Ellen Glazer
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Dear Bill,
Last week (a few days before Dick died), I was cleaning out my t-shirt
drawer and came across my nearly antique "Richard J. Israel 5oth Birthday
Road Race" T-shirt from 1978. Although there were many other t-shirts that
brought back happy memories but which are now en route to Goodwill, this one
was a special treasure. It rekindled the many, many memories I have of early
morning runs with Dick, Susan Dole and others, some of whom have moved away
and at least one of whom, died several years ago. As everyone who is
sending something in knows, Dick was the ultimate storyteller and his
stories were very welcome on cold, dark mornings. Perhaps my favorite was
the one of how he got his running in on a long distance flight--he ran in
place in the airplane bathroom!
Dick named each of my children and converted one of them. I think my
fondest memories of Dick were those three occasions--the two naming
ceremonies and the conversion. But there were many, many others.
I thought Dick would be on Heartbreak Hill forever. In recent years, I
saw him most on Sunday mornings and so yesterday was especially difficult.
Thank you for helping all of us keep our memories of him vivid and
alive.
sincerely,
ellen glazer