We are nearing that point: One year to the day my dear brother Fred fell, June 25, 2010. And one year to the day he passed away: July 9.
The following are some random thoughts from my dedication to him. I will post 4-5 more prior to or by July 9.
Sun King of Queens
“Look there, Logan,” I said to my son on the way back from the funeral. “You know the beginning of ‘King of Queens’? That’s the scene.”
“He always talked about the sixty-four World’s Fair,” said my sister.
And I longed to run home to write about this.
Fred worked for UPS, was a cab driver, worked in a grocery store, and then went on to teach. He visited Albany and other cities, with hopes that he would leave New York City at some point. But, 20 years later, Queens remained his home.
When I think of the silly laughter...
The dryness and rudeness of the sense of humor I inherited could, I swear, only be understood by Fred. I consider it intellectual humor, and I’m sure he did too.
Love (All You Need)
“I should have married Marta,” he recalled to my sister and our dear second cousin Kristie. Had he done so, would things have been different?
Marta, my age, was a woman Fred met while in his first few years of teaching. She taught music and has beautiful green eyes and brown skin. He wrote her a note in order to ask her out. She said yes.
She wrote me an email this week, indicating she would always have a special place in her heart for Fred. She only married recently, perhaps never forgetting the outstanding love they must have shared, by outstanding I mean as in a debt. It was never paid.
I feel lucky to have only lost a brother; Marta lost a love, and a long time ago.
