{"id":952,"date":"2017-04-08T13:49:30","date_gmt":"2017-04-08T17:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/takethepatience.com\/?p=952"},"modified":"2017-04-08T13:49:30","modified_gmt":"2017-04-08T17:49:30","slug":"95-america-street-chapter-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/takethepatience.com\/?p=952","title":{"rendered":"95 America Street, Chapter 9"},"content":{"rendered":"

November, 2010<\/em><\/p>\n

On November 12th<\/sup>, 2010, the near-perfect Thomas Aloysius Pemberton died.\u00a0 One of his neighbors, Andrew, called me.\u00a0 Andrew and his partner Dez had seen an ambulance pull up to the house that morning.\u00a0 Mr. Pemberton\u2019s cleaner found him dead in his chair.\u00a0 The record player was still spinning although the record had finished several hours earlier.\u00a0 On the turntable was Song for My Father <\/em>by Horace Silver, a fine album to end on.<\/p>\n

I believe it was a stroke he suffered or it might have been a heart attack.\u00a0 I\u2019m not really sure and I don\u2019t care.\u00a0 I remember when my favorite cat died.\u00a0 They said it was a clot or something vague like that.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t understand it at the time and I still don\u2019t.\u00a0 I found the reason of my cat\u2019s death the furthest from my concerns.\u00a0 Unless some skullduggery is involved or there is lesson in health to be learned, the reason of someone\u2019s death is less important information than the contents of their hard to reach cabinets above the refrigerator (which, as we all know, are only filled with Tupperware we never use and the instruction manual for a microwave\u2026even if we don\u2019t own a microwave).\u00a0 It\u2019s funny how I compare the death of Mr. Pemberton to the death of my favorite cat.\u00a0 That would seem to diminish Mr. Pemberton in some way but in fact it\u2019s quite the opposite.\u00a0 Nothing my cat ever did or anything about him bothered me in any way.\u00a0 He was great all of the time.\u00a0 There\u2019s not one person I\u2019ve ever met that made me feel that way except Mr. Pemberton.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The funeral took place at Saint Theresa\u2019s in West Roxbury.\u00a0 In the church, in the row in front of me and about ten feet to my right, I noticed a couple in their late sixties or early seventies.\u00a0 They spoke to each other in what I thought was German.\u00a0 During the service, I observed their grief.\u00a0 It was plain to see that the husband was there to support his wife and had little to no direct connection to Mr. Pemberton.\u00a0 The woman clearly knew Mr. Pemberton.\u00a0 Her grief was unique and quite deep.\u00a0 It stood apart from the rest of the grief of everyone else.\u00a0 It was almost like this moment triggered some past painful experience.<\/p>\n

A reception was held nearby at The Corrib.\u00a0 I ordered a bourbon at the bar and while I waited, I heard a crackly voice say, \u201cYou must be Chris\u201d.\u00a0 I turned around there was a smiling man in his late 80\u2019s. \u00a0He had wild eyebrows that looked like dogfights, the ones that old white men often seem to have.\u00a0 Time had bent him over a little bit and although he probably should have been using a cane, he did not have one.\u00a0 His white hair went straight back with no part and he had most of it.\u00a0 Beneath those apocalyptic eyebrows were a set of intense darks eyes.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t exactly look like Mr. Pemberton\u2019s eyes but they shared some intangible quality I could not identify.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy name\u2019s Frank Rosenberg.\u00a0 I\u2019m TAP\u2019s war buddy.\u201d\u00a0 Frank spoke in a way that no one longer speaks, almost like a 1940\u2019s radio announcer.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes!\u00a0 Mr. Pemberton told me about you!\u00a0 You\u2019re the reason he came to Boston many years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

I was genuinely excited to make this man\u2019s acquaintance, so much so I was about to transfer my excitement into a vigorous handshake but stopped myself, remembering the time years ago that I had given a hearty handshake to my brother in law\u2019s elderly father that left him with a sore shoulder for weeks.\u00a0 With a gentle yet respectable measure, I shook Frank\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m also part of the reason he made all that money!\u00a0 I was his business partner.\u00a0 When TAP came out here, we got drunk for a few weeks and believe it or not, out of that came a solid business idea!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s great.\u00a0 I\u2019m so glad to hear I\u2019m not wasting my time when I\u2019m drinking.\u00a0 I can\u2019t believe I\u2019m only meeting you now.\u00a0 Mr. Pemberton told me a lot about you and your fuel injection business.\u00a0 You got your inspiration for your business from the war, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou got it, slim.\u00a0 The first time TAP and I saw or heard of fuel injection in a motor was in some of the European airplane engines.\u00a0 We thought it had great potential within the American motor industry so we set up a \u2018lab\u2019, if you will, in Boston and tried to develop our own \u2018brew\u2019.\u00a0 We had a lot of lean years but we stuck it out and by the 80\u2019s, some form of our patented technology was being used in almost all American automobiles.\u201d<\/p>\n

I was still reeling from the fact he called me \u201cslim\u201d.\u00a0 \u201cSo that means you can buy me a drink?\u201d<\/p>\n

