Quote Wall

He drove 12 hours to help us move into our first