Give Aways
Twice a year, I look
through the more than twenty-two hundred books on my shelves, and select those
that I either have read, or haven’t read and would never read.
This endeavor helps me
decide which books to donate to the local library for their semi-annual sale,
or to organizations that could possibly use them.
When I taught a class on
the Holocaust and the illegal Japanese American Internment, I bought as many
books as I could on both of those subjects, including dozens on WWII. I will
hold on to some but donate others to the Japanese American Museum in San Jose,
and to the Northern California or Michigan Holocaust Centers.
Then I came across a
122-page research study put out by the Commonweal Institute entitled,
“Responding to the Attack on Public Education & Teacher Unions.” Although I
never truly read it, the book was written by a good friend of mine Leonard M.
Salle, whom I had known since we were fraternity brothers at Wayne State
University in the mid-1950s.
He, and his wife Kate
Forrest, founded the Commonweal Institute as a think tank. It was an
unabashedly liberal organization where its members actually spent time to
think, offer solutions to problems, and help the uninitiated learn another
point of view.
In 1981, I finished my
488-page doctoral dissertation, spent 963 hours producing my first book The Oy Way, and am diligently working on
my second book, a memoir. I am aware of what effort goes into researching and
writing, and Lenny’s book contained 240 Notes and References, along with
brilliant analytical writing, albeit from a liberal point of view.
Lenny died nine years
ago, and Leonard Nimoy just died at the age of eighty-three. My wife and I have
been trying to decide what to do with our remains after our lives are over. In
the last few weeks, I have spoken to fifteen people of my age around the
country, both family members and friends, and not all of them have decided on a
final resting place, nor how to get there — burial or cremation.
We have visited all of
the Jewish cemeteries within forty miles of here, as well as “neutral” sites. If
you haven’t checked out availability and other financial considerations, you
might plotz when you look at the cost
of the plots.
On yesterday’s trip to Los
Gatos Memorial Park in San Jose, we rode on a golf cart around the massive
cemetery. Actually, there were several cemetery portions within, including an
Asian-American one, a Catholic one, and Shalom Gardens, reserved for members of
the Jewish faith.
Dying Is Costly
Our tour guide’s business
card listed his title as “Preplanning and Family Service Specialist,” and the
pleasant man is on commission. After the ride, we went to a conference room
where he calculated an estimate for a single site at $11,147.56, and for a double
with discount, at $16,213.87. Those prices include internment (open and close),
burial vault, endowment care, survey and development, documentation fee, and
tax. This does not include mortuary costs, preparing the body, the use of a
hearse to deliver the departed to the cemetery, a casket, and someone to
deliver a eulogy. I prefer pre-taping my own.
We have alternatives to
consider, including plots we just bought in a Detroit-area Jewish cemetery
where all of my relatives are buried, that cost only $1,400 each to start with.
Then there would be the added cost of about $2,000 to ship a body back. Over
the phone, I told the woman at the cemetery office that we have over 300,000
frequent flyer miles, so that shouldn’t be a problem to fly first class. She
paused for a moment, and then solemnly said that we would have to fly cargo.
Another problem with
residing in that cemetery during our afterlife is that it would be expensive
and wearing to fly back to visit the site by the partner who was still around,
on this side of the grass. Besides, Carmen is unenthusiastic of being buried in
Michigan, especially after there was recently a wind-chill factor of -24
degrees.
We have also checked
with a local taxidermist to find out the cost of being stuffed. If we went that
route, Carmen would be placed in the back yard with a small shovel in her hand
since she loves gardening, and I would end up in the garage in front of the
table tennis table holding on to a racket.
The easiest solution is
to keep on living for as long as possible, and that is our plan for now.
LLAP
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