Collected Item: “Miriam Oral History, 2022/06/06”
Title
Miriam
Who conducted the interview? List all names, separated by comma.
Kit Heintzman
Who was interviewed? List all names, separated by commas.
Miriam
Email Address(es) for all interviewers. Separated by comma.
kheintzman@gmail.com
Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your oral history. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?
#abortion, #Catholic, #diabetes, #dogs, #family, #hospice, #Jewish, #RoevWade, #RoshHashanah, #nursinghomes, #Sabbath, #Shemira, #shomeret, #spirituality, #touch, #Ukraine, #vaccination
What is the format of your recording?
Video
In what ZIP code is the primary residence of the interviewee? (enter 5-digit ZIP code; for example, 00544 or 94305)? In what city/town/village does the interviewee live? In what country does the interviewee live? All comma-separated.
Texas, Austin
What is the gender of the interviewee? Be sure to allow interviewees to self-identify their gender in the pre-interview or interview. *Do not assign a gender identity to interviewees.*
Gender: F. I refuse to "state my pronouns." I welcome it when people who are often called by the wrong pronoun state their pronouns, just as people with hard-to-pronounce names might add a parenthetical pronunciation guide. But this etiquette of everybody needing to state their pronouns is clutter, just as it would be for "Bob Smith" to write how to pronounce that name.
What is the age of the interviewee?
55 to 64
How does the interviewee describe their race or ethnicity? Be sure to allow interviewees to self-identify their race/ethnicity in the pre-interview or interview. *Do not assign a racial or ethnic identity to interviewees.*
Complicated.
Describe the oral history.
Some of the things we discussed include:
Living with diabetes and having a constant reminder of the threat of death
Shemira; working as a shomeret
Honoring the dead and consoling the survivors
Working in death support on call 24/6, available at all times except the sabbath
Living with husband during the pandemic, husband testing positive with asymptomatic COVID
The synagogue going online
Volunteering as a hospice visitor; the visiting program shutting down during the pandemic
Seeing a patient in a nursing home in October 2019, patient visiting daughter through a window
Dying of loneliness
Comparisons between Christian and Jewish spiritualities
Helping family members save money on funeral expenses
Having family members who chose not to get vaccinated and died leaving behind a wife and children; unvaccinated family members congregating at his funeral.
Early reactions to masking in the pandemic.
Belly dancing and going to shows before the pandemic shut them down. Bringing these belly dancing shows to nursing homes, and nursing homes shutting down programming.
Practicing languages
Electricity and the Sabbath during the pandemic.
Changes in observing the Sabbath pre- and mid-pandemic; changes in teaching Hebrew pre- and mid-pandemic
The mourner’s Kaddish
Celebrating Rosh Hashanah pre- and mid-pandemic.
Nursing homes shutting down all programming.
The erosion of democracy and rising fascism
Abortion, Roe v. Wade, male controception
Combative relationships with sickness and dying
Environmental damage and the funerary industry
Active listening and being heard without judgment
Difficulty accessing vaccination the first time: difficulty with online booking, long drive, quick and easy on arrival; smoother second vaccination
Rumor’s spreading and being believed as facts, people making decision based on false information
Distrust of media and BigPharma; how one comes to distrust certain sources
Other cultural references include: Hospice Austin, OSHA, Tommy Hilfiger, Oprah
NB: Miriam issued the following correction about the interview ~22 minutes in: I repeatedly said "Emergency Room." I meant that he was in Intensive Care.
Living with diabetes and having a constant reminder of the threat of death
Shemira; working as a shomeret
Honoring the dead and consoling the survivors
Working in death support on call 24/6, available at all times except the sabbath
Living with husband during the pandemic, husband testing positive with asymptomatic COVID
The synagogue going online
Volunteering as a hospice visitor; the visiting program shutting down during the pandemic
Seeing a patient in a nursing home in October 2019, patient visiting daughter through a window
Dying of loneliness
Comparisons between Christian and Jewish spiritualities
Helping family members save money on funeral expenses
Having family members who chose not to get vaccinated and died leaving behind a wife and children; unvaccinated family members congregating at his funeral.
Early reactions to masking in the pandemic.
Belly dancing and going to shows before the pandemic shut them down. Bringing these belly dancing shows to nursing homes, and nursing homes shutting down programming.
Practicing languages
Electricity and the Sabbath during the pandemic.
Changes in observing the Sabbath pre- and mid-pandemic; changes in teaching Hebrew pre- and mid-pandemic
The mourner’s Kaddish
Celebrating Rosh Hashanah pre- and mid-pandemic.
Nursing homes shutting down all programming.
The erosion of democracy and rising fascism
Abortion, Roe v. Wade, male controception
Combative relationships with sickness and dying
Environmental damage and the funerary industry
Active listening and being heard without judgment
Difficulty accessing vaccination the first time: difficulty with online booking, long drive, quick and easy on arrival; smoother second vaccination
Rumor’s spreading and being believed as facts, people making decision based on false information
Distrust of media and BigPharma; how one comes to distrust certain sources
Other cultural references include: Hospice Austin, OSHA, Tommy Hilfiger, Oprah
NB: Miriam issued the following correction about the interview ~22 minutes in: I repeatedly said "Emergency Room." I meant that he was in Intensive Care.
On what date did you record this oral history?
2022-06-09