You are missed, your stories of travel, and all that good advice. I know you are well and smiling down upon us. Analyn

Below is the text of Harry Simon's remembrance given at the memorial service on March 9th:

One of my earliest memories of childhood was going river rafting in inner tubes with my father and some family friends.  I was 4 or 5 and we were living in the midwest at the time.  I remember it was a warm and sunny afternoon.

As fate would have it, I ended up falling out of my inner tube and ultimately under the water currents.  After being underwater a few seconds, I opened my eyes, looked around me and thought to myself…”this is not good”

After a little more time went by, I looked up toward the sky through the water and saw a hand come from what seemed to be out of the sky, through the water, and grabbed me and pulled me up out of the water and back into the inner tube.  It was my father’s hand that had saved me.  It wouldn’t be the last time in my life that he would save me.

My father always preached the virtues of hard work and saving money, and was always willing to go out of his way to help with achieving those goals.  My very first job was that of a morning paperboy delivering the morning paper 7 days a week.  In those days, it was a 10 speed bicycle and a shoulder pouch to carry the papers.  I was maybe 13 years old or so and started my new career in the middle of winter in December.  Living in San Diego that wasn’t a concern.

As fate would have it, that winter ended up being an El Nino driven winter of daily rain and storms, it seemed like.  I would get up at 5:00 in the morning, look outside the window at the rain and wind and wonder if the folks on my paper route really did need the newspaper that day and perhaps they could do without it.  Just when I decided to give up and go back to bed I would hear a rustle in the house.  My father was getting up to help me deliver the papers.  Like a postman, no amount of rain was going to prevent the newspapers from being delivered that day. He would take one of the clear plastic bags that was to keep the newspaper dry, put it over his head to keep himself dry and we would go out and deliver the newspapers each morning. 

As a family, we refer to that winter as the winter that I got my father a paper route.  The lesson I learned from him that winter was that to be successful in life, you need to be able to overcome obstacles.

As we know, he was eventually hit with perhaps the ultimate obstacle (some 30 years later), when he was diagnosed with ALS.

As I approached the age of 16 it was time to learn how to drive.  My father always was an adventurous teacher so we went out in the family sedan to terrorize the neighborhood with driving lessons 101.  My favorite was learning how to parallel park.  As my wife knows, parallel parking….not my thing.

We found a luxury car parked on the street in front of a neighbor’s house and then set forth with the mission of parallel parking right behind it.  Attempt after attempt missed the mark.  I would either hit the curb with my wheels, or end up parking parallel……..just too far away from the curb.  My dad, however, continued to persevere and push me forward until after, what seemed like an eternity, I finally got it and parked successfully behind the neighbor’s nice car.  As we hooted and hollered and celebrated our success, we looked over to the neighbor’s house and saw thru their front window the husband and wife couple standing looking out at us with sheer horror.  I then realized that our driving test around their highly prized vehicle must have been quite a frightening sight to them.

Nevertheless, the lesson I learned was that to accomplish a goal you needed to be able to persevere and push yourself forward.  Something my father would have to do as well after he was diagnosed with ALS.

As I continued to get older and eventually move out of the house to live in various apartments, my dad was always willing to help out with the move.  One move that was particularly eventful was one where I was moving my household furnishings into a storage unit.  As fate would have it, I selected a unit that was much, much too small for my furnishings.  I’ll never forget the look on my father’s face when he rolled up the door to the unit and saw how undersized it was.  As his jaw practically hit the ground, he turned to me and said “this will be like trying to put 2 pounds of shit in a 1 pound can………”

Can’t say I would have described my prized household furnishings as 2 pounds of shit, but I got his message.  This wasn’t going to be easy.  Nevertheless, being the German engineer that he was, he went about to meticulously place each piece into the storage unit in such a perfect manner, that at the end of the day, it all made it in. 

As he rolled down the door and it closed snug with everything safe inside, he looked at me and said “if it doesn’t fit, we make it fit……”  A lesson in adaptability……Unfortunately, this was a trait that he would have to utilize to the best of his ability after being diagnosed with ALS.  How to make a life fit with a degenerative nerve disease.

I look back and realize that my father had an amazing ability to take relatively mundane life events, a paper route, driver’s education, moving, and convert them to meaningful life lessons.

These were lessons and attributes that he had to successfully utilize to be able to cope with the terrible disease that he was stricken with.  As we know, there is no cure for ALS, however he was able to still be successful in enduring the transition from full health to physical decline in a way that he was able to leave a profound impression on those around him, all the way to the very end of his life and beyond.

Harold met every new challenge that his condition wrought with tenacity and without complaint, and I found this to be truly inspiring.  I will miss hanging out with my neighbor and friend- drinking a beer and a cold Jaeger Meister schnapps while chatting about travel, current events, and our lives.  

