JOURNEY TO VALENCIA, SPAIN

Khachig and I arrived in Valencia, Spain last evening. Would that this were a pleasure trip. We will be here for a week, punctuated by a memorial service, the scattering of ashes on the Mediterranean Sea, of my late brother-in-law, Vartan, who passed away here in July. He was an internationally renowned violinist and professor of music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As of today,we are the guests of my doctoral advisor, Clara Chu, who is on sabbatical at the University of Valencia. The apartment overlooks the sparkling ocean, and today we are just vegging, recovering from jet lag, and bracing ourselves for what I hope will be some sort of closure for this unexpected loss.