December 2^nd, 2013

My Dearest Grandpa,

You are one of the wisest, most optimistic, kind, and gentle individuals I have ever known.  Your devotion to your family and your incredible contributions to the scientific community worldwide had such a far reach and important impact for so many years.

We had such a unique and special relationship, truly irreplaceable. I often find myself looking back lovingly with nostalgia on those endless hours we spent studying advanced physics, calculus, and thermodynamics together at your home.  Your passion for science and mathematics was contagious, and you awakened in me an appetite to learn more and more.  I always looked forward to our nightly “study dates,” where we devoured Grandma’s delicious oatmeal raisin cookies, while we attacked problems together and I flooded you with questions. I was in awe of the thoroughness of your answers and your persistence in ensuring I had mastered the material.  Even after I moved away to college, our study sessions continued by phone.  “No problem is too difficult for us to solve,” you would say, and giving up was never an option, even if that meant working until two in the morning. 

These are just a few of the most precious values I have learned from you. You always believed in me and helped give me the confidence that I could achieve anything I set my mind to. For this, I am eternally grateful to you. I hope you know how much I will miss you now that our enthralling conversations have sadly come to an end. I wish you could be there with me when I celebrate my graduation from medical school but I know you will be watching proudly in spirit. 

May our entire family be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Yerushalayim.

Your loving granddaughter,

Dana