ALBUQUERQUE
Passage through this metropolitan
desert territory led the Fly-‘Bye Lady to the doorstep of Gail Rubin, a zealous
pre-planning promoter and quintessential conduit of consumer information. Having authored the book, A Good
Goodbye, she is knowledgeable about
diverse aspects of end-of-life management and commemoration. Besides presenting television and radio
programs, she serves as a guest speaker at various venues, maintains a blog,
conducts death cafes, and offers a variety of learning tools to the
public. Her membership in relevant
organizations and her celebrant qualification, likewise, reflect an enduring
commitment to the cause.
As a tourist in Albuquerque,
one might gravitate to a region known as Old Town to experience a ghost tour
presented by the Southwest Ghosthunters Association. But with Gail as the tour director, the destination was more
“down to earth.” Her active membership in the Jewish (Reform) organization, Congregation Albert, qualifies this pre-planning
enthusiast to be the ideal guide for an excursion through their cemetery.
Within the radius of the Fairview Memorial Park and the historic Fairview Cemetery that originated as the first public cemetery in Albuquerque, two and a half acres comprise a northern subdivision owned and operated by the Congregation Albert community.
The prominent headstone of its namesake and
original founder of the organization, Albert Grunsfeld, is located in an older
part of the property, among others with dates from the 1800s and early 1900s.
But future utilization is conceivable,
as well, especially since Gail’s own ultimate resting place is only a stone’s throw
away.
The combined burial grounds
manifest additional contrasts and trigger comparisons. Uniformity is not the overriding
impression here. Rather, along
with typical aspects of old and new, there’s also graphic disparity between
lush, pastoral, green grassy turf and dry, barren, dusty brown terrain,
delineated only by a stone wall that separates the two landscapes. There are
paved roads with curbs and there are more primitive, dirt-laden ones. Victorian-style upright memorial stones abound
in the older area, but more contemporary flat markers also grace the grounds.
Throughout eras of cultural
shifts, revered threads of Jewish traditions have been maintained. As a Congregation Albert Cemetery
committee participant, Gail might be found speaking to a group about historical
hallmarks of the religion’s burial rituals, including the well-known convention
of washing and dressing the dead.
But she gets around. So
don’t be surprised if sometime you find her on her knees by Albert Grunsfeld’s
monument, along with a group of followers, on an occasion dubbed “Cemetery
Education Day.” Combined with
learning about Jewish funeral practices, families have joined together to share
in an activity known as a Genziah ceremony, the burial of sacred objects. Here, in keeping with a custom, they
have deposited old and tattered prayer books, prayer shawls, and other relevant
items. Thanks to Gail and her
congregational cohorts, Albert assuredly would be proud of his descendants’
initiatives to keep Jewish influences alive and well!
