Len,

How proud an Uncle with a puffed up chest you would be to know that Noah is beginning UVA on Monday, 8/21/2017. We are all so proud of him and his capabilities. Go Noah Go.

Now our Ethan pulled a Len. Yes that's right he pulled a Len. Ethan was taking a summer class to get ahead with his school work and oh my god, he realized it was summer vacation and was in a huge quandry. To study, to play, to study. Yep play won out. BUT this is where you, Len come in. He realized he was at the back of the pack and needed a miracle finish to win. So he picked up the pace and raced to the finish line. And YES, he pulled an ACE. So, Ethan is now following in Uncle Len's study style.

Miss you and Love you with all our heart.

Mom and Dad 

Len,
The Cubs won last night. They won the World Series. Chris missed you a whole lot last night.
We miss you always. I'd like to believe you had a hand in giving Chris and Chicago this awesome win by The Cubs.

We love you always.
Samara 

PS Charlotte says she thinks FOR SURE you made the Cubs win. 

Len,I have a story to tell you,but I am warning you in advance that you will not believe me. But, it has to be told. Last nite was Game 7 of the World Series. No, the Mets were not in it. 
The A.L. team was the Cleveland Indians(really). They last won the World Series in 1948. They had a great pitching staff of Feller,Lemon,Wynn and Garcia. They beat the Boston Braves, whose pitching staff consisted of Spahn and Sain and pray for rain.  
The N.L. team was the Chicago Cubs,who last won a World Series in 1908. That was pre- Internet,pre- T.V. and pre- radio. The score board used smoke signals to
communicate with the crowd.
Anyway, the winner in 7 games was the CUBS!!!!!!, who came back from a 3 to 1
game deficit to win games 5-6 and 7.
Unbelievable Story, but true.

Forever in our hearts-Mom and Dad.
 

Dear Len,

Today is your 2nd Anniversary away from your loved ones. How Much do we love thee? More than we can say. You are always in our HEARTS and THOUGHTS. YOU ARE ALWAYS WITH US.
But, we have a story to share with you. This morning at approximately 3a.m. our smoke alarm went off with those awful piercing sounds. I jumped out of bed and checked the house out. No problem, just one of those flukey things. However, a light went off in my head and also in your fathers head and we both came to the same conclusion, you were sending us a sign that you are still in our lives and are still looking after your family. Abby, Jenna, Shari, Noah, Ethan, Dad and your Mom know that you will look after us and love us always. 
Oh by the way, Dad decided that he too needed to copy you and had a double hernia and is recuperating quite well. Same as his little MUNCHKIN, namely you, did at age 20 months. Coincedences????????? We think not.

We love you forever and a day. And to Infinity and Beyond............


Mom and Dad    

Hi Len- I have another piece of useless sports trivia to share with you.

What is the origin of the football term "touchdown" ?
Well,back in the early days of football, even back  before I was born and even before the foward pass was employed, when the runner got into the endzone,he
had to touch the football down to the ground to complete the score.
Hence the term-"TOUCHDOWN ".
And now you know the rest of the story.


DAD ( still missing you ) 

Somehow overlooked these photos in my last search, and found them for Len's 50th! Pretty sure this is right around New Year's Eve, 2009, at our house in Katonah.

Before he died in 2003, Johnny Cash recorded a remake of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt".  I had the honor and pleasure of hearing Len sing it softly under his breath, verbatim and on a good day, last July 4, 2013.  Such an amazing man.

I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real

The needle tears a hole
The old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything

What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end

And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt

I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liars chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair

Beneath the stains of time
The feelings disappear
You are someone else
I am still right here

What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end

And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt

If I could start again
A million miles away
I will keep myself
I would find a way

Len this is Dad and do I have a trivia question for you. 
 How did the phrase "Kilroy was here" originate and what does it mean ?

Well today is D-Day and as usual I volunteered at the Rocky Run World War 2 Day.   On the program and ID badges was the bulbous nosed cartoon and the saying
KILROY WAS HERE.During the opening ceremonies we found out that-----
During the war, a man named James Kilroy, had a job in Massachusetts inspecting
military vehicles being shipped to England,prior to the D-Day invasion. As usual the 
logistics and paperwork of this operation was a mess. So Mr. Kilroy came up with a stamp to indicate which vehicles he inspected. Our troops in England picked up on the logo and started using it wherever they went. That cartoon and logo showed up thruout the Europeon and Pacific  theaters. 

