Death happens in threes.
1. My paternal grandmother, Beatrice Arnold nee Morse, died Monday 21 November at the age of eighty-six after a long illness.
Age 86 of Randolph formerly of Hull and Sunrise, Fla. on November 21, 2005. Beloved wife of the late Samuel L. Arnold. Devoted mother of Richard M. (Ricky) Arnold and his wife Karen of Burlington, Peter M. Arnold and his wife Betsy of Braintree. Loving sister of Dorothy Warren of Hull and the late Henry, Jack, Martha Morse and Edythe Lipman. Also survived by her much loved grandaughters Alison and Gil Yaker of Braintree and Lauren, Carolyn and Susan, also of Braintree and Sara and Aidan Skinner of Glasgow, Scotland. She had many loving nieces and nephews. Graveside Services at the Koretz Cemetery, 776 Baker St., West Roxbury on Tuesday, November 22 at 1 p.m. Memorial observance will be private. Remembrances may be made to the Simon Fireman Community, 640 No. Main St., Randolph, MA 02368 Brezniak-Rodman 617-969-0800. Published in the Boston Globe on 11/22/2005.
Yes, I am not too happy with that obituary for somewhat obvious reasons... but let's put that aside, shall we? I didn't make it to the US for the funeral and sitting shiva. There were a number of reasons for that, most notably my dad's desire not to postpone it past the 24-hour rule (which would have been Judaically acceptable given the circumstances), a massive snowstorm forecast for the day to which it would have been postponed, and difficulty getting an immediate flight. I was there in spirit, though. My cousins and I wrote a eulogy to Grandma together the night before mentioning all the things we learned from her and the ways in which we're like her which was read by Carolyn with the much appreciated word-for-word inclusion of my apologies for not being there, my childhood Rabbi did the service (showing how much of a truly good person she is by possibly breaking her contract to do so, since my parents are no longer members of the temple), and my dad threw a handful of dirt on my behalf after my four cousins did. It touches my heart how much the family pulled together and how much we've all been there for each other during this time; it almost makes the grief easier to bear and gives me hope that the loss of our matriarch won't mean that the family will slowly drift apart.
I have a lot of wonderful memories of my grandmother. Most of the Yiddish I know came from her, staying with her (and my grandfather when he was still alive) in Florida and seeing ample evidence that being a packrat is genetic, hearing stories about family members and the olden days, being taught how to use coupons in such a way that one can get a store to give one money for a product instead of paying them, how to get freebies (which I've taken into the 21st century by doing it all online), her knitting... there's so much. I have and will continue to think of her every time I log on to a freebie website, save money on groceries (or open my own expat grocery like I've been considering), wear one of the many things she knitted for me, or if/when I have my own children and use the baby blanket she knitted for me several years ago. I loved my grandmother and I miss her terribly but I hope I can honour her life.
2. Tal Stoneheart, aka Endel Opik, aka tals, died Monday 21 November of a heart attack at the age of thirty-seven.
News stories here, here, and here.
I didn't know him very well -- hence the fact that I had no idea he was LibDem MP Lembit Opik's little brother -- but what I knew of him was that he was a kind, interesting, and fun hedonist. We frequented some of the same Usenet newsgroups, had an email correspondence in the mid-to-late '90s (around choosing him as one of the {x} of the {x}'s that were popular at the time, two of which I ran, not that those were well-known), and I attended a particular party (which was an ephiphany to me) he and Fury held at Whitby 2002. Due to the type of party my in-person memories of him are not for public consumption, but he was a very cool guy with similar dreams and goals to my own whom I wish I'd known better. My heart goes out to his wife metzkass, his children, and the rest of his family.
3. Kevin McCormick, aka FrostByte, died of a heart attack on Sunday 13 November at the age of twenty-nine.
Given the circumstances and the American news media's penchant for sensationalism and yellow journalism, not to mention the ongoing police investigation, I've decided not to link any news articles. Do a Google News search yourself if you want.
I only met him once at the one Warehouse party I attended, but he was a close friend with several people with whom I have been good friends with for a long time and we traveled in some of the same circles. They should know that I'm thinking of them. I'd write more here but I've well and truly run out of steam... and, as mentioned above, the circumstances of his death decree that anything else I would write not be public.
