The (mis)Adventures of Sonny and Irv

I grew up very close to my extended family and it was odd for me to learn that not everyone got together with all of their cousins on a regular basis. I never questioned who was related to me how because we were all always there - if you showed up at all our family functions you were obviously a Lipshultz or a relative thereof. So, it was somewhat strange to me when I did finally ask my dad (because Ken had asked me) how Uncle Irv was related to us - only to find out that he was not related, just Zadie's (that's my paternal grandfather) best friend.

Uncle Irv passed away this week and I will remember him best for the stories that he told us. One of them - a family favorite - involved a trip he and Zadie took, where they checked into a hotel only to realize they had no way to pay for their room. Ever the entrepreneurs, they nicked a maid's cart and sold the hotel linens on the street. It still makes me laugh. While stationed overseas in the military, he managed to "sell" the base he was closing to some locals - only to get chased on his way out of town by said locals.

His son gave a wonderful tribute yesterday at his funeral, revealing more of a generous and kind man. I never knew for example that, when rioting broke out after Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, customers at Uncle Irv's grocery store formed a human barrier around it so that no one would burn it - he was just that loved. That Uncle Irv once stopped during a snowstorm to pick as many people waiting for the bus as he could and delivered them as close to their destination as he could, then picked up new passengers.

Mostly I'll remember that he was such a close friend to my grandfather that I never questioned if he was "really" my Uncle. He will always be my Uncle Irv. I'm sure that right now he and Zadie (also known as Sonny) are looking around for more mischief to get into. May we all have a friendship as good and lasting as theirs.