The message below is from David Todd, a friend of Harold's and fellow SRF devotee:

Over the years, while ushering the meditation on Sunday nights,  Harold and I became friends. One evening noticing he had some difficulty negotiating the front stairs, I asked him if he was alright and he told me of his disease and with a huge smile said ..."Master is taking me home".

On one Sunday evening, after meditation, Harold was coming out of the Temple and going down the front stairs with the help of a cane. He noticed an elderly man also going down the stairs but with a great deal of difficulty. Harold gave him his cane and walked/supported this man all the way to his car. I was blessed to witness this small gesture and felt it gave insight into his deeply loving caring nature. This seemingly small unnoticed kindness was awe-inspiring.

I will always cherish our greetings before meditation. His friendship, love for Master and the example of his tenacity to continue coming to meditation in spite of increasing difficulties will remain as a divine gift of inspiration.

Not only was Harold's attitude inspiring but it was obvious to me how much he was loved and cared for. His daughter Claudia coming home from LA on weekends and taking her dad to meditation. And to experience the 'round the clock' care in Harold's home gives testimony to his wife's profound divine love and dedication.

There are no adequate words to express my gratitude for the gift of divine friendship with Harold.... I will miss him dearly but the inspiration of his kindness and example will live on in my heart.

In God and Guru..... Peace love and goodwill to my friend Harold.

Besuch von Marlene und Harald in Murrhardt bei Harald´s Eltern

In 2008 we bought our house in Encinitas and what a wonderful surprise it was to find out it came with the nicest and kindest "German" neighbors! In the coming years we enjoyed such interesting and cheerful get togethers at either of our houses! When my parents or sister would come for a visit from Germany it was always one of their greatest highlights here to spend time together with the Simons over great and fun stories and often excellent food prepared by Marlene. I am feeling blessed I got to meet Harold and I am still cherishing the advice he gave me a few years ago which is to do the things you desire now and not to put them on hold for the future.

Lunch at Simon's, in honor of Harry/Analyn's wedding anniversary. Harold and Marlene are the hosts with the mostest. Thank you very much, your hospitality was greatly appreciated. Rest in Peace Harold, you will be greatly missed.

Love and Prayers,
Andrew and Aurora Dolopo 

Thanks for your presence and friendship you and your family gave us throughout the years. 
 
Love,
Andrew and Aurora Dolopo 

We still remember the Winnibego coming around the corner on the parking lot in front of our appartment building in Tucson, Arizona in May 2002. Harold and Marlene came to visit us from San Diego. We had a great day in Tucson together. But that was not all, Harold and Marlene toured from Tucson to Wayne, NJ to meet up with us again for our wedding in New Jersey three weeks later. We thought that was really great and showed the kind of spirit and outlook on life Harold had.

Rachel Lindsay and Joerg Raab 

I appreciate his kindness, generosity and support to me and Harry. I will always remember him for his intelligent in depth discussions on so many topics. We always looked to Mr. Simon for his expertise on fixing, creating, doing, traveling...basically everything. He has seen and done so much for many lifetimes. I am happy that his soul is pain free and light. Analyn Dolopo-Simon

Mr. Simon loved being by the poolside on bright, warm days-Analyn

Friends like Harold and Marlene come along rarely and to enjoy their friendship was a true privilege. Harold and Marlene both epitomized courage, dignity and grace as they coped with Harold's illness. They are both a real example to us. Harold never complained about his condition and always showed a happy face.

We will miss Harold and we know that Marlene, Claudia, Harry and their families will remember all the good times with him, as will we.

Doug and Lisa White 

How blessed was I, after moving 2000 miles to Connecticut in 1994, to be stationed in San Diego again and be able to re-connect with my Godfather Harold Simon in 2011. And this was after almost 10 years of being apart! I was fortunate enough to live downtown San Diego in a beautiful apartment, and although we only had a few dinners there I loved having Aunt Marlene and Uncle Harold over for some good food and cold beers.
Even living 30 miles apart, work kept me traveling across the world so I only had the chance to see the Simons on holidays and random times throughout the year. But my Godfather Uncle Harold was such a shining example of optimism and positive energy for me that I will never forget. Anything I had accomplished up until that point in my life felt so small next to this man who had battled LG for almost 10 years! And still kept such an elegant demeanor and contagious happiness when you would talk to him in person, despite all the daily challenges he would face.

Traveling the world, going through the Panama Canal, paragliding off Torrey Pines bluffs, daily trips to the SRF, what more could one man do, and most of that was in a motorized wheelchair! My Uncle Harold was truly an exceptional man, an inspiration to me, and I am truly grateful for the time we spent together.