dear Family,

Today I was reading a book in which Diane had written a chapter. The book is entitled, "Western States Jewish History". She had written about 1850s pioneers in the town of Mountain View. At a funeral in 1922 it was said of a popular merchant that he had "passed into the great silence." Those words immediately brought me to tears because they are so apt a description of our loss of Jos and of Rosemary Stasek.

Both Jos and Rosemary lived in Mountain View. Both their personalities bubbled with enthusiasm for life. People wished to be in their presence because of that enthusiasm, the feeling that, "we're doing something exciting that is really going somewhere, and we are sharing it with you." The world is truly diminished by their having "passed into the great silence."

Forgive me for sending this out of season. I should have waited for August 20 or September 24. But, I felt the words so apt that I trolled the Jos memory website looking for places where I could replace the word "died" by this more apt expression. What I learned was the first time the word "died" is used, nothing will replace it, but after everyone knows there has been a death, there is a likely place for "passed into the great silence." (tears)

love to all,
Jon