TWO LETTERS FROM GREYSTONE
The first simply tells us that he left the Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital. That he arrived on August 17, 1973, which was two days after the violent incident you've no doubt hear or read about by now.
The ward visit tickets were for August 19, 20, and 22, though I only remember going to visit him once. Did my mom go three times? Did somebody else go, and simply give us the tickets?
He stayed until September 20, which was a lot longer than I imagined. What was our life like at home for that month? Shell shocked. Blotted from my memory.
The second artifact involves money. Greystone requesting insurance information. I don't think we had much, if any. I remember hearing back then that a lein was put on our house in Fair Lawn, or that at one might be. What the hell was a lein? When my mom sold the place after his death so that we could move to Colorado, did she owe money to Greystone?
She doesn't remember it now, of course. Maybe there's more paperwork for me to dig through in those silver strongboxes. Maybe I'll find a bill from Greystone one of these days, itemizing everything. Catheters, barbiturates. New glass for broken windows. That would be worth keeping, wouldn't it?
I want more memories from Greystone. Physical ones, tangible ones. My greatest memory of it is a work of fiction. That's not enough.
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