I found myself working in the same room with Brenda at a school in San Pedro California one year and we hit it off right away. We would walk at lunch time to get some exercise and I would ask Brenda a bunch of questions about her Kosher life and she would ask me about my life. While I have many Jewish friends , Brenda's family is the most religious one I know. I’m not sure what year this was but it was before Moshe got married,maybe 13 years ago. I was interested and admired the thoughtful life that Brenda and her family live. This led me to meeting “my Scottish cousin, Daniel”, as I called him. Over time and with many visits to the Rubin home and sukkot celebrations and dinners that I couldn’t reciprocate and hiking and visits to Seal Beach for the sandcastle contest and kite festival I came to know and enjoy Daniels humor. The way he always was a willing teacher and explained what was going on to me and his particular tone of saying ” Mrs. Rubin”, make me smile as I think of them now. The happiness and joy of every new grandchild and wedding. The fantastic trips to far corners of the world. The celebration of Rachelis' recent marriage this fall in L.A. is so fresh in my mind. Our last outing was to the National Geographic Photography Exhibit in L.A.. I know he was fatigued but he seemed to enjoy it and never complained. I always wanted to give him a hug because that’s what I do—and I knew I couldn’t - so I devised a way where I would hug Brenda and she would hug Daniel for me-or I’d give him an “air hug". I hope that wasn’t too embarrassing for him because it made me happy. The Daniel I remember was so calm and warm. He loved his family so much. He had humorous ways of looking at things that I appreciated. He welcomed me into his life and home. I know that it will be hard but Brenda will carry on and we can share warm memories of dear Daniel. My life was enhanced by knowing him. Sincerely,
Peggy Morrison, California
BS"D
Here is a snippet of some of our memories of Daniel A"H:
- Always quick to smile and tell a joke.
- He used to call me Potato man
- He hosted the most amazing Sheva brachot for us. Beautifully decorated, with a play and trivia and games
- Once I was admiring his collection of sefarim on his bookshelf and mentioned that I noticed a particularly spiritual influence in his choice of books. He replied "oh, the Gemaras are on the other shelf...of course, that's not to say they aren't spiritual either!"- I appreciated his very logical and systematic approach, even to things as mundane as clearing the Shabbat table
Wishing you arichut yamim and a Shabbat shalom,
Sarah and Yehoshua Nagel
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