Very well done, beautifully written. Although… and maybe it’s me… maybe I’m stupid… or maybe you meant to have it like this… I can’t for the life of me grasp what a few lines in the middle mean.

Masterful dialogue. What an interesting deathbed conversation. The only line that went over my head was the one about doing a Rosemary thingy.

Okay, 2 for 2 on confusing people, so I’ll throw some stuff out there. The paragraph about jumping will make sense later…or earlier…something. And for tbs, Mercedes is a Spanish name (hence likely Roman Catholic) while Eliezer is a Jewish name (thus the sitting Shiva). He’s telling her to do a Rosary but just calling it the wrong thing cause he’s old and he can do that. Hope that helps.

I do love the dialog, though I was a little confused at first. Your explanation helped though.

I didn’t realize Mercedes was a Spanish name. That clears it up. Once again, great dialogue and I loved how the scene played out.

yo doc thanks for the cliff notes i was about to go rethink my life, ok it makes a little more sense there.But even though i was confused let me say it reminded me of how when babies are born in the shiite world they say the shahada to them over and over because even though they dont understand it it is edifying to them, that is how this peice was even though i was befuddled i was edified.

I was simply floored by the insiteful deathbed banter of two unlikely friends. It was emotionally tingling for me to read. Not to knock the other comments, but I was frustrated that you had to add a comment to explain things. To me explaining a story is like explaining a joke. It just should not be done. You either get it or you don’t. I’ve always like the quote from Hannah Arendt … “Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it.”

Love it. Was sad, beautiful, and so sweet. Oddly, regarding the confusion folks have mentioned – I’m Catholic and have been around several latino folk – Mercedes also works as a Mexican name. So I caught the Catholic/Jewish bits.. but I didn’t catch the Rosemary/Rosary thing. I figured he was telling her do this as opposed to that, though so it still worked for me. Really lovely last line especially. Made me choke up.

I understood everything except the Rosemary part, but you cleared that up. Excellent imagery in this.
Interesting how Mercedes can be seen here not only as a woman’s name but as mercy itself.