Entry 4 - Sarah's Eulogy

I’d like you all to close your eyes. Take a minute and think… when I say the word empathetic, who comes to mind?

For me, it is my dad.

Why, you may ask?

My father knew when a person was feeling sad or down. He was the person that my brothers and I went to for comfort and security in addition to my mom, of course. He was the person most people found easy to talk to because he really listened and felt for people.

A few summers ago, my dad started giving lemonade to the mailman. My dad felt for the mailman who had to walk around all day in the scorching heat. Whenever it approached 1:00, my dad would keep an ear open for the mail box to bang so that he could rush out with a cold glass of lemonade or ginger ale. .

When I found my third cat, 13 years ago, and my mom refused to let him stay in the house even in the cold, harsh winters, my dad built a cat house for Frisky. This was no ordinary cat house. It had a carpet, insulation and two light bulbs on the top to supply heat. It reached 70 degrees in that house. Again, my dad felt for my cat and wanted to make him comfortable if he couldn’t stay in our house.

That's who my dad was... he felt everyone's pain, sadness and discomfort, no matter who you were and wanted to make it all go away.

My dad taught me to be empathetic and to always put myself in other people’s shoes.

My dad loved to garden. When you pass a garden or plant vegetables, think of my dad.

If you ever travel through New Brunswick, NJ, where my dad worked for 15 ½ years as an Analytical Chemist and loved every single minute of it, think of my dad.

If you ever pass or eat at a Nathan’s Famous, where my dad worked many, many years ago and never stopped talking about their French fries, think of my dad.

When you see a mailman on a hot, summer day, think of my dad. Maybe even give him or her a lemonade.

You were all very, very special to my dad and I thank you for that.

Sarah Tyberg Levine

June 25th, 2008