I walked past a number of funeral
pyres at Pashupatinath and stopped and stood to the side of one in which I
saw a body being cremated. I gazed quite
intently at the shroud being consumed by fire.
There seemed to be nothing else in the world as my mind was focused only
on the moment.
When I returned to my
flat I found out, on Facebook, that my father’s youngest brother, Alan
Rosenkranz, was no more at the age of 70, after an 11 year battle with
cancer. Alan had tried all kinds of
drugs and therapies to try to rid himself of the cancer that would ultimately take
away his body and his life.
Alan was only
14 years older than me and as a youngster I idolized him. He lived in New York
and was married to Rose, and was in a partnership with his father, my
grandfather, in a manufacturing business, employing 75 people at its peak. I don’t know if this was really what Alan
wanted to do with his professional life, but he took it upon himself to grow
the company.
When I was
growing up, Alan would come to Los Angeles and teach me about rock n roll,
which he loved, and take me to baseball games.
I would always bawl my head off when he left to return to his home in
New York. When I visited him as a teenager, I remember trying to copy his
somewhat, what seemed to me, angry demeanor, just wanting to be more like him.
I remember his home on Long Island, which always seemed pretty incredible and
full of really cool stuff. I was able to spend an entire summer with
Alan and his family when I was in graduate school. Alan always seemed very young to me, a child
in a man’s body, but in a very good sense.
I have a really
strong memory of attending, with Alan, a Yankees-Angles doubleheader in the
Bronx, when my family was visiting New York.
I must have been maybe 7 or 8 and the fans in right field were calling
the name of Angels outfield Willie Smith to the point where he had to be moved
to left. I remember returning that evening to my grandfather’s home and being
in awe of a thunderstorm as I was trying to go to sleep, something I hadn’t
experienced growing up in California.
Two other episodes that stand out for me. The first was when I first came east to
attend graduate school and I went to Alan and Rose’s home to visit and buy some
winter clothes. They took me shopping
for my very first down jacket, which I ended up wearing in October during a few
snowflakes. My friend Bill, who was from
New York, was only wearing a vest and a shirt.
As he saw me approach he could only laugh at how bundled up I was. The second episode dealt with Alan and Rose
hosting an engagement, i.e. a getting to know one another, party. It was very kind and I remember how happy
Alan was.
I don’t know whether Alan ever did anything extraordinary in
his life, most people don’t, something to be remembered by the masses. But he did lead quite an incredible life, at
least what I know of it, from the time that he was an infant. When Alan was only two months old his mother
passed away and he was placed in a home for one year, until my grandfather
found another wife to care for his young family. My father and another uncle, who were also
quite young at the time, were taken care of by friends, while my grandfather
worked to support them all. I never was
able to speak with Alan about how this all might have impacted him, but I’m not
sure that he really wanted to speak of it.
Alan’s only son Howard posted the following on Facebook, “he remained just as active and anxious and
energetic and optimistic and vain and kind and stubborn and humble until the
very end and I'll miss all of those things that made him who he was for the
rest of my life”.
My feeling is that my cousin’s statement is what made Alan
extraordinary for those that knew and loved him. Alan went to great lengths to take care of
himself, exercising regularly until his body could no longer handle this. He worked trying to build a business, after
his manufacturing business moved to Pennsylvania, failed, and was somewhat
rebuilt on a smaller scale by Howard and Alan. He did have tremendous energy
and although we drifted apart during later years, whenever I spoke with him, I
could feel his strength and vibrancy, whether it be talking about sports or
world issues or family. He did love to
talk to everyone, an extrovert. I’m not
sure that he totally understood me, but who really understands others, but I
felt his appreciation and interest, as he seemed to soften his approach towards
life. As I recollect he did always live
his life outloud!
One could also see his extraordinariness from the fact that
he helped to raise a daughter Michelle, who is a strong woman in both her
professional and personal life. Alan and
his wife Rose were fortunate to have five grandchildren.
Alan has had a definite impact on my life, mainly because he
showed so much interest in my formative years.
My love of music and sports, which Alan helped to nurture, are two
things that remain important in my life,.
Alan led a complete life and although it was cut short, he will live on
for generations, similar to the ashes that I watched flowing into the Bagmati
and eventually into the Ganga.
http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Alan-Rosenkranz&lc=4129&pid=163536714&mid=5453085
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