Four Years Ago

Four years ago, I was sitting in our apartment in Tel Aviv when the phone rang. I answered it, and it was my brother-in-law Mike (the husband of Jeff's sister). I instantly knew it was bad news, and my intuition was right--Jeff's father had died. At the time, Josiah was napping, and Jeff was at a Hebrew class; so when I hung up the phone, I cried alone and wondered how in the world I was going to tell my beloved husband about his dad's death.

As it turned out, Jeff saw my tear-stained face as soon as he entered the apartment; and his first thought was that the workmen who had been fixing something outside our apartment had hurt me in some way. I quickly assured him that wasn't the cause of my tears--and then told him about Mike's call.

Soon after we moved to Israel, Jeff's father had a stroke; and we had actually returned to California in February of 2003 to visit him in the hospital. It seemed like he had been making some small improvements in March, so--while we weren't completely shocked at his passing because of his previous stroke--we had become hopeful that his health would continue to improve...but it was not to be.

In honor of my father-in-law, I dedicate today's gratitude list to him. Here are five special things about Dad Fisher...

1. his art--he left an incredible legacy for his children (and so many other people) through his art...the world is a much more beautiful place because of him, and whenever I stop to consider the paintings that we have from him, I am awed by his ability to capture beauty and emotion--and so very grateful that he shared it with us

2. his love for Josiah--I am eternally grateful that he lived to see Josiah's birth...Dad Fisher really loved Josiah...from his first visit in the hospital when Josiah was born to our Thanksgiving visit with them when Josiah was a few months old, he always held Josiah eagerly and would talk to him and croon to him...Dad commented on how Josiah would always look in people's eyes and really seemed to connect with them...even though Josiah doesn't remember him, I'm so glad that we'll be able to show him pictures of them together and tell him, "Your grandfather knew you and loved you"

3. his understanding of my musical side--as a college senior who was a music major and was engaged to his son, I went to visit him and was nervous about it!...since he was an artist, he could relate to me in some ways, and we were able to discuss and listen to classical music together as well as talk about other forms of art

4. his acknowledgement that I was the perfect wife for Jeff--over lunch one day in an Italian restaurant, Jeff's dad admitted that (despite his earlier misgivings!) Jeff had indeed chosen perfectly when he asked me to be his wife

5. his son Jeff--the most important reason that I love Dad Fisher is because he was the father of the man I love more than anything else...and I know that Jeff would not be the man that he is today without the influence of his dad