In memory of Jascha David Gelman 1972-1999
















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Tailgating
(as told by Sandy)

From the time of Jascha's arrival at the University of Michigan Judy and I had tailgate parties at every home game. There were certain characteristics concerning the tailgates, as well as Jascha and Gabe (who followed two years later) that many of you are familiar with, but, I believe, bear repeating.

For instance, we had to set up early in order to get the spot that became our familiar location in the stadium parking lot. Nevertheless, Jascha and his friends never arrived more than half an hour before game time. Until they got there it seemed as though we would have tons of food left over. Five minutes after they arrived it was obvious that we would be lucky to have any food left over. As the years went by Jascha's look went from complete college scruffy to plain old scruffy, to scruffy collegiate. Not that he was necessarily the scruffiest. There was a real battle in that regard between him and a few of his other buddies (I think most of you know who you are). But the minute we saw that smiling face with his genial good humor, all was forgiven. Who cared about scruffy? Who cared about late? He was there, that's all that counted. He always had a ready excuse for being late; they were almost always lame, but it didn't matter.

On the other hand, when Gabe and his friends started coming, en masse, they almost always arrived on time (at least an hour before game time) and the scruffiness was at a bare minimum, if it existed at all.

Towards the end of his time in Ann Arbor, Jascha started spending at least as much time at the Jaffe tailgate as he did at ours. Gabe also liked to go over there, but it seemed as though Jascha was more attracted to it than Gabe was. To some extent it is a little blurry as to how much of that development took place before he graduated from Michigan and how much of it took place afterwards when he and I went up to the football games. We stopped doing our tailgates, as most of you know, except for certain rare occasions, the minute that Gabe graduated. That made the Jaffe tailgate the one that we normally spent our time at and the one that we all enjoyed. For Jascha it was more than just a social experience. He actually went for the food and for the liquor which he consumed in more than meager amounts.

But, to me, the defining moment with regard to the tailgates was the sight of Jascha with his always insufficient clothing (considering the cold temperatures), walking with his hands in his pockets, leading his pack of friends to the tailgate, smile on face, hunger, friendliness and love in his eyes.

 

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In memory of Jascha David Gelman 1972-1999