Tuesday, March 28, 2017

What the Smithsonian and I have in common

Even though I still miss my husband enormously and sometimes even get maudlin because he's gone, occasionally there is a reason to smile about his absence. Imagine me opening my e-mail this morning on my iPad and seeing this message from the Smithsonian Magazine (it's been at least five years since he stopped subscribing to it, by the way).

My response, shouted across the room, was "ME, TOO!" and then I had to smile . . . I am not alone in missing him.

During the past two (almost three) years, Jay has received periodic junk mail based on some very old lists. During the past election cycle, he was invited many times over to cast his vote for particular candidates. Of course, he didn't receive a ballot, despite some of the recent accusations about deceased people being on the voting roles. Not in my county! In fact, to King County's credit, even the very first election after his June 2014 death, which was held in August that year, no ballot was sent to him. (All Washington voting is done mail-in only.)

It's unfortunate that list-sellers get paid for providing seriously out-of-date data. I was really shocked when Jay was called for King County Jury Duty a year after his death! Obviously, King County doesn't update all of its divisions about the permanent departure of its residents. However, a quick phone call elicited an apology and assurance he would never be summoned again.

I have to keep Jay's e-mail account open because mine is a sub-account and I don't want to lose it. As a consequence, he continues to get junk mail. I have unsubscribed his account from a lot of e-mail ads and industry lists. When I have the opportunity to comment (I love the question "Tell us why you're leaving") I write "I'm dead!" or something equally bratty. It's perverse, but true; I smile about that, too.

Back to the Smithsonian Magazine. I'm glad I got the e-mail today because it was fun writing this post.

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Enrichment that comes from travel

Lesser known pyramid
Today I am going to toot my own horn. Having been made aware of an acquaintance's eagerly anticipated first trip to Egypt, I couldn't help but recall the thrill of visiting Egypt and, in particular, being for the first time in a country whose predominant religion was not Christianity. When I re-read my two articles written in reflection of that trip, I was impressed. I want to boast a little, so I have included links to those articles at the end of this post.

Sphinx of Memphis
Ostensibly we were visiting to ooh and ah over the ancient sites of Egypt, and it was a bucket-list trip for Jay. He had wanted to see the pyramids ever since I met him in 1961. Just three years into my retirement (2008), the serendipitous arrival of a brochure for travel there with University of Washington Alumni brought everything together for us. Although Jay was still working, he had the flexibility as the sole proprietor of Jay O. Glerum & Associates to be gone for a three-week trip. But it was impression of current-day Egypt that has stayed with me all these years.

Neither Jay nor I would ever be the same again. Not only did we make some wonderful friends on the
Donkeys and cars share the roads
trip and learned an enormous amount of ancient history from Eman, our impressive Egyptologist, but we saw modern-day Egypt as it was crumbling under the control of Mubarak. Subtle and not-so-subtle unrest was recognized by the University of Washington professor, Jere Bacharach, who traveled with us. As a person who had lived six-months of each year in Cairo for more than a decade, he was highly qualified to answer our questions posed 'out-of-earshot' of locals during evenings when we were 'on our own.' Not only was he fluent in Arabic, but he was savvy regarding what was in the hearts and minds of the citizens of Cairo.

Eman was our knowledgable
Egyptologist who accompanied us
for three weeks in 2008
After Arab Spring, Jay and I repeatedly voiced how grateful we were to have seen Egypt when we did. We both knew we would not get back there again, but today I was reminded of its profound impact on me as I re-read these two articles I wrote (and which are still carried on the Web site of the Seattle Times). For that reason, I'm sharing them today with both humility and pride.    
Call to Prayer by S. Glerum published in the Seattle Times
Transcending Differences by S. Glerum published in the S.T.