So cousin Steve died last week, and I keep thinking of Eleanor Rigby -- he was sort of a Queens Jewish male version of her. My new friend Stuart, of Bethesda, Steve's cousin on his father's side, said maybe 2 or 3 folks will attend his funeral. Stuart is the one handling Steve's affairs, and he is a mentsch. Even though Steve's strange personality was VERY tough to live with (never asked about you -- it was always about what HE was doing), Stuart and one of his daughters were there for our mutual cousin -- after his kidney transplant, and up until the end. Stuart was the one who told my Cali sister Sue of Steve's passing.
Sue was the only one of we 3 siblings who kept up a long relationship with Anne, our paternal aunt. Anne was a self taught intellectual, and would write beautiful letters to Sue, in old world penmanship, using great period words like "gal" and "dustup."
It's funny -- my last visit to Anne was with D1 and her 2 English friends, Sorrel and Esther. After we left Anne's apartment, they remarked she was very much like an old English woman, in manner and style. Funny -- the daughter of immigrants from Romania had effected that mien.
Anyway, when Anne died, Susan took it upon herself to sort of adopt a relationship with Steven. His mother was everything to him, and Sue took that to heart. She would call him at least monthly, and always answer his calls. I kept in touch for a bit, and even had him here in a harebrained attempt to fix him up with my sister of another mister Mirta, but truthfully Sue was the champion with Steve -- though he never said so.
Well -- turns out Steve DID have some deep feelings about other humans, and through a phone call Monday from Stuart of Maryland, Sue was floored. Stuart is sending Sue a copy of Steve's will, and it bequeaths her Steve's car, an impeccably maintained and low mileage Accura, which Sue definitely needs, plus a SIX FIGURE cash award!
She called me speechless about it. I was overjoyed for her -- she always struggled financially, and this is life changing money. Wifey and I felt we had won a lottery WITH her.
Steve also left $100K to Stuart's daughter, who, like Sue, kept up as much of a relationship with him as she could. His other daughter was not remembered in the will, which was fair -- she couldn't be bothered with the strange cousin.
He left his co-op to Stuart, and significant gifts to NYC area medical facilities. He left all of his HAM equipment to the HAM Society, if that's what it's called -- his true avocation.
Stuart told me that the gay gentrified neighbors called him PROMPTLY -- they wanted Steve's HAM antenna removed forthwith. They also wanted the odd old Jewish guy out of their now trendy building -- they got that wish, too.
But the happy thing is that in death, Steve connected with the few people who truly cared about him, much more easily than he ever could have in life. He was comically cheap -- the times we were together, I always picked up the tab. My Dad used to joke that Anne still had lunch money saved from James Monroe High School from 1930. Steve probably had it, too.
All I know is, sometimes Karma works the correct way. Sue's kindness, with no real assurance it would be rewarded, WAS rewarded, in a big way.
Steve was giving in death in a way he never could have been in life. And my sister benefits.
Some terrific news for early July.
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