And now you know the rest of the story.( to quote Paul Harvey). 

Lenny and I (I can’t remember who else went) went to see a movie one time back in high school.  Back then they used to show you two movies and the extra movie was this cheesy horror movie spoof called “Student Bodies”.  It may actually have been the very first comedy horror movie spoof that you now see tons of today.  It was truly awful but he and I just found it really funny.  We quoted that movie to death over the years, but gradually it fell out of favor and we stopped talking about it.

A few years ago, Lenny sent me an email to tell me he was watching late night TV one Friday or Saturday and he recognized the movie and watched the rest of it.  He said it was not nearly as funny as he remembered (not surprising since in hindsight it was pretty bad) but he watched it anyway and quoted me a few long forgotten lines.  I found it amazing that he remembered the movie enough to recognize it from watching a few scenes.  I had forgotten about that movie a really long time ago and I would not have recognized it under any circumstances. 

I was watching one of those silly movies with my son the other day which I thought was terrible but he thought was a riot.  That made me think of the email exchange with Lenny and made me think my son had the exact same reaction that he and I had years ago and anyone over the age of 16 would have thought “Student Bodies” was just as unbearable to watch.

Dear Len,
Today is our Anniversary. An Anniversary is not an Anniversary if it couldn't be shared with you. We missed your phone call this morning, with your cheery rendition of Happy Anniversary and all that mushy stuff that goes along with it. You are and always will be the sunshine of our lives. Wish you were here to help us celebrate our 52nd year of togetherness. But that is not to be. We will always hold in our hearts your smile, cheerfulness and being our son. We were together with Shari, Noah and Ethan yesterday. We know that would have made you very happy and you would have raised a glass of wine to toast the occasion.

Len, this is Dad, I want you to know that your mother bought me a JAGUAR XKE CONVERTIBLE(true, it's only a model, but it's the thought that counts) and I'm wearing your Tag Heuer watch with love and pride.

Forever and a Day your parents, Mom and Dad.      


  

As I read the newest message from Steve Dickson about the Poughkeepsie Crew's weekend in NYC dedicated to Len, I laughed and nodded "Yes" -- Len had the most amazing memory.  Once I brought up to him how much fun the tasting experience was weeks before their wedding.  He remembered everything we sampled.  I could hardly remember one thing.  Len would know.  Just love that.

I hope these stories are available for a long time.  One day, when Abby can read, she will get such pleasure in reading all your shares.

By the way, every Friday night we light the Shabat candles and Abby  leads us in going around the table and sharing what we most loved about Len, her daddy.  She never forgets and since Chanukah fell on Thanksgiving which meant candle lighting, she suggested that the entire group of friends and family share something about Len.  

Love to all,
Marisa 

     The Poughkeepsie Crew just wrapped up a weekend get-together in New York, dedicated to Len.
     Dave Weiner, Phil Edwards, Tom Meusel, Kevin Burket and Steve Dickson spent the past three days going through old yearbooks and re-living the "glory days" of high school and beyond, remembering all the great times we had with Len and reminding ourselves how lucky we are to have known him.
     While there was no one there with Len's steel-trap memory, to correct our mistakes as we retold and embellished some long-ago incident in the cafeteria at Ketcham, we did the best we could. "Len would know," I had to say more than once, when lost for the name of someone or the exact details of a fading anecdote. And more than one glass was raised "to Len." We've made plans to continue the tradition every year, another way to keep his memory alive for us. (New Orleans, 2014!)
     There's a missing piece now, and a tremendous sadness without him there with us. But the memories he helped create are permanent, and help ease the pain. And so, to Len! Thanks buddy, for being our great friend.  

A number of people have commented lately on how great Len was with kids.  Be it Abby, his niece, his nephews or other people's children, we are all struck by how at ease and how curious Len was about children. I love this picture, in particular, because Len and my parents actually saw my son Noah before I did after he had to literally be dragged into the world.  

