I came across a news story in the Richmond Palladium-Item that brought some childhood memories back to me. The story was about the $1 million donation of Jack & Debra Edelman to Reid Hospital. The Israel D. Edelman Cardiac Center will be named in honor of the donation.
Izzie was the Edelmans son who died in a fire back in 1984 at the age of 19 in a fraternity house in Bloomington. The main memory was of being a little kid at the pool. Izzie was about 6 years older than me. I recall being vaguely afraid of him, probably because he was engaged in some good natured teasing — but being a lot younger than him, I don’t think I appreciated it. On the other hand, he and another guy his age named Bill used to play a game with me at the pool where they’d throw me as high as they could and I’d come splashing back into the pool. For a 7 or 8 year old or whatever I was: Best Game Ever. Then I have some vague recollection of folks at school going to his funeral. Finally, my 3rd year of law school, I lived in a rooming house that was on the same block as the empty space where Izzie’s fraternity house had burned. It was one of those “small world” moments when I came to that realization.
Anyway, it’s nice to see that there will be some lasting memory of a life cut tragically short.
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