Jack's Things
By Peggy Shinner, first published in Alaska Quarterly Review
After her father’s sudden death, a middle-aged woman must navigate the absurdities of funeral arrangements while coming to terms with grief itself.
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Plot Summary
After her father’s sudden death from a stroke, a middle-aged woman named Cheryl Kamin must navigate funeral arrangements with her meddlesome aunt and her thoughtless brother Larry, who is visiting from L.A. Every situation they confront in Evanston is burdened with droll and unnecessary conflict. First, the family has to decide on a rabbi. Larry disapproves of his father’s ladyfriend’s rabbi, who is new to the profession and has unseemly red hair. Then, the family must agree on a casket. While Cheryl thinks walnut is fine, her aunt argues that her brother deserves better. Eventually, they settle on a casket, but the family’s bickering doesn't end there. As they comb through the recently deceased Jack Kamin’s apartment, Cheryl encounters item after item that elicits fond memories of her father. A jar of pickles reminds her of Cubs games to which her father would take her and her brother. Then, she remembers her father’s impudence when it came to the doctor’s orders about what food to consume after he recovered from cancer. Larry decides to leave before they’ve finished cleaning Jack’s apartment. After Aunt Lil and Cheryl have donated and sorted every belonging, Cheryl leaves the apartment and muses on returning the residence to a state of emptiness and newness without any traces of her father.
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