Category: Memoir

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023 – Dad once pointed out to me that as you age, each increment of time becomes a smaller percentage of your life’s total. “And that,” he said, “is why time seems to accelerate the older you become.” After he’d provided this perspective, each day, week, month, year of my life clicked away …

SEPTEMBER 24, 2023 – (Cont.) I don’t think Mother was always so cheap. Maybe it was Dad’s influence: as he used to joke, “We Småläningar[1]are so frugal we dilute our water.” But if he led a life-long campaign against waste of any kind, he wasn’t cheap; he wasn’t one to buy sub-standard products. “You get …

SEPTEMBER 23, 2023 – Though I’d predicted accurately that Mother would never ask to see Björnholm again, I was surprised that after we moved her hurriedly into an assisted living facility, she expressed no longing for the house at 505 Rice in Anoka. In fact, she returned to it but twice. The first time was …

SEPTEMBER 22, 2023 – UB was the least sentimental person in the family. He never said a word about his youth or “the good ol’ days” except for talking a couple of times in his 80s about army life during the war and the occasion in 2006 when he slowed the car on the bridge …

SEPTEMBER 21, 2023 – Conditions at 42 Baghdad Street saw no improvement in 2008. Cliff remained as busy as ever with Cliffhanger Productions, barreling straight through the financial crisis that fall. If people’s investment portfolios were taking a major hit, rich folks still needed someone to produce over-the-top birthday parties for their kids, and Cliff …

SEPTEMBER 20, 2023 – I had no further contact with UB for the rest of 2006. On March 2, 2007, I took another stab at submitting a proposal, or rather, an outline of a process for disposition of Gaga and Grandpa’s estates and trusts and distribution of Mother’s inheritance. Less than three weeks later he …

SEPTEMBER 19, 2023 – Three weeks later Cliff called.  After I exchanged his “What’s happenin’?” with my, “The usual,” he gave me an update on UB. Looming over our conversation but unspoken was the question, As between us and UB, who would outlast whom? But more immediate circumstances had prompted Cliff’s call. “Eric, just when …

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023 – Off to war we went. Except we didn’t. None of us—least of all Cliff—could believe how quickly our determined strategy against UB would be upended. The day following our emergency family council, Mother was already playing the role of saboteur and as usual against her self-interest. While talking with Dad over …

SEPTEMBER 17, 2023 – It was one of the few times in modernity that our immediate family—Mother, Dad, Nina, Elsa, Jenny, and I—were together. The place was Jenny and Garrison’ elegant home in St. Paul, a million miles from 42 Baghdad Street. The occasion was Mother and Dad’s 60th anniversary.  We’d celebrated their 50th in …

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023 – If I’d wanted to stay clear of New Jersey, New Jersey didn’t want to stay clear of me. Or more precisely, Cliff wouldn’t let me bury my head in the sand. Less than two weeks after my return to Minnesota, he called to sound the alarm—yet again—about the money stream going …

SEPTEMBER 15, 2023 – My life at this stage of the story—the day after the blow-up—was not entirely consumed by matters in Rutherford, New Jersey. The normal stresses and strains of life continued unabated. Our oldest son Cory was giving us a run for our money, and Byron was heavily involved in a host of …

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023 – At around 4:30, UB’s van appeared in the driveway. His return signaled that it was time to take another run at sorting out Mother’s inheritance. He acknowledged me but not uncivilly, which meant he withheld a negative greeting such as the “Uh-oh” I’d received the day before. I followed him up …

SEPTEMBER 13, 2023 – It was 1:30 a.m. when my phone’s ringtone woke me from a deep slumber. It was Cliff. “What the hell?” I answered. “What’s happenin’?” “Apart from no longer being sound asleep, not much. What’s up?” I said, still trying to find my bearings. Cliff explained that he’d just returned to his …

SEPTEMBER 12, 2023 – At noon on Saturday I appeared at the back door of 42 Baghdad Street. My knocking prompted a loud unwelcoming “Hello!” Quick footsteps to the doorway followed but the door opened only enough for UB to identify his visitor. “Uh-oh,” he said. It wasn’t the friendly “uh-oh” of faux-dismay but an …

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023 – I took UB’s statement—“Send me a proposal”—at face value. On the flight home I spelled out in bullet-point form the terms of a plan for accountability, closing out Gaga and Grandpa’s estates, and distributing Mother’s share.  I knew the centerpiece would be 42 Lincoln. Consistent with what I’d told UB, whatever …

SEPTEMBER 10, 2023 – My mission on that trip to New Jersey was a failure except to the extent I now knew that probate cases had been opened—though nothing had progressed beyond the most preliminary steps.  UB was released from the hospital the next day, thus ending my free access to his “record storage system” …

SEPTEMBER 9, 2023 – As luck would have it, UB’s release from the hospital was slated for the end of the week, if he passed all his tests and his cardiologist approved. His confinement would afford me unfettered access to his chaotic files and papers. But first I had to rack up another round of …

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023 – One morning a couple of months later, Cliff called to inform me that UB was back in the hospital, this time as a consequence of UB’s diabetes in combination with heart issues. “Nothing too serious,” said Cliff, “but according to his doctor enough to keep him under observation for a couple …

SEPTEMBER 7, 2023 – The next morning I flew back to my normal life back in Minnesota. Between work and family I had plenty to distract me from 42 Baghdad Street. I would remain distracted until a couple of weeks later when Cliff called with an update, as planned. “Hey, Cliff,” I answered, stretching the …

SEPTEMBER 6, 2023 – Cliff and I had labored over the presentation. First was my script, for it was decided that since I was the true nephew, it was important for me to deliver the message, though I was “Minnesota,” and Cliff was “New Jersey,” and the message definitely had to be “New Jersey Direct” …

SEPTEMBER 5 2023 – After the warehouse tour (See 9/3/23 post), we encountered an Asian woman exiting her car parked in the driveway behind the warehouses. “Young-hee!” Cliff called out. “What brings you back here?” I recognized the name. (See 8/26/23 post). Our introduction triggered what could have been an even more revealing conversation than …

SEPTEMBER 4, 2023 – The American Field Service Ambulance Corps, which morphed into the modern day “AFS” (think: “AFS exchange students” and other global intercultural affairs), was established in April 1915 to support the Allied war effort on the Western Front. Before the U.S. entered the conflict in April 1917, it became de rigueur among …

SEPTEMBER 3, 2023 – With UB in the hospital and out of our hair, Cliff suggested we that we take a little tour of the more troubled realms of the warehouse.  “A few weeks ago,” he explained, “we had this big snowstorm that dumped tons of snow on the roof, and when it melted, it …

SEPTEMBER 2, 2023 – Later that morning following UB’s emergency re-hospitalization, I borrowed Cliff’s van and drove to Passaic General to visit the patient. His procedure—draining fluid off his heart—had gone well and by the time of my arrival, UB was as alert as ever. In fact, for the first time I could remember he …

SEPTEMBER 1, 2023 – Whenever I seek and am denied permission, I remember that forgiveness is more easily obtained.  Cliff and I didn’t exactly ask for the hospital staff for permission to confront UB with the “contract,” but in effect permission is what we sought when the nurse at the desk answered our question with …