The Long and Winding Road

Early in the morning on Friday, my father’s Aunt Rose passed away. Due to the timing or her death, and Jewish tradition (I can explain in private email if someone wants to hear the reason), there was no real eulogy at her funeral, so I want to share some thoughts here.

She was 95 years old, and expect for the last 6 years or so when she was in a nursing home, she lived in Brooklyn, much of those years in the same apartment in Borough Park. Of all of this generation, I remember my Aunt Rose the most. She was one of three sisters. Her older sister Florance was my grandmother and she died when I was very young. Her younger sister Minna died a few years later, and though I have some fond memories of Aunt Minnie, none of them can compare to Rose.

I think she was at our house or we at her home at least twice a month. She was with us for every holiday, every celebration and every time sadness came as well. She was married to Michael, uncle mike for many years and not for lack of trying, they had no children. I think that me and my siblings were like her surrogate children. My uncle Mike worked as a letter carrier for the post office for most of his adult life and thought they never had much, they gave everything they had to me and my brothers and sister, my cousins and the one nephew that uncle mike had on his side.

When I was in college, more than once I found myself at their apartment. One time I when to Brooklyn with my roommate and his mother to do some errands in Borough Park. Even though my friend and his mother had never met my Aunt Rose, I called a few hour before, and she graciously invited me and my friends into her home. I will never forget that moment, and I know that she never did as well.

After her husband did, she lived in her apartment for a number of years, some with full time care. As this became difficult, my father and his sister Naomi moved Rose to a nursing home in Central New Jersey so she would be nearer to us all. We visited her there a number of times, but I never really saw the Aunt Rose I remembered from the past and she became very distant to us all. The Rabbi at the home told us that she did speak to him about her memories, and I have to take some comfort that in her last years, she did find someone to talk to enjoy her memories with.

What does this have to do with the song of the day? Well, at many Jewish funerals someone will read a passage from the third chapter of Ecclesiastes. The beginning of this chapter became very well knows to music lovers when the Byrds recored a song written by Pete Seeger which was basically the first 8 verses of this chapter. The song became know as Turn! Turn! Turn! and below is a video of a reunion concert of three of the original members of the Byrds.

Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNopQq5lWqQ&hl=en]