Au revoir Donny Garber - Poem: A Concert at the Church

Blogspot gives me such grief!
It wouldn't "publish" the post I
wrote about Sunday.
So I wiped the slate clean and am trying again.

Photos please!

Martha, thanks for hemming my navy sweat pants.

You know what? These are my new fave pants. Front pockets and very comfy.

I threw out all my jeans.

On Sunday morning, nail salons were crowded. Finally found one where I didn't have to wait. Strawberry Nails in Hatboro. Jane did a nice job. Her fourth day there.

Tom and Shirley Sanders picked me up and we drove to a concert at Abington Prez Church. Every seat was taken.

We heard

Vaughn Williams Prelude on a Welsh Hymn Tune

Sibelius Violin Concerto with special guest Tim Schwartz

John Rutter's Requiem. Twas during the Requiem I began to think about Donny Garber, who had died on Saturday on the way to hospice. Cousin Roz, who I called, told me. He weighed 100 pounds, cancer eats away at your body. My father looked awful from his cancer death.

Don's wife Liz has Alz's. People always say, "But they're such a brilliant person!"

Mom called Donny's house in Long Island. A neighbor answered. The Bogarads, close family, were there and Liz's relatives were flying in from the UK.

Tom and Shirley Sanders picked me up and drove me to the church.

We met in the refurbished chapel. Astoundingly beautiful! Since I forgot my camera I took pix on Tuesday, the day of our big ND meeting

Front of the church

 side windows

When you exit here, you end up on the side of the church

Tree of Life



THE CONCERT AT THE CHURCH

It could have been anywhere
The Vatican, Carnegie Hall, the
lawn of The White House

It was a Presbyterian church
whose chapel pointed heaven-
ward with chocolate-colored
beams

The conductor, a tall Lincolnesque
fellow in tails, stood facing the
choir,
silence reigned

Suddenly, he jumped, swung
his baton, tails flapping like
a shore bird taking off

John Rutter's Requiem
begins, solemn, mystical as
a silent planet
circling above

My eyes close
It is Don Garber
I see, Donny, back
home in Cleveland

Let's walk into the
house in University
Heights, across from
John Carroll University
with wooden doors
and crosses

His mother Evelyn
plays piano in
the living room
Kyrie eleison
Kyrie eleison

while his father, Eddie,
does a puzzle at the
kitchen table.

Donny comes downstairs
slowly, dazed, headachey
from studying in his
well-lit bedroom

Physics tries his brain.
Takes him deep within
Like Winnie the Pooh
licking the inside of
a honey pot

The real Donny Garber
was a retired physicist
in Long Island
growing orchids in the
basement with his
scientist wife Liz, with
the charming British
accent

Let light eternal shine
on them Lord, cries the
chorus, as the conductor
summons the entire
orchestra into his
arms

Donald I Garber,
husband of Liz
son of Eddie and
Evelyn Garber, has
passed,
ceased to exist.

His brilliant brain
turned off the
classical music, put
down his latest thriller
gave his last kiss to
Liz and wandered
away, forever, never
to be seen again by mortals
but rests like
a golden locket
upon our hearts.