Stubborn by nature, Noah did not want to be born on or anywhere near his anticipated due date. Len and my parents took advantage of the delay and decided to drive down to Virginia (Marty & Phyllis still lived in Poughkeepsie in 1999) and be there on my induction date.  After a team of doctors finally coaxed/dragged Noah out, Len, Marty and Phyllis happened to hear that the Curtiss baby had been born and ran to an alcove of the delivery room in time to see and snap photos of Noah minutes after his birth--before I had even had a chance to see my own son!  This is a great photo of the most adoring and dedicated uncle.

As I look at all of the other great pictures on this site of Len and his niece and nephews I note that these pictures were all taken on the most special of occasions. At their births, bris', holidays and birthday parties. Uncle Len was there for all of them. As a single guy with no kids of his own in the late 90s and early 2000s, Len could have easily begged off coming down to Virginia and Maryland with any old excuse and we would have understood. It's a long trip. He has an important job. He's a single guy.  He doesn't have kids.  But that was never the case. Len never made excuses or hesitated to be there for his family. He never rushed off the phone during any of our conversations.  He always asked about the boys. He always remembered their birthdays. He never missed calling them and sending birthday presents.  He always sent holiday presents.

We will always miss our amazing Uncle Len.

 

I guess this is more of a remembrance about Lenny than anything else. I met Lenny in the 7th grade at Van Wyck Jr. High School (we always called him Lenny as he did not change his preference to Len until after college). I also met the rest of the Poughkeepsie crew that same year (Dave, Steve, Tom and Phil). As a group, we have maintained a friendship throughout the years which has meant a lot to me.

As I think back over time, I remember that Lenny and I had a study hall together right at the start of the year. That was really my first recollection of him. We would talk about last weekend’s Saturday Night Live show (fairly new back then) and make each other erupt into fits of laughter. Of course we got into hot water because of that and certainly the last thing we did was study (sorry Mr. and Mrs. Cohen). We would both stay up late every Saturday just so we could have fun reliving each show. Definitely a great and lasting memory for me. I also remember one study hall Lenny telling me he heard this new TV channel was getting ready to start up that would play music videos. We weren’t sure what that meant but it sounded cool. He called me on a Saturday to tell me the channel was going live in an hour and to watch it. He and I experienced MTV together that weekend. “Video killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles was the first video. He and I would talk about that for years.

As we moved into high school, we played JV soccer together (I think that first year Tom and Dave were on the team as well). I never really played soccer before but I wanted something to do in the fall. I stunk but it didn’t matter. That year, we played, had fun but didn’t win too many games. That was the real beauty of those years. We simply had a good time, worried about very few things and just enjoyed each other’s company while we messed around with whatever silly thing we chose to do. Certainly is something I wish was easier to do now.

It is funny, but all of that stuff stayed with us. We would get together many years later and we could each vividly recall all the details on these things (although Lenny could recall the details on an incredible number of things). We would also laugh about all of that as if it happened just the other day rather than 30 plus years ago. That was the real joy of those times. Something I will definitely miss, but it is a memory I will have forever.

I’ve known Lenny for about 35 years or so, having grown up since grade school and Jr High together.

I’ve been trying to make sense of it all and I’ve realized that I really can’t.  But I decided that what I can do and make sense of, is to remember who Lenny was and what he meant to me:

-          Lenny was a great friend, through every stage of our lives.  From being wet behind the ears kids, to mischievous high schoolers, to college grads, to early professionals, then newlyweds and of course, parents.

-          Through every step, Lenny was a friend that you could count on. 

Those are just some of the things that make sense to me. 

-          But the one occasion that always sticks out and epitomizes who Lenny is to me was his ability to care and be thoughtful. 

-          I’ll never forget when Lenny came for a visit after Kim and I had our first two children, Anna and Tommy.  Anna was about 3 or 4 years old and starting to look/read books and do other toddler stuff.  I was amazed  and impressed at what a keen interest and genuine affection he had for our kids.  He easily could have been polite, thrown a few goo-goo gaa-gaa’s at them and I would have been happy and impressed. 

-          But not Lenny.  He got right down on the floor and had so much fun and I thought how remarkable that was because Lenny wasn’t even married yet.  He didn’t have children.  How could his heart be so big already?   How could he be that mature already?  I knew I wasn’t and I had kids!

-          He wanted to know everything about them.  He was so curious and interested in what they could do and say.  It was all very genuine.

It made sense to me that Lenny was going to be a wonderful Dad and Husband some day.

