeowner's coverage -- did I agree? Well, I researched the incident, learned an old boss of mine was a lawyer involved, and he let on that the incident happened during a Boy Scout meeting, and of course we knew that the pool fence had been removed by the homeowners/meeting hosts the day before the meeting, to make the pool look better for an impending home sale.

We took the case and settled for many millions of dollars for the poor family -- and the little girl, left in a vegetative state, died months after we settled. Howard and Alan really dug us after that.

Anyway, over time, we sort of gave Alan and Howard over to Stuart, and all was well, until it wasn't. They had sent Stu a med mal case, and the Mom wasn't happy with the glacial pace of the litigation -- she decided to fire Stu, and reached out to an old acquaintance who she knew -- turned out to be Paul, from an Israel trip years before!

We convinced her to NOT fire Stuart, and we would get involved, which we did -- it was a complicated med mal case defended by the best med mal lawyer in town -- Norman!

Paul got the case settled, and I held the clients' hands, as the parents were in the throes of a nasty split.

When the case settled, I guess Alan and Howard assumed we had saved the case and worked it for free. They assumed wrong, and they were upset when they had to take a haircut on their share of the fee. That ended them sending any new cases to Stu, or us.

Poor Alan got sick afterwards -- with a rare neuromuscular disease that killed him cruelly and slowly -- kind of like ALS. Stu attended his funeral.

Howard sold the firm, to a fellow named Jon, a former classmate of mine, and the building was sold, too -- a real estate firm is there now. I assumed Howard and his wife Lynn lived happily ever after -- just a block north of my 'hood.

And then I saw Howard had died LAST year, at 74! I have no details, but Wifey looked up the house -- Lynn had sold it, and will probably enjoy a comfortable and happy widowhood. Not a bad gig...

So you never know who's gonna die on ya. Jim Morrison famously said no one here gets out alive.

So RIP, Howard. He and Alan were best friends as well as partners -- they used to leave the office daily, go to Howard's house for lunch and then pump iron, followed by some herb, before returning to the office.

Maybe they're doing that in the Hereafter. It's nice to think so...