My father-in-law, Jerry, was a professor at San Francisco State University. He was an intellectual involved in the Civil Rights Movement, and he met my mother-in-law at the University. They had two sons and 28 years later I fell in love with one of them.
I’ve mentioned that Jerry has Alzheimer’s disease, which of course impacts all of us, particularly his wife and Stefan. We travel to Capitola to visit him and his wife once in a while, and Jerry loves the children and is so comforted by our visits. Far from the stand-offish intellectual, he now tells us he loves us all the time, stares longingly and lovingly at the children, and eagerly shares hugs. Jerry is a different person from the man I met 12 years ago.
His humor is still there, though. I just had an upbeat phone conversation with him about us visiting next weekend for his birthday. He’s always quick with amusing comebacks that I call “Jerryisms”. He’s an amazing musician and knows about 2,000 old timey songs. His brain is in full swing when it comes to playing his saxophone or clarinet.
He’s 89, so we’re committed to indulging in our relationship with him as much as possible. We’re talking on the phone at least once a day and traveling the 3-hour drive once a month to visit. He gushes on and on about how happy he is to know we’re coming.
I’m trying to enjoy his company while I can. Here’s the update on Jerry Podell’s life.