I’ll always remember Lenny as a Husband, a Father, a son, a sports fan, a student, an attorney, a lover of literature and music, but most of all I’ll remember Lenny as a friend with a big smile and heart that made me proud to be his friend. 

I’d like to close with a quote from Elisabeth Kubler-Ross that someone sent me yesterday that helped me feel better and made a lot of sense to me.  I hope it helps you too:

“The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not ‘get over’ the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will heal and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again but you will never be the same. Nor should you be the same nor would you want to.”

I will miss you Lenny, but you will always make sense to me.

INTERNMENT SERVICE

 From Psalm 13…

 How long will this pain go on, Lord?

            This grief I can hardly bear?

            How long will anguish grip me

            And agony wring my mind?

            Light up my eyes with your presence;

            let me feel your love in my bones.

            Keep me from losing myself

            In ignorance and despair.

            Teach me to be patient, Lord;

            teach me to be endlessly patient.

            Let me trust that your love enfolds me

            When my heart feels desolate and dry.

            I will sing to the Lord at all times,

            even from the depths of pain.

It was on December 31st, 2007, on a frigidly cold, blue-sky day, that we stood here to bury Madeline Rose, Leonard and Jenna’s first child. For those of us here, it was a day of unspeakable pain and disbelief. 

You question how a child in 2007 dies in childbirth.  This was not 1907, but 2007. 

For me, in 2013, I am forced to ask, “why on earth are we here again”.  “Why are we burying Leonard?”  “Why did Jenna have to lose her husband so soon?”  “Why did Marthy and Phyllis have to bury their eldest son?”  “Why are we burying a brother, a nephew, a son-in-law, a cousin, a friend?”  And for me the most painful, why does Abby have to grow up without her Dad?”

 None of us can answer these questions.  They are just too enormous to wrestle with.  Too painful to rationalize.  There is, right now, no sense to be made of today.  This is a day without positive outcome.  This is a moment of despair.

 How long will this pain go on, Lord?

            This grief I can hardly bear?

            How long will anguish grip me

            And agony wring my mind?

 As I looked back to the remarks I made to Jenna and Len in 2007, I felt one particular section seemed important to revive for us all today, as we try and figure out how life will ever return to anything but despair.  Here is what I said:

 “You may not know where God is right now.  You may be so confused and angry with Him.  You have every right to be.  What has happened is unexplainable.  But, if you are able, try not to think that God has left you to cope alone.  You might find this clarity only briefly in the coming days, but God is waiting and will hear you whenever you cry out for help.  Also, God will be present as friends come round to offer you support.  God is there in the food people bring.  God is guiding your families in their love and healing.  We may not recognize God’s many disguises, but God is there.  God is always there. 

 As minutes turn to hours, and these hours turn then to days, weeks and months, the pain will diminish.  This I promise you.  You will not feel as you do forever.  It will get easier.  This I promise you.  Each day you will step a little further away from the precipice of grief and regret, of guilt and blame.  In time you will find laughter, reflection, hope and thoughts of the future.  This I promise you. You will laugh again.  But, you will never forget. You will never, ever forget.  This I promise you.”

LOWERING THE COFFIN

 We prepare now to place Len in the earth, allowing him his rest and release, and bringing him next to his precious Madeline.   It is the custom that we all share the responsibility, and perhaps even the honor, to fully cover Len’s coffin in mud.  As a you are able, after the immediate family have placed the first mounds of earth on the coffin, we all do our part to allow the ground to envelop and protect Leonard.

 I offer these two lines from the 103rd Psalm, used during the Yizkor prayer, that seem a perfect meditation for the task at hand:

 As for man, his days are like grass;

    he flourishes like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
    and its place knows it no more.

COFFIN IS LOWERED

AL M’KOMOH YU-VOH V’SHALOM

MAY HE COME TO HIS PLACE IN PEACE

KADDISH

Len was sent to his room for being naughty. But Len decided going to his room was not what he wanted to do. So, being strong willed,  he decided to take a nap on the steps and show who was the boss. Guess who won...........You have to admit he was adorable and who could not love a munchkin such as Len.  

Funeral Service for Leonard A. Cohen

Date:               Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Location:         Weinstein, Garlick, Kirshenbaum Chapels in Brooklyn, NY

Time:               11:00 a.m.