Franks laughed.\u00a0 \u201cIt depends on what kind of drink.\u00a0 Anything more than Bud will require financial assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was clear to me that Frank was great.\u00a0 I could see how the two of them got on so well and inspired each other to excel.\u00a0 Both had that classy, balanced zest for life that seemed to be passing with their generation.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think either one had an irremovable passion for fuel injection.\u00a0 It happened to be the thing on the table at the time.\u00a0 It made sense to two men that not only had the natural talent needed to pull off what they pulled off, they had that ethereal thing that few have that allowed them to be certain their idea was one that would work.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I was so happy to have met Frank.\u00a0 He provided more insight into Mr. Pemberton than some secret diary.\u00a0 Although Frank exercised award-winning candor when discussing him, he was less open in matters concerning the war.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe war changed TAP.\u00a0 It changed us all but it had an effect on him that was more than most.\u201d<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t dare ask Frank to expand on his statement.\u00a0 His demeanor changed when he brought up the war that I felt it best to leave it.\u00a0 At one point, I thought Frank was going to cry but no tears came out.\u00a0 I\u2019ve seen this in old people sometimes.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s just that their tear ducts are old and don\u2019t function like they used to or maybe it\u2019s that we all have so many tears to cry and when we use them up, that\u2019s the end of crying for us.\u00a0 Either way, it looked like his eyes were dry heaving so I comforted him by covering the next round.\u00a0 Frank was touched.<\/p>\n

\u201cChris.\u00a0 What I\u2019m going to tell you now is something that will be hard for you to believe.\u00a0 It\u2019s funny, Frank and I were always on the same page about people.\u00a0 After talking with you for the past 30 minutes, I can already tell that TAP couldn\u2019t have made a finer choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

All I could do was be silent.<\/p>\n

\u201cTAP wanted you to have the house when he passed.\u201d<\/p>\n

I was made weak with this statement, like I hadn\u2019t eaten in a few days.\u00a0 Part of me was unsurprised but such a monumental act of generosity such as this could never feel expected in any way.\u00a0 It was at this moment, literally, that my life warped through some kind of portal and into a very different destination.\u00a0 Frank laid out Mr. Pemberton\u2019s desire for me to not just take over the house but to initiate the Jambassadors.\u00a0 As I look back, the house was the far smaller gift Mr. Pemberton gave me.\u00a0 The real gift, the one that evaded me to this point, the one I could never seem to locate on my own, was a higher purpose in life.\u00a0 I almost said \u201ca career\u201d which is true in a way but I would soon be enjoying that rare fortune of having my career be part of my higher purpose.<\/p>\n

Frank invited me to his office the following Monday to meet with a lawyer or two so we could make everything official.\u00a0 I tried to say something to Frank as I shook his hand but I cried briefly.\u00a0 It\u2019s not often that within the first 30 minutes of meeting someone for the very first time that you say goodbye in tears.\u00a0 But this was an encounter that could not be compared to any other I have ever known.<\/p>\n

I left the Corrib at the same moment that the German couple was leaving.\u00a0 They had just finished having what looked to be an intense talk with Frank that ended with Frank entering something into a small date book.\u00a0 I held the door open for them, allowing them to step into a damp, raw atmosphere that had defined the entire day\u2019s weather. \u00a0The lady said \u201cthank you\u201d and the man said \u201cdanke\u201d but shook his head and quickly corrected himself and said \u201cthank you\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s okay, \u2018danke\u2019 works too.\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

The two smiled and the man replied, \u201cYes but it does not feel right to say \u2018danke\u2019 coming out of an Irish pub.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can see that.\u00a0 My name is Chris.\u00a0 I was Mr. Pemberton\u2019s handyman and friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAhh, Thomas has mentioned you!\u00a0 I am Elsa and this is my husband Wolf.\u201d Elsa spoke with what was, I believe, her first feeling of excitement in a few days.<\/p>\n

We shook hands. \u201cI\u2019m Chris and it seems like everyone knows me but I don\u2019t know anybody.\u00a0 I guess this is as close as I\u2019ll get to being a celebrity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThomas told me very much about your great work and your great character.\u201d Elsa\u2019s English was good but I could see her translating in her mind.\u00a0 If she had more of a mastery of the language, she might have expressed herself with more words.\u00a0 But this is why I like to listen to those who speak English as a second language.\u00a0 They speak less and often in a more direct, honest way. \u00a0Having access to too many words seems to encumber the transmission of truth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you.\u00a0 I felt the same way about Mr. Pemberton.\u00a0 How did you know him?\u201d\u00a0 After I asked this question, I immediately wished I could somehow have withdrawn it and erased it from the past.\u00a0 Her reaction made me realize why Elsa and Wolf kept to themselves for most of the day or kept their conversations with others brief.\u00a0 She was trying to summon the strength and composure to answer this question with a certain degree of truth.\u00a0 Wolf looked at her with caring eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell\u2026I have known Thomas\u2026for a long time.\u00a0 I met him during the war\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Elsa could no longer contain her emotion and started to cry.\u00a0 I observed that her sorrow extended beyond the events of the past week.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Wolf put his arm around her and spoke softly to her in German.\u00a0 He turned to me and spoke.\u00a0 \u201cI am sorry.\u00a0 I think it is best that we go now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course.\u00a0 Nice to meet you.\u201d\u00a0 I waved good bye to them both and Wolf politely nodded.\u00a0 I lingered awkwardly there in front of the bar.\u00a0 My car was parked in the direction they were going and I wanted to make sure they were well on their way before I headed out.\u00a0 Two people that were not part of the funeral exited the bar.\u00a0 They looked at me quizzically since we live in a time where if you\u2019re standing outside of a building, you must be either smoking or looking at your phone.\u00a0 I was doing neither and it created the mildest sensations of nervousness in them.\u00a0 They even looked around me to see if perhaps I was waiting for someone, an ancient and barely acceptable form of public idleness.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

November, 2010 On November 12th, 2010, the near-perfect Thomas Aloysius Pemberton died.\u00a0 One of his neighbors, Andrew, called me.\u00a0 Andrew and his partner Dez had seen an ambulance pull up to the house that morning.\u00a0 Mr. Pemberton\u2019s cleaner found him dead in his chair.\u00a0 The record player was still spinning although the record had finished … <\/p>\n

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