Pain in the Back

Death is taking its toll on the clan, or what remains of it. Heckle (me) and Jeckle (my sister) are getting testy with each other over our brother's service. I want to play Patty Smith, she wants church hymns. O.K. she CLAIMS she doesn't want hymns, but she is concerned for all the old timers that are likely to show up. She doesn't want to stray too far from tradition, although Lord knows, it would be way more entertaining if we REALLY did something in keeping with our very crazy brother's life. (I suggested having that scene from "A Beautiful Mind" where Russel Crowe is looking at that big board of numbers and equations as our backdrop; she thought we could change it to a mosaic of the thousands of notes on index cards that was our brother's way of organizing stuff.) As my nickname implies, I am willing to push a few buttons and ruffle a few feathers by playing Patty Smith. Plus, I am long gone and live far away from this community so what have I got to lose?

Anyway, like all things concerning our brother, the physical and mental price is being paid in many ways: Cost of clean-up at the house? $25,000. Cost of finding his body after three weeks? Well, Jeckle's back has gone out and her hives are acting up again. Cost of me coming face-to-face with all my Hyde (brother) demons? Priceless.