Graham reads:
 

                             I Carry Your Heart with Me, by EE Cummings 

I carry your heart with me (I carry it in
my heart) I am never without it (anywhere
I go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
I fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) I want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart)

            On Saturday, June the 10th, 2006, that poem was the central part of Jenna and Len’s wedding service, a service that I had the honor to lead.  I didn’t know that poem before I met Jenna and Len, but I loved it so much and it’s message so incredibly powerful and clear.   A foreverness of love.  “Anywhere I go you go, my dear,” says Cummings.  An unbreakable bond. A side-by-sideness.  A holding hands.  A touching look.  Forever.  Absolutely forever.

            “Anywhere you go I go, my dear.”  But, this was not the plan clearly.  Leonard, our dear Len, has gone.  Today, we gather in circumstances unimagined by a parent, a wife, a daughter, a brother, nephew, cousin, friend--to mourn, honor, and bury Len.  This was never the plan and a large hole now exists in all our hearts where Len once resided.  His smile, his probing questions, his passion, his dedication, his love.  These are all the things we remember of him.

            With Len’s passing we have to face the truth that all we have now are remembrances.   Memories, stories, pictures.   We can add nothing new to these anymore so we rely solely on what our minds can retain and conjure.  But those memories are vital if we are to begin to put a toe in the water of healing.  Lenny’s death, while a relief from the pain he no longer suffers, leaves a pain in us all now that might never fully vanish.

            When I spoke to Phyllis and Marty over the summer, when they first told me of Len’s condition, Phyllis broke her composure and apologized for what she was about to say to me.  She said, “Graham, I am just so angry at God right now.”   Anger is real.  Despair is real.  We all have questions that cannot be answered.   And likely there are no explanations.  There are explanations that lead nowhere.   There is truly no way to explain Len’s untimely death.  This just shouldn’t have happened.  We won’t know when but there will be a moment, however fleeting, when the darkness shows the tiniest glimpse of lifting.  The sun breaks in and, for just a second, we sense something lighter in our hearts.  It might vanish as quickly, and yet, a shift was felt.

Cummings writes:

I fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) I want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

Len has left us physically.  Of that, there is absolutely no doubt.  And still we know Len lives on in us all.  We all carry Len’s heart with us.

Cummings concludes:

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart)

Today’s service will allow us to hear memories, stories, and reflections from people who knew him best--his family and his friends.  Many tears may flow and how can they not?  People offer prayers in the language of songs and poems.  If the language of the Hebrew prayers are unfamiliar, offer your own prayer as a blessing to Len, Jenna, their beautiful daughter Abby, Len’s parents and siblings.

At the end of our service this morning, I will recite the traditional El Ma-ahley Rachamim.  At that moment, we will all pause and stand in silence as the casket is taken for internment. 

We now continue with the 23rd Psalm, first in English and then sung in Hebrew using a traditional melody heard weekly on the Sabbath

PSALM 23

The Lord is my shepherd

   I have everything that I need

He makes me lie down in green pastures

   he leads me beside the still waters;

   he refreshes my soul.

He guides me on the paths of righteousness

   so that I may serve him with love.

Though I walk through the darkest valley

   or stand in the shadow of death,

I am not afraid,

   for I know you are always with me.

You spread a full table before me,

   even in times of great pain;

you feast me with your abundance

   and honor me like a king,

anointing my head with sweet oil,

   filing my cup to the brim.

Surely goodness and mercy will follow me

   all the days of my life,

and I will live in God’s radiance

   forever and ever.

READING FROM 1000 WORLD PRAYERS

 A Psalm for the Dying: Edward Hays

 Relatives and friends, I am about to leave;

   my last breath does not say “goodbye,”

   for my love for you is truly timeless

   beyond the touch of boney death.

I leave myself not to the undertaker,

   for decoration in his house of the dead,

   but for your memory, with love.

I leave my thoughts, my laughter, my dreams

   to you whom I have treasured

   beyond gold and precious gems.

I give you what no thief can steal,

   the memories of our times together:

   the tender, love-filled moments,

   the success we have shared,

   the hard times that brought us closer together

   and the roads we have walked side by side.

I also leave you a solemn promise

   that after I am home in the bosom of God,

   I will still be present,

   whenever and wherever you call on me.

My energy will be drawn to you

   by the magnet of our love.

