My entire life he was always ‘Uncle Ivan’ as if it was a single word. Growing up where we lived, taking trips to see Uncle Ivan, became synonymous with holidays and vacation time with family. I loved those childhood trips to the desert and how much it meant to my mom to have us together as a part of a larger family. While imposing at times Uncle Ivan always seemed to be the largest personality in the room. I was just simply too young to understand how generous and thoughtful he was to constantly keep having us come back to stay with him.

So many years later I was blown away when Uncle Ivan drove to Seattle all the way from Palm Springs and gifted me his boat. He loved being out on the water and the generosity of his gift was to so my family could also have those moments of being on the water that he treasured also. I could only listen as Uncle Ivan shared with me a lot of his knowledge and stories about boating. That gift changed the way our family plans our vacations around water and given my kids and their friends so many experiences of being on the water. Perhaps memories of their childhood they will carry with them their entire life. Made possible by the generosity of a man they never knew. Thank you, Uncle Ivan.

Uncle Ivan is a towering icon of my childhood. 

We were always excited to visit.  He was just so cool and it seemed like it was always a party wherever he was. His house was full of music  and people,  plus he had a pool -- mind-blowingly ultimate to me! One time I remember swimming in the pool and a snake joined in as well.  I was panicked,  but Ivan didn't even seem flustered or even put down his cigarette when he used the pool net to scoop up the snake and fling it over the fence into the desert. It may have been commonplace to him but it remains in my memory as a super brave hero move.  

I remember when he would cock his head to the side, start to chuckle and look at you,  you knew you were going to hear it, and it was probably something sarcastic. 

Later he was the catalyst for a family reunion in Washington state, and while I was apologetic for the drizzly cool weather, he was happy to get out on the boat away from the desert heat. He liked to talk and my husband likes to listen, so they bonded over some conversations and along the way discovered they both had a love for good scotch. Ivan actually sent him a very fine bottle which touched Sanjay, both for his generosity and thoughtfulness. 

Ivan will always be in my memory as someone larger than life. Thanks Uncle Ivan; I'll miss you.  ❤

It's more than a week since he left and I can barely begin to contemplate the emptiness. How can you pull one story from more than forty years of a shared life? Ivan was a great friend to me, and a great husband and partner. He had a lot of illness and pain in his last ten years or more, but he loved life. I wish I could pull a single story to tell from the many, but for the moment all I can say is he had a great sense of humor, he loved telling tales by a campfire with friends and he will be much missed.