continuing to spread the gospel of Iris Blumenau

i love you. i miss you. i love you.

dear friends, family, fans, folks,

i’m grateful that you’re here.
thank you for being who you are.
and now, on the 4-year anniversary of my grandma iris’s death, i’d like to share one of the last interactions i remember having with her, while she was in the hospital.

IRIS: ‪“i don’t have my computer here so i can’t get on facebook”‬
‪ME: “don’t worry, i’ll tell everyone some of the things you say, grandma”‬
‪IRIS: “good, that’s important”‬

so, i’m doing my best to spread the gospel of iris blumenau.
thank you for receiving.

next, here’s something that i wrote on the day she died.
i’ve shared it here before, and it’s something i like revisiting.
thank you for receiving.

hi all.

my grandmother iris died this morning.

she was 91, and had been diagnosed with "having a 90-year-old body," which i said means she was in good shape for her age.

(if you've already heard me say that, then it's an homage to her, because she would sometimes say the same things over and over. also i'm a comedian, and my job is often to say the same things over and over.)

i spoke to her on the phone last night. we laughed. she said some things that made sense, and some things that didn't. like usual. we said "i love you."

she was so funny and so herself. she had a sign up in her home's entryway that said "be nice or get out." she left comments on so many of my facebook posts. she taught me to play scrabble in person, back when that was a thing. she loved me so much, and i her.

she left a note to my mother and me saying "i hope i'm not being too much trouble." the note ended with "now get on with your lives. remember i always love you. cry and get it over with." (my mom adds that she didn't say "and that's an order." but it certainly was implied.)

thanks for reading, and for being here. i'll probably share more thoughts and memories and jokes and things moving forward. also, do you have any grandparent stories that you like? please share any you have about iris, or your iris, if you like.

i love you all.

finally, here is something i wrote just a few weeks before my grandmother died, in an email to my girlfriend rini. i’ve also shared it before and while it’s not full of jokes, i find it meaningful to revisit. thank you for receiving:

"In an ethics class in college, we learned about a tribe, I believe, who would end the life of their elders when they could no longer contribute to the well-being of the community, with physical labor I believe. At a certain point, the elders knew that there were only so many mouths that could be fed, and it might bring them all down, so it was considered an honor to have someone in your family kill you, when it was time. A kind of euthanasia.

Life. I feel like I've been socialized to want to live as Long as possible, and sometimes that comes at the expense of what that life is like. I wonder what my grandmother's experience is like right now. Is it meditative? She's not reading anymore. She's falling asleep more. She's just sitting. It sounds like it could be peaceful. I wonder if she's thinking about all the things she 'has to do' that she doesn't really.

The thing she said about her funeral, it sounds healthy to me in a way. She has the spirit of a comedian. Talking about the things that scare her, or scare us, or scare others. And it scares her friends, and maybe scares my mom, it seems. It's interesting, to see through the various prisms. To imagine that there are no problems, that everything is perfect. Or. However you would help me understand things.

My grandmother is having her experience. My mother is having hers. I love them both, and I want to be here for them, and help them. Talking with my mom seemed helpful to her. My grandmother doesn't seem to be that much in need, now, from me. She seems accepting. It is what's happening."

it is what’s happening!
thank you again for being here!
now, some questions for you:

1) how are you? how have you been? how is your heart? what’s new and good?
2) do you have any stories of beloved grandparents or beloved others to share?
3) are you in ohio? (foreshadowing)
4) where are you? geographically or emotionally or in any way?
5) how are you doing NOW?

much love to you and yours and all!

PS i know that this message hasn’t been full of comedy, but i do still do comedy, and if you’d like to see me do comedy, upcoming dates are here on my website! the two most recently added dates are in Columbus, OH and Liberty, OH (the Cincinnati area). are you or anyone you know in Ohio? i hope to see you/them/all there! or the other places that i am, if you’re in those places!