The Burial - March 8 th , 2005

As many of you know, Ben was identified on March 2, 2005 in Thailand. Ben was identified using dental records and the identification was confirmed by several dentists. Ben arrived in Chicago on Saturday, March 5. The weekend before his burial was spent making arrangements and gathering special belongings to bury with Ben. He was buried with a daypack filled with items to take on his journey - pictures, Grommett fur, a CD of his favorite Latin American music.

On a sunny and cold Tuesday morning, 65 people gathered graveside at Rose Hill Cemetery to bury Ben in a family plot near his grandparents. Rabbi Knobel read a poem and David said a few words. In Jewish tradition, the mourners lined up to scoop 3 shovelfuls of dirt onto the casket after it was lowered into the ground. Bird of Paradise flowers were tossed among the dirt as a symbol of Ben's love for all things South American and of Ben himself, our bird of paradise.