We rose early. Very early. Like 3:30 a.m. early. Which is 10:30 a.m. in Israel.
It gave me time to blog and then at 6:30 or so, we went to the little tea room where there was coffee and tea and fresh orange juice and even packaged blueberry muffins with a good kosher imprimatur. We decided to go to Fort Dix to update our military ID cards. The amazing thing is that neither of us could remember in detail how to get there. We missed a left turn but weren’t sure, so we stopped to ask. I walked into the only entrance of a two story building. There were only steps to the upstairs. I walked quietly upstairs and came into a room filled with desks and computers and a humming fax machine and as I walked down the corridor, I saw more offices, a coffee break room, a huge copy machine (also humming)… everything but people. There was not one person in the building. (At least I couldn’t find any.) So I conclude from that that the US military (nearby, remember) has devised a weapon that can render an office personless. Of course years ago, the Israel government bureaucracy had devised a weapon that can create the personless feeling in an office even when there are workers.
So we turned the car around and proceeded in the direction of Fort Dix. There was a brand new entrance that said “Welcome to Fort Dix.” The MP at the entrance said to us, “Turn around your car and go out of the gate and go to the visitors’ center where they will make you an ID card.”
So we turned around, parked, signed in, and sat in what I now remember as MSA (Military Suspended Animation). We waited over 1.5 hours while they served approximately 4 people, all the while watching a TV tuned to a channel with discussions on fabulously interesting subjects such as whether New Jersey needs to amalgamate some of its x number of small towns. We did finally get the ID cards, but found out in the process that our home at Fort Dix which carried some happy memories, had been demolished.
But there was no time to visit in any case, because we had told my sister that we would be in Philadelphia by noon.
Although we had no way of knowing in advance, we arrived in the States at precisely the right time to accompany my sister to her companion’s funeral. He had had ALS and she had been at his side throughout it all. My sister and he had enjoyed going to the theater and opera and museums together. They traveled together sometimes. His family was warm and accepting and they value her. And it was sad.
Our dear cousin Lori (the third sister) was at the funeral. She was, as always warm and kind and bubbly and full of enthusiasm. She is very lovable and it was nice to be with her. We will see her again next Sunday.
After the funeral, the family (including my sister) went out to eat and we went hunting for a kosher restaurant. We found a place that was fine foodwise, but don’t expect to see it on Martha Stewart’s better living…
Afterwards, we picked up my sister from the other restaurant and we all came home, exhausted.
Today, we go on to Baltimore.
