I just had to say goodbye to my good friend, my brother in law, an important teacher in so many ways. His passing was all the more poignant because we lost my spectacular older sister nine years ago. She was Ron's wife. They were both way too young to depart from this world.  In my opinion, everyone is too young to depart. However, death is part of the cycle and probably not what we think it is at all.

Nonetheless, when you lose the people you love, it leaves a big hole. Nothing ever takes the place of your loved ones. We all carry on despite the heavy feeling of loss. It helps to remember our loved members who have departed by honoring them through our work and deeds going forward.

Ron didn't always get it right, but he had the big things in place. I am very proud of him. Spent the past weekend hearing people's stories of how he made a difference in their lives, how he helped them change the course of their lives for the better. The stories came from everywhere: his family, his friends, and his business associates, many of whom I didn't know. Every one of them had a colorful story to tell that was so much "just like" my brother.

He had many talents. For one, he was a born teacher. He knew how to inspire. He inspired people at a core level. He had tremendous faith in others. A recurring story told my nieces, my cousin, and younger friends: Ron taught them all how to drive a shift in his Porsche, his Mustang, his Austin Healey, his Jag... he collected old cars and his Porsche was his baby. My cousin tells a story about when he was just 13 years old, and at a boring family party where Ron was also in attendance. Ron grabbed my cousin by the arm and put him in the drivers seat of his Mustang.  My cousin didn't know how to drive anything yet, but Ron trusted he would know how to drive that car in the next 5 minutes. Gave him 3 basic rules for driving a shift, and they were off, 13 year old cousin in the driver' s seat, Ron by his side totally confident and relaxed. Risky, you bet. Ron was not afraid of taking an educated gamble, or any risk. Somehow he knew it would work out.

Something Ron did for me that I will never forget. I went to New York City soon out of college to pursue a career as a designer. I lived in Queens for the first 3 years in New York because the rents were cheaper and it was all I could afford. Everyone wanted to be in Manhattan where all the action was. I found a "perfect" apartment mid town Manhattan, center of everything,  and wanted to rent it. It was 5 times the rent I was paying in Queens. I called Ron to get his brotherly advice. His advice was "take it!" You'll live up to the challenge. I confidently took his advice, without question, and never regretted it.

Ron was a character. He had a madcap looney tunes sense of the ridiculous. He was very funny. He had a great sense of humor. He had a knowledge of history that was annoying at times. You'd tell him something and he'd argue you down, giving you dates and historical facts and events all over the globe. He was often right, but he thought he was "always" right. That was annoying.

He was a gifted drummer and had a passion for jazz. As a matter of fact, he studied with Gene Krupa when he was a teenager. My musical background is/was in the classics, years of piano lessons. Ron introduced me to jazz. I now love jazz as much as the classics.

I can go on and on about my brother. He was excellent at everything he did. He was very accomplished. Totally self made. Of course, my big sister was his mentor, so how could he miss?

I miss him. Proud to be his sister. Proud to have known him.