No one else die, please. Please?
Age 86 of Randolph formerly of Hull and Sunrise, Fla. on November 21, 2005. Beloved wife of the late Samuel L. Arnold. Devoted mother of Richard M. (Ricky) Arnold and his wife Karen of Burlington, Peter M. Arnold and his wife Betsy of Braintree. Loving sister of Dorothy Warren of Hull and the late Henry, Jack, Martha Morse and Edythe Lipman. Also survived by her much loved grandaughters Alison and Gil Yaker of Braintree and Lauren, Carolyn and Susan, also of Braintree and Sara and Aidan Skinner of Glasgow, Scotland. She had many loving nieces and nephews. Graveside Services at the Koretz Cemetery, 776 Baker St., West Roxbury on Tuesday, November 22 at 1 p.m. Memorial observance will be private. Remembrances may be made to the Simon Fireman Community, 640 No. Main St., Randolph, MA 02368 Brezniak-Rodman 617-969-0800. Published in the Boston Globe on 11/22/2005.
Yes, I am not too happy with that obituary for somewhat obvious reasons... but let's put that aside, shall we? I didn't make it to the US for the funeral and sitting shiva. There were a number of reasons for that, most notably my dad's desire not to postpone it past the 24-hour rule (which would have been Judaically acceptable given the circumstances), a massive snowstorm forecast for the day to which it would have been postponed, and difficulty getting an immediate flight. I was there in spirit, though. My cousins and I wrote a eulogy to Grandma together the night before mentioning all the things we learned from her and the ways in which we're like her which was read by Carolyn with the much appreciated word-for-word inclusion of my apologies for not being there, my childhood Rabbi did the service (showing how much of a truly good person she is by possibly breaking her contract to do so, since my parents are no longer members of the temple), and my dad threw a handful of dirt on my behalf after my four cousins did. It touches my heart how much the family pulled together and how much we've all been there for each other during this time; it almost makes the grief easier to bear and gives me hope that the loss of our matriarch won't mean that the family will slowly drift apart.
I have a lot of wonderful memories of my grandmother. Most of the Yiddish I know came from her, staying with her (and my grandfather when he was still alive) in Florida and seeing ample evidence that being a packrat is genetic, hearing stories about family members and the olden days, being taught how to use coupons in such a way that one can get a store to give one money for a product instead of paying them, how to get freebies (which I've taken into the 21st century by doing it all online), her knitting... there's so much. I have and will continue to think of her every time I log on to a freebie website, save money on groceries (or open my own expat grocery like I've been considering), wear one of the many things she knitted for me, or if/when I have my own children and use the baby blanket she knitted for me several years ago. I loved my grandmother and I miss her terribly but I hope I can honour her life.
2. Tal Stoneheart, aka Endel Opik, aka tals, died Monday 21 November of a heart attack at the age of thirty-seven.
News stories here, here, and here.
I didn't know him very well -- hence the fact that I had no idea he was LibDem MP Lembit Opik's little brother -- but what I knew of him was that he was a kind, interesting, and fun hedonist. We frequented some of the same Usenet newsgroups, had an email correspondence in the mid-to-late '90s (around choosing him as one of the {x} of the {x}'s that were popular at the time, two of which I ran, not that those were well-known), and I attended a particular party (which was an ephiphany to me) he and Fury held at Whitby 2002. Due to the type of party my in-person memories of him are not for public consumption, but he was a very cool guy with similar dreams and goals to my own whom I wish I'd known better. My heart goes out to his wife metzkass, his children, and the rest of his family.
3. Kevin McCormick, aka FrostByte, died of a heart attack on Sunday 13 November at the age of twenty-nine.
Given the circumstances and the American news media's penchant for sensationalism and yellow journalism, not to mention the ongoing police investigation, I've decided not to link any news articles. Do a Google News search yourself if you want.
I only met him once at the one Warehouse party I attended, but he was a close friend with several people with whom I have been good friends with for a long time and we traveled in some of the same circles. They should know that I'm thinking of them. I'd write more here but I've well and truly run out of steam... and, as mentioned above, the circumstances of his death decree that anything else I would write not be public.
No one else die, please. Please?