How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Consumed with Dad's slow death, Mom forgot to cancel the pool service, and so the swimming pool in the garden glistens with blue water, but the grass is starting to come up through the paving stones around it (5.2)
Talk about a fitting metaphor for the way the Foxman family deals with grief: things look OK on the surface, but it doesn't take much snooping to see trouble popping out from below.
Quote #5
"Stop interrupting me. Your father lay dying in his bed for the last half year or so. How many times did you visit him, any of you?" (7.30)
So, why didn't Judd visit his dad when he was sick? They didn't have the best relationship, but Mort seems like a good dad overall. If we were in a betting mood, we'd say that Judd didn't want to see his beloved father as a shell of his former self.
Quote #6
The visitors are mostly senior citizens [...] coming [...] to pay their respects and contemplate their own impending mortality, their heart conditions and cancers still percolating below the surface (8.9)
Mort's peers have a much different experience at his shiva than his children. While Judd and his siblings have to deal with death as a concept, Mort's friends have to face it as an impending reality. Once all your friends start to die, it's hard to forget that you might be next.