The real purpose of this weekend trip to Los Angeles was not to go to Disneyland or see Toy Story; it is related to the reason we are here on a Monday morning, and considering we are rarely in L.A. outside a Friday night through Sunday, it must be important.
Trust me, it wasn’t just so we could have breakfast like a couple of swingers at Swingers Diner.
Nor was it to gaze at the full moon.
Caroline had an appointment with the German Consulate to get fingerprinted so she could get a new passport. Of course, this being a government office, it is only open Monday through Friday. After an uneventful, pleasant, even visit with a German official for the first time in over 15 years, we had some time left before having to return to Phoenix. This was our view from the waiting room at the German Consulate.
And with that, we pointed the car back west on Wilshire Blvd not quite ready to leave Los Angeles, and so we paid a visit to the Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary. This is the famous resting spot where Marylin Monroe is entombed.
Talk about a love/hate relationship. I did not like Ray Conniff, I’m not old enough, but that he’d have this nod to Somewhere My Love on his gravestone is kind of peculiar as the music to that song was Lara’s Theme (Doctor Zhivago) from Maurice Jarre (Composer for Lawrence of Arabia – a favorite of ours) who passed away earlier this year, father of Jean-Michel Jarre who I did grow up really liking so I guess this creates some mixed feelings.
On the other hand, here’s Dean Martin, who I can’t listen to today, but when I was a kid, I loved every Martin & Lewis film I could watch as the chemistry between Jerry Lewis and this guy was perfect to me when I was ten years old. I suppose I can also admit to enjoying his musical schtick with this suave character who always seemed a bit drunk and too cool. But if I ever have to hear That’s Amore again, it will be too soon.
And then there are all these other famous dead people from my childhood, including Eddie Albert of Green Acres fame, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, Carroll O’Connor from All in the Family, Farrah Fawcett, Billy Wilder, Natalie Wood, and Bob Crane of Hogan’s Heroes who was murdered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Don Knotts, Mel Torme, Heather O’Rourke, Peggy Lee, Merv Griffin, and Truman Capote are all laid to rest here too.
Our favorite headstones were from Merv Griffin, which read, “I will not be right back after this message,” and Jack Lemmon’s, which simply reads, “Jack Lemmon in.”
And with that, it was time to return to Phoenix, Arizona, before we grew too comfortable here.