S lets me in on all the conspiracy theories, not because they're good stories, but because he believes in them. We haven't talked much since the election, and after the inauguration, he's rubbed it in from afar. So, when he descended a cemetery hill in his John Deere vehicle the other day and swept across the road to pull up next to me and Lilith, I wondered. "Remember Renn, who turned out to be Rand?" he asked. Yes, the walker who had recurring cancers and hobbled a lot at the end. "He died. You can find his obituary on the cemetery webpage." The last time I saw Rand on my street, he said things had been rough but he was planning a trip to Paris.
Today, I followed S to his battered green van. He was sitting in the driver's seat, attending to his phone. He wasn't sure he wanted to see me, that much was clear. So I pulled up to his open window and told him that I'd emailed Rand's widow. That she'd emailed back. I read him the message. Yes, they'd gone to Europe ("Yay! He made it!"), enjoyed food and the Alhambra, despite the neuropathy in Rand's feet.
The last time he walked in our area (after 30 years of it!), he and his daughter had gone to the cemetery, but S wasn't there. Must have been his day off. "He was thinking of you," I told S, whose eyes had softened. "That made my day."
I never talked much to Rand, who had great purpose in his gait. But I wish I had. His obit is chronicle of a life very well lived. He was a Vietnam vet, an early childhood expert, a psychologist, a tai chi master, devoted poker player. "He was the least judgmental person I ever met," wrote his wife of over 50 years.
https://www.valley-of-the-temples.com/obituaries/rand-berkline/obituary
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