Uncle Max died yesterday.......

Uncle Max is a friend of Josh's. Max has been a Freemason for over 80 years. He died yesterday at the age of 105. Having been born in 1900 he has seen so many changes in the world. He has never owned or driven a car having lived in Manhattan his whole life. He saw the invention of the radio, automobile, airplane, electricity and so many everyday neccessities we take for granted. He grew up in a fifth story walk up in a tenement building on the lower Eastside of Manhattan without indoor plumbing. He would tell us stories of having to go to the bathroom as a child in the outhouse in the snow with five stories to go down, without electricity. He talked about the farmlands in the 80's (from 80th street in Manhattan), he was a treasure to walk around the city with, he loathed to drive or take the subway, he liked to walk and he did every day. He walked the mile to Shul, he walked to work, partly because he could not part with the dollar 25 it took to get him there. He was a product of the depression being 29 when it hit, he never forgot the lessons he learned. He would point out where the speakeasy's used to be during prohibition and every street had a story.

My favourite Max story ever was when he was 70 years old he sold his accounting firm, a very successful business to two young guys. Part of his deal was that he would have an office and a secretary for as long as he wanted. The young guys looked at the old geezer and gave him a few more years. No problem they said and signed on the dotted line. Max stopped going to work when he was 102. He broke his hip at 99. They said he would never walk properly again, little did they know that 5 weeks later not only would he be walking but he refused to use a cane. His hip broke again at 102 and that was the end of him going to work but he had another 5 week recover before he walked by himself again. He had no hearing aid, no cane, no glasses and I have heard that his teeth were all his own. He loved greasy food, lived in Manhattan all his life, was known as one of the wild guys in his day. While one can't romanticize Max, he was a difficult chap. He married late in life to the love of his life, they were together for 56 years. They fought constantly but apparently you could just feel the passion between them. I never met Marion but he spoke of her with adoration up until the day he died. I bet they are together again laughing about the good old times and never, ever letting each other go.