tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6345889130053053070.post6195176403296095289..comments2023-08-20T21:14:43.398-07:00Comments on Before Nine: Reprint Heaven: Two Men From Utah BeachMongo, At The Momenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00973606827337262084noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6345889130053053070.post-51473233332277243912015-11-16T06:07:51.662-08:002015-11-16T06:07:51.662-08:00thanks for reprinting this piece - well worth savo...thanks for reprinting this piece - well worth savoring - you do this long form very well<br /><br />a couple of tangential comments come to mind - they are self-referential, of course<br /><br />i had a servant's eye view of the very rich for a little over a year, when i was a uniformed (but unarmed - this was the early 1970's) security guard in a couple of ruling class jewelry stores in boston on newbury st - the one i was at first closed for the summer, when the elderly italian sisters who ran it - and their clientele - went to the cape<br /><br />i was then reassigned to the jewelry store on the ground floor of the ritz carlton hotel<br /><br />when the parenti sisters reopened in september they asked for me back, and got me - i was flattered, but i actually preferred the other store - bigger, less boring<br /><br />then the next day i was reassigned back to the other store - as i heard it, the owner threatened to cancel his contract with the security firm unless he got me back - he got his way, but the owners of the other store then canceled THEIR contract <br /><br />in fact, i was overqualified to be in that position - once i heard the parenti sisters talking about me, saying what a shame it was that i was so underemployed - they spoke in italian, not realizing that i had a smattering of that tongue as a consequence of living in napoli when my career military father was assigned to the nato facilities there<br /><br />i was preparing myself for grad school at that time (basically memorizing the highest-level intro book in the field i aspired to - i had only a few courses in it while an undergraduate)<br /><br />and, on another topic<br /><br />about holden caulfield's dislike for the thought of being stuck in a cemetery - my spinster aunt, who died last year, had a somewhat similar attitude - whatever happened to her earthly remains was not her problem, and she declined to express a preference on it (nor had she made any provisions for dealing with it)<br /><br />i looked into the prospect of donating the body - she would have had to have made prior arrangements to get into medical school, but the human tissue brokers would have taken her for disassembly and distribution to their customers <br /><br />in the end her estranged sister paid for the cremation, and her last atoms would have been laid to rest next to her parents, except that my cousin, tasked with this assignment because he lives in the same state, was distracted by his wife's cancer - my cousin-in-law is still in the land of the living, and perhaps my aunt's interment in the family plot may yet happen<br /><br />and now, by a process of association, i think of a photograph i recently viewed - the scene of the concert hall in paris so recently in the news, with several audience members still remaining long after the event is over<br /><br />and then my mind goes to<br /><br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_vita_in_morte_sumus<br /><br />mistah charley, ph.d.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06303695341246058680noreply@blogger.com