Plans of Action

In September we are going to be in New York to hold a memorial ceremony for Asher, and in October we are going to Peru to oversee the disbursement of money we have raised in his honor. My wife Judith has been planning these trips intensely, and it hasn't been easy for her. A lot of people are involved (Judith and I, our two daughters, our son-in-law, our three grand-children, and our surviving son), and a lot of dates had to be juggled.
In both trips, we are going to have to deal with a lot of painful emotion.
Just accepting the condolences of our American friends and relatives is going to be difficult, and facing a gathering of some sixty people, to memorialize Asher rather than celebrate his engagement or marriage or the opening of his restaurant will be deeply painful - in fact my imagination recoils from grappling with the event.
In Peru (without our married daughter and her three young children) we will see the place where Asher died, meet the men who searched for him and, finally, recovered his body, meet the man who found his body, and see the places that Asher managed to see and some of the places he was planning to get to. We will be coming with generous contributions both to the High Mountain Rescue Unit, whose under-equipped men risked their lives looking for Asher, and to the school in the village where the man who found Asher lives.
I never had much interest in going to Peru, and, seeing how unlucky the place was for Asher, I have even less interest in going there now - but I know that I have to, and I'm speaking for the rest of the family, too. It will take courage, but it will be important to all of us to know that we have that kind of courage.