Page 37 - WTP Vol. XIII #3

Connie (vaxed, boosted, and tested for Covid), flew down alone
to clean out his apartment and help with the shiva and funeral.
I followed the graveside service on Zoom. Connie, Ray , Larry, Elan and Ari (two of Dan’s sons) and one close Rabbi-friend spoke, praising Dan’s religious nature, his learning, his help to
countless congregants, and
his leadership in interfaith work.
“Life had held rough waters for you,” Connie eulogized, “but you loved the ocean in all its glory. While aching at things lost, your pride
was with your children.”
“You know,” I remembered him confiding while depressed,
“I still believe in God.
I’ve never doubted my faith.”
*
I keep the shofar on my desk. From time to time, I raise and sound it to his memory.
Professor Emeritus at Emerson College, Henry is the author of 12 books including poetry, fiction, lyrical and meditative essays, and
a trilogy of memoirs. His Peter Taylor Award novel, The Marriage of Anna Potts, has been re-released. His new novel Top Cop Kills and poems, Do I Dream Or Wake? Longer Poems were published this year, and a volume of previously uncollected essays, Perspec- tives, is forthcoming. He was the founding editor of Ploughshares, now in its 54th year.
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