Whenever you are in need, call me;

   I will come to you,

   with my arms full of wisdom and light

to open up your blocked paths,

   and to untangle your knots

   and be your avenue to God.

And all I take with me as I leave

   is your love and the millions of memories

   of all that we have shared.

So I truly enter my new life

   as a millionaire

Fear not nor grieve my departure,

   you whom I have loved so much,

   for my roots and yours

   are forever intertwined. 

CONCLUSION

The funeral service pauses in a moment, as we prepare to bring Leonard to his final resting place at the cemetery out on Long Island.  In an utterly perfect reunion, Leonard will rest next to his eldest daughter, Madelynn Rose, who died in December 2007. 

For those able to come out to the cemetery, the ushers will be providing driving directions as you exit.  For those saying their final goodbyes to Leonard now, keep your hearts full with the best memories of Leonard, Jenna and Abby.  They are a beautiful family, and with Leonard now missing physically, keep them ever closer in your prayers, meditations and thoughts. 

 Before I recite the traditional contemplative prayer El Ma-aley Rachamim, “God full of mercy”, let us all stand and pause in contemplation together.  Let us breathe a moment in silence, pausing to hold Leonard right in our hearts, as he leaves here to be laid to rest. 

EL MAH-ALEY RACHAMIM

 Page 423 in the SINGER’S PRAYER BOOK

There was a picture which I shared with Jenna last summer.  We took a tour of Yankee Stadium and Len, being the great trooper Lenny was, he came with us [laughter].  So as we were taking the tour, we were in the Yankee dugout and Len sat down on the bench in the Yankee dugout.   I could not resist the opportunity and I snapped the picture [loud laughter].  Len sitting in the Yankee dugout.  And I think all of us who know and love Len, know that he cocked his head and put that smirk on his face.  And that was Len to me. 

I was asked to speak this morning so I probably am not going to be the most articulate, but one thing you need to know is that I will speak from the heart.

Jenna, Abigail, Phyllis and Marty, Shari and the boys, and Howard—we have a very special office, the Inspector General’s office.  This group of people believe in the mission of the office but in addition to working very hard we have come to know each other very very well.  And Len was a person that during our days we were working (together), we learned a lot about Len and I could say “ditto” to what David just said cause that which he articulated to you is what we also witnessed.  Len was part of the family.  A very very big family.  Working with very special people.

I took the opportunity this morning before coming here to stand in Len’s office and to look around his office.  It was a reminder to me of the Len that I knew and I have come to know.  As I looked around his office this a.m. I am so reminded by love, Jenna, that he had for you, has for you..the complete love and adoration he has for Abigail.  His family …. He talked a lot about his family.

But I was also reminded about the other things that made up Len.  A really sarcastic sense of humor. [laughter]  His love of the New York Mets. [loud laughter] We have an office rivalry, if you will, between our Yankee fans and our Met fans…and I am reminded by his intellect, such a smart man, Marty, very smart.  He was a very sensitive man, very compassionate. Very loyal, loyal to his family and friends.  And, he was a fighter.  He was fighting hard to the end.  Len came back to our office last summer.  He wanted to be with us and we wanted him with us.  I am so very very grateful for that time that we had with Len back at the office.  

There was a picture which I shared with Jenna last summer.  We took a tour of Yankee Stadium and Len, being the great trooper Lenny was, he came with us [laughter].  So as we were taking the tour, we were in the Yankee dugout and Len sat down on the bench in the Yankee dugout.   I could not resist the opportunity and I snapped the picture [loud laughter].  Len sitting in the Yankee dugout.  And I think all of us who know and love Len, know that he cocked his head and put that smirk on his face.  And that was Len to me.  I also wanted to reiterate what David just said, Jenna. I work with a fantastic group of people and your family is our family.  We will always be, with you and Abigail, part of your family.  If there is anything that you need from us, just pick up the phone and call us.

Wow, what a crowd.  I’ve asked Phyllis to be here to help give me support.  There’s a large number of people here from the IG Office, the AG office, family, friends, people from Poughkeepsie, New York whom Len grew up with.  Thank you for coming here this morning.

There are a couple of things about Len that I’d like to say. 

He was the smartest guy I ever knew. 

He was also the toughest guy I ever knew.

[Jim Henley, sorry, but I think Len was smarter than you (laughter)].

