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  • Daniel Greene 5:45 pm on January 23, 2008 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , eulogy, , , loss, memorial, ,   



    Remembering JJ
    Originally uploaded by Daniel Greene.

    Andy lit candles and laid J.J.’s collar and leash on the table. I wrapped the collar and leash around the candle and took this photo to complete the artistic expression of our loss.

    J.J. suffered several seizures in early December but rallied after taking medications for a couple of weeks. After a few weeks of seemingly good health, he suddenly took a turn for the worse. His hind legs gave out and he became incontinent. He started trembling and chattering his teeth. After a week of this, we made the decision to put him down.

    I’ve never loved a dog so much, or felt so loved by a dog. He took to me right away when I started dating his daddy (my partner, Andy), and we had many great times together for almost five years. He had a good life, was loved, and will be missed. Thank you, J.J.!

     

  • Daniel Greene 12:00 pm on February 12, 2004 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: eulogy   

    Eulogy for Grandpa Greene 

    Ernest Charles Greene
    May 9, 1911 – February 8, 2004

    My grandfather died last Sunday evening, and for me, this marked more than the end of one man’s life. It marked the end of Granny and Grandpa, the only couple I’ve ever known that loved each other so much and stayed together for so long, seemingly without ever fighting. Grandpa’s death also marked the passing of the last of my grandparents. Though I count myself lucky to have had grandparents well into my thirties, I was nevertheless deeply stung by the final disappearance of an entire generation of family.

    Ernest Greene was actually born Ernest Greenberg, and his father changed the family name in 1918, when Grandpa was seven years old. I can only guess the name change was a safeguard against anti-Semitism or enmity toward Germans. He had a younger brother named Howard, a father named Abraham, and a mother I was lucky enough to know until I was four years old, Grandnanna Gertrude Greene. In photos I’ve seen of Grandpa in his youth, he was a striking young man with a full head of blond hair. He was a boxer, and he was also a jazz trumpeter and harmonica player. As I heard it, he met my grandmother, Helene Kupferman, at work; she was the boss’s daughter. Early photos of them show a playful young couple striking poses at the beach—him showing off his biceps and her kicking a leg to the side like a flapper doing the Charleston. When I looked through these photos with Granny years ago, she said, “Weren’t we cute?” They were.

    I first met Ernest Greene when (More …)

     

  • Daniel Greene 12:00 pm on November 4, 1999 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: eulogy   

    Eulogy for Granny Greene 

    Photo of Granny Greene
    Helene Kupferman Greene
    May 8, 1911–October 31, 1999

    My grandmother, Helene Kupferman Greene, lived to the age of 88, and is survived by her husband, Ernest Charles Greene (my grandfather); her two sons, Ernest Charles Greene, Jr. (my uncle Chuck) and Andrew William Greene (my dad); her two grandsons, Daniel James Greene (me) and Benjamin Furman Greene (my cousin); her dog, Whiskey II, and close friends and family members, most notably Elaine Patterson, who has cared for my grandparents ever since my grandfather’s stroke in 1985. Elaine became like an adopted daughter, and her two daughters, Michelle and Marta, became like granddaughters. Granny was so happy to finally have some girls in her family!

    My grandparents would have been married 65 years this February 2000. In addition to being a superb wife to her husband, and mother to her two boys, Helene Greene was a model, saleswoman, real estate agent, award-winning painter and interior designer. She was a woman of great passion, creative talent and patriotism. She loved her country, family, pets and friends dearly. She had a soft spot in her heart for animals and contributed generously of her time and money to organizations such as The Humane Society and many others.

    Granny had an uncanny memory for the lyrics of songs. She wasn’t the best singer in the world, but (More …)

     

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