My big Brother, Neal Markowitz 4/13

Apr 2, 2019 | Sibling Column

I’ve always found the concepts of heaven and hell rather difficult to swallow and I’m not certain I believe in the kind of afterlife where we meet up with our lost loved ones and spend the rest of eternity together. The former smacks too much of a system of reward and punishment to keep the living in line, the latter too much of wish fufillment. But I do believe in the spirit. I can’t tell you where it goes after it separates from the body or what form it takes, but that doesn’t trouble me; it’s enough to know that the journey that is our life continues.

So dear Neal, wherever you are and whatever you are at the moment, I wish you well. 

Considering how full your life was , it is sad that you died at age 74, but there were so many years that you truly lived and dying lasts only a single instant in time. No, it would have been much sadder if you never truly lived and tasted of the joys life has to offer.

Paula Markowitz Ferstandig