November 14, 1997

Henry Adler

The first death I feel I've experienced.

Darin's grandfather Henry died yesterday. He was 90 and he'd been ill for a while. I've never had grandparents -- my mother's parents died before she came to the US and for a variety of reasons I didn't see my father's parents after I was about 8 or 9. So Darin's grandparents have been like grandparents to me, without the years and years that Darin's had with them.

Henry was a good man who's gone through far more than you or I. He grew up in Austria between the wars, and he was in Dachau when it was a work camp. Henry and Ilse managed to get to the US in 1939.

The last time I saw Henry, in August, he and Ilse argued about what it was to be an American. He kept saying that he was a refugee. Henry could be pretty cranky -- he was American through and through.

He raised 3 great kids and has 6 great grandkids. He worked very hard and after 90 years, he decided it was time to go.

We go to Michigan tomorrow. Henry will be buried in Traverse City, where he lived the last 50+ years of his life.

Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics

3 miles. I bought some "running" gloves today (made for wicking, I guess), because it's been a wee bit nippy in the mornings. Nothing like Michigan's going to be, though.