Thursday, May 22, 2025

Bad News On The Electronic Doorstep

 Loved that line from Don McLean about reading about the death of Buddy Holly in the newpapers he delivered. Alas, several years ago I gave up the print Herald deliveries -- all my bad news now comes electronically.

We got word from Steve yesterday that our friend Susan was at peace. She died in hospice. I had grieved the day before, when I learned her fight was over -- yesterday hit Wifey hard, as she recalled the great times they shared -- especially the fact that Susan had brought us Vienna, the strange rescue dog, and how the two of them drove to their favorite jeweler, Phillips House, on Miami Beach. 

The funeral is set for Mt. Nebo -- set to be Wifey and my final resting place, in Kendall, followed by a memorial service at UM, in the same Lakeside Pavillion Dr. Barry was in for the Provost's Teaching Awards. It's Sunday, and I texted Steve that, but for our Europe trip, we'd have attended, of course. I said I would remember Susan to Budapest.

Steve wrote back that nearly a year ago, he and Susan were in Budapest, and loved it so they vowed to return -- they took the land version of the trip we're on -- Budapest to Prague. I told him indeed Susan WOULD return, though in spirit as we spoke her name.

I spent a lovely day with D1, dropping off the Special Needs/Now Elderly Spaniel Bo. We left with Betsy and Bo to fetch Little Man from pre school, to take him to Legos at the Community Center. On the way he explained to us that "some teachers are EXPERTS." Yeah -- the kid has his Mom's vocabulary already, and would never be called taciturn.

When Legos ended, we fetched him and then fetched Pura Vida in Downtown Miami Shores -- D2 pointed out all of the 100 year old houses in this old Miami suburb. We went to D1's house, and later D1 came home with Baby Man, and there was brother joy and the eating of quesadillas. I savored my time with those precious boys before dropping off D2 and her regular dog and visiting dog and heading for home.

Neighbors emailed me: more bad news. Their son, who I tried to refer to my friend Joel to fight some murder-y charges, was found guilty of arranging the revenge killing of a car customizer guy. The parents were "Shocked." I wasn't -- the evidence was solid, and then you go to trial in Federal Court in Miami, you lose, I think, 98% of the time. Joel would have gotten the kid a better deal -- he's going to now get "launched" as they say in the trade -- probably get life. I feel for his parents -- two lovely Guyanese CPAs.

But the bad news was not to end -- I awoke during the night to pee and read about the murder of the lovely young Israeli couple in D.C. They were beautiful -- the fellow bought a ring and was about to pop the question to his fellow Israeli Embassy employee next week. The creep is from Chicago -- I hope they destroy his whole family -- as Israel has learned with terrorists, that seems to be the only thing with any sort of deterrent effect.

So it's a downer day -- and I think of Melville in "Moby Dick," whose narrator Ishmael said that when he got down, he knew it was time to go to sea. Wifey and I and Eric and Dana are choosing to fly OVER the sea -- but I look most forward to these 2 weeks away.

And Sunday, if we arrive as scheduled, I WILL toast our friends Susan and her beloved Steve from that beautiful Hungarian capitol.

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