When two of the aides were leaving Thursday morning, the nurse called me aside to tell me it could happen late that day or the next day. That day a new nurse came in and within twenty minutes or so she said she could not get a heartbeat. His heart had stopped. Abigail walked in about a couple of minutes after this happened and took a panic attack. We had to give her oxygen and we were getting ready to call 911 but she bounced back. It was so scary. Then all the kids and our children, holding hands, made a semi-circle around his bed and each one at a time would talk to him. I have never experienced anything like it. The closeness of our family was so beautiful. I wasn’t satisfied with the funeral arrangements I had made. The day before the funeral, which was Sunday afternoon, I went to Star of David and made new arrangements. I had Herman buried next to a man whose company he used to enjoy, just talking business, when we belonged to Wood- field Country Club. For the funeral services we had a private room for the immediate families and an open coffin. Sometimes, as sad as something is, there can still be humor. Herman’s brother, Harry, who is 97 years old and suffers some dementia, saw his brother in the coffin and said, “Is he dead?” For some reason that brought a laugh. The services were beautiful. All the grandchildren held hands on the bema and one grandson read a love letter that was written by Herman to me when we were married just one year and we had our first son. It was a gift for me to hear that. Each of our children and their spouse made a small speech. Our oldest son, Frank, who is just divorced, began and spoke alone. Then we got into the limo and drove to the Star of David ceme- tery. There were about 150 cars in the procession and 6 police motorcycles for an escort. At the gravesite they played Taps and gave me a folded American flag because of Herman’s service as an Army medic in World War II. We sat shiva until Thursday of that week. Every day we had about a hundred guests at our house and the minyan services every day. Over 400 people left condolence messages on Facebook. As our grandson, Joseph, said, “Papa’s life was one big love story. He loved everybody.” A couple of days before Herman passed, he said, “Dorothy, I hate to leave you.” That was so touching to me. And, I say, “Herman, the feeling is mutual.” - 2014
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