Next month is two years since Len was afflicted.  He battled cancer for two years. I was thinking of some words to describe how he inspired us.  I heard a song a few weeks ago that I’ve heard many times before and you’ve probably heard it too. The singer was Bette Midler and the song was “You are the Wind Beneath My Wings” and it goes on to say, “you lift me up higher and higher and you are my hero.” 

Len was our hero and we want him to be your hero too.

Jenna: Abby wanted to say something about her Daddy. What would you like to say?  Do you want to whisper it in my ear and I’ll say it?

She wanted to say that they had so much fun together.  That Daddy tells lots of funny jokes. [laughter]

Jenna to Abby: Would you like to show your picture to everybody?  Do you want to tell everyone who it is? Who is in the picture?

Abby:  This is my picture.

Abby pointing: This is Daddy, that’s me, this is Mommy.  I love my Daddy so much.

Jenna: And Daddy loves you so much Princess. His Little Princess.

I’d like to say a few comments today about Len’s childhood and his career.

Perhaps the best adjective to describe Lenny’s childhood in a good way is surreptitious [laughter]. He never stood out in a crowd.  He was not the one to raise his voice, look at me, and take notice type. That was not him.  But he was always confident.  Confident in his intellect and he honed his unique social skillset based on this.  He never flaunted his academic successes nor shied away from his athletic interests.  He was always that guy who, at just the right moment, would say the quirkiest and most insightful comment that you had to think about for a few seconds before you realized its depth and impact [laughter].  Combine that with an uncanny memory, a love for comedy, and biting sarcasm and what resulted was a unique mix, what would be characterized in my adopted home town of New Orleans as a wonderful gumbo made from a savory rouex.  Most of us here today had our lives enriched by this.  His absence is indescribable.  

His career.  You know, Lenny was always interested in public service.  Always was. I think his initial aspirations were political.  Expressed as early as high school and exemplified by his tours in both the House of Commons in London and as an aide for Louisiana Senator Long in Washington, DC during his undergraduate studies.  Consider the paradox there.  Politics is a blood sport in Louisiana, you know, but it can be quite civilized (or least it was back then) in Britain.   I sense those experiences were very telling for Lenny.  And he lost interest in politics as a venue for his public service. 

But his decision to train as a lawyer did not surprise those of us who have known him since childhood.  I’m biting my tongue today to not make snarky comments about the legal profession which is difficult for me to do for multiple reasons, not the least of which was that it was a constant source of amusement between the two of us.  Len was always interested in reasoning as a sport.  He was never shy in defending his position and was imminently logical--all qualities of a good lawyer.  But he also had an inherent penchant for fairness which was hard at times for him to reconcile with that profession.  I remember when he started interning late in law school at one of the big corporate law firms here in NYC.  He was always a bit coy about his enjoyment, or lack thereof, you know, for this work initially.  But he grew increasingly disillusioned. I remember the day that he told me about his decision to step off that fast track.  He was waking up every morning then, hating the prospect of going to work.  He did something that few of us would do--he chose life itself over power, prestige, and financial security.  And he took a different path at that point.  That path started with a year’s long journey around the world.  One of my few regrets is that I did not find a way to join him on at least part of that adventure.

He did settle in to a distinguished career in legal services in state government, bringing a voice of reason to many complex issues like funding of mental health care for prisoners and, of late, rooting out corruption in Albany, of which there is plenty go to around.  He was taken from us way too soon and this city's, and this state's, and, if he had had more time perhaps this country’s, loss is immeasurable.

Jenna. Talk a moment about Jenna.  A faithful eulogy for most men would include some comment or story about how when a man meets his future wife, he discards a less than pious romantic past.  Not true here.  Another example of his uniqueness.  He was even-keeled and understated and meeting you, Jenna, did not dramatically alter his lifestyle, but it clearly gave him purpose.   I may be wrong, but I think he struggled for a time with the concept of a lifelong commitment to another person.  If he had any doubts, you clearly dispelled them.  He was devoted to you.  We never had a single conversation, he  never expressed a wayward desire, nor did he take any actions to the contrary.   He was a man of principles and virtue, and he manifested that in his life with you.  I’m sure that not every day was perfect, that not every day was easy.  I’m absolutely certain that he loved you deeply, through the good times and during the trials and tribulations that you faced together as a couple and a family.  As your life continues from this low, as you regain your footing, may he never be far from your heart.

Abigail. I don’t even know where to begin or what to say about Abigail.  Over nearly 40 years of friendship from junior high school through college and beyond,  through cross country journeys and New Orleans debauchery together, the singular thing that stood above all those other joyous times, and the one part of his life that unambiguously captured Lenny’s heart, was Abigail. 

Intangible human entities like friendship and love don’t contract; on the contrary, they expand at times like these. Jenna and Abigail, look around this room.  Look at the people gathered here and the few other perhaps that couldn’t make it today.  You see the people whom Lenny’s sharp wit, his kind heart, and his mischievous nature have ensnared.  We are now your family.  We are here for you now and we will be there for you if there is ever a time of need in the future.  I made that promise to him personally. I have no doubt as I stand here and look around this room that I am not alone in that commitment.

There are so many things I can say about Len.  My husband, my best friend, my true soul mate.  Today I wanted to share two of them with you.  They are gifts he gave me and, actually, gifts he gave to everyone in his life.  For he truly made me a better person and he made this world a better place.  

The first one is his unbelievable generosity and kindness.  He was so kind and giving.  It just came naturally to him.  He never even had to try.  He never wanted anything back in return.  It was just part of who he was.  It was truly inspirational to me and made me want to be a more kind and generous person.  And every time I’m in a situation I think about, “What would my husband do?” “What would Len do?”  “What’s the generous way to be?” and I thank him for that, that gift.

The second was his unbelievable ability to live in the moment.  He never lived in the past or in the future.  He didn’t spend his time worrying about things that came before or what would happen tomorrow.  He took each moment and each day as it came. When you were with him, you knew he was truly there with you.  What a gift.  How he could do that I could never understand.  I used to ask him and he would say, “Why worry about things that happened before that you can’t change?” or “Don’t stress about tomorrow, who knows what will happen.”  

It takes monks a lifetime of study and meditation to do something like this, but when I met Len he had already mastered this incredible ability.  He never even had to try.  I think he was just born with it.  It was just the way he was.  It was just part of who he was.

He was truly able to find joy in each moment because he truly lived every single moment of his life.  I plan to spend the rest of my life trying to learn these two amazing lessons from Len--to take these gifts, gifts I had the honor to see.  And I will try to live my life the same way so that Abby can learn them for herself as well.  It is my duty and my honor, it is my pleasure and the privilege is mine.

I would like to say one last thing.  Thank you to Marty and Phyllis, his parents. Thank you for bringing this amazing person into this world, clearly raising him with such love and dignity, and then sharing him with me.  He will always be my love and my hero, and I can honestly say that I am a better person for knowing him and for loving him.  And Len, your girls love you forever.

Hi. I’m Jenna’s mother and I don’t have anything prepared.  As a mother all we want for our children, I think all of us as parents, we want our children to be happy.  Let them be happy.  For Jenna it was just like-- growing up, it wasn’t the kind of a happiness in her that I so so wanted until Whitney’s bridal shower and this good looking guy walked into the room where the dog was.  We were sitting around and all the guys had gone out to do whatever guys do when there’s a bridal shower going on.  Jenna and Len looked at each other.  Whitney’s mom, Nancy, was there and she looked at me and she said, “That’s it. That’s it.” [laughter] You know Nancy was sort of like that, those of us who knew Nancy.

And then at Whitney’s wedding, this beautiful wedding, and it was the last dance and I hadn’t seen Len with Jenna and the two of them were dancing and you could feel that there was something, something so special that was taking place there.  And, of course, Nancy said, “Marry him. He’s going to marry her.” [laughter] And she said, “He is the best best guy.  He’s my favorite.”

Jenna, what you and Len gave each other was the most beautiful beautiful love. Jenna used to say to me, “We don’t’ have to do anything, we just love love being with each other.”  Just so much caring and so much, as Abby said, so much fun.  He was just the nicest, greatest, funniest, smartest…it wasn’t always so comfortable to have a conversation with Lenny [laughter].  He just knew more.  Even things you thought you knew a lot about, he’d know more about it [laughter].  But then he’d laugh and it would just be okay.  Jenna, that love you have in your heart; your heart is bigger than the entire world because of what you and Len had together and that will never go away.

Shari and Marty and Phyllis—thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you’ve done for my daughter. Thank you.