Prologue
Language is too dull when it comes to expressing emotions or thoughts.
This is a poor attempt I made 4 weeks ago.

08/10/2003

Dear Sonny,

We are taught to believe that in-laws are people one just needs to tolerate… they simply come with the wife.
Well, Sonny, Brenda & you proved it all wrong and embraced me in a tremendous way, and I can only sympathize with other married peoples' misfortunes.

Mind you, it wasn’t easy…
Getting rid of that excessive hair was no problem. The serious stuff were all those many manners, skills and routines I had to learn (To this day I can’t comprehend why one should toast a perfectly fresh slice of bread before eating it).
You tried to teach me the Solomon way. Why, you even bought me books – the Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book is not my idea of good literature, but I guess it was your way of speeding up my Solomonization.
I have never visited SA, but thanks to you, I can feel SA in a perfect vivid way. Come to think of it, you saved me a substantial amount of money…

Sonny, there is one issue I haven’t managed to resolve with you, and that’s the “wisdom” thing. You, like the other members of the Solomon tribe, are extremely modest. You often showed signs of insecurity about who you are and felt elated by other peoples' knowledge of medicine, economics, sport, math…whatever. That strikes me as a bizarre thing Sonny, for you are one of the wisest people I have ever met.

Show me another person who read the complete “Word 97” manual book at the age of 65, or “Photoshop 6.0” at the age of 68. Show me another person who has the curiosity to learn and master so many new skills such as logging-in, surfing, uploading, downloading scanning and burning…
Show me another person who each time he encounters a new word, phenomenon or riddle, goes to his library, open up his old yellow encyclopedia or Atlas and satisfies his curiosity.

So let me just follow your lead, Sonny, and quote from my own old yellow copy of Oxford Dictionary:
“Wise – having or showing experience, knowledge, good judgment, prudence, etc”
I couldn’t have described you better…

But the best virtue of all you posses Sonny, is the ability to listen.
Both of us shared lots of time together, having long conversations about any subject one could think of: fishing, music, wine, Israel and Zionism, sport, work, gardening, computers, relationships, the meaning of life…You have never showed any signs of boredom by my endless speeches. It puzzles me, for I often bore myself.
Since Nimrod, Mikka and Itai had to switch kindergarten, our recent talks were all about education. I tried to persuade you that the Waldorf education is the best one there is. I’m not completely sure I’ve succeeded …you still have some of that strict SA education in you. I’ll keep on trying.

There is another well-known phenomenon, concerning daughters and their will to please their fathers. I guess you brought out the feminine side in me… Every thing Sue & I do, eat, drink, think or experience is not complete if we do not share it with you. We will continue on doing so Sonny, for we don’t know of any other way of real enjoyment.

Sonny, we do not share the same gene pool, but I think being a Solomon is not connected at all to ones DNA, but rather to his behavior and manner. In that sense, I was infused with your genes…
David & Greg will probably continue on teasing me, but that’s a part of being a Solomon, and I accept it with love.

I feel privileged to have known you Sonny, you are my compass and role model of fatherhood and friendship.
I promise that Sue & I will continue your legacy and raise Itai & Naama, your breath of fresh air, following the path you paved for us. I hope that at least some of your good virtues will stick to them, for I believe it would make them better people.

We persuade ourselves that you are still with us Sonny, and in a way you are, but I still say that your absence leaves a huge void in my life, that I miss you, that I want to talk with you again, to see your grin after Brenda does one of her funny “Brenda’s things”, to witness the cute way you get angry at small things like the noise your printer makes.

See you just now Sonny,

Yaron