My Grandpa Max.

Hello,

Today I heard that my grandpa passed away. He would've been 92 in 10 days. We thought that he was gonna die in January but he lived till yesterday. He was ready to go and just wanted to die peacefully. Yesterday the weather was beautiful, a break in the stormy weather period. I kinda feel like that was a sign.

I think that it was beautiful how things turned out. I got to say my goodbyes to him. And so did the rest of the family. I always think it's a blessing when I have to opportunity to say goodbye. And we had plenty of time.

My grandpa lived a long, full life. I had a rocky relationship with him, but I always respected him. He donated a lot of his time, money and resources to the community. He was an orthodonist, an artist and an intellect. He was probably the oldest student at Long Beach State University and donated a lot of money to the art building, which is named after him. He also loved to travel and even traveled into his late eighties. He always pursued his interests. He was intelligent and charming.

He was my link to my family history. When I was in high school I was interested in his upbringing and he wrote me and sent me letters full of information. He was always willing to talk about his parents and how life was for him growing up. His parents came here through Ellis Island. They were Russian Jews and were tailors in New York. I liked it when he talked about them.

There will be no funeral. He donated his body to science. But there will be a memorial service for him in his town and I think that I am going to go. I remember when I went to our family reunion 5 years ago. My grandpa was the patriarch there. He brought us all together for an evening and we reminisced and I got to meet family I woulda never met otherwise.

And this time I would like to celebrate his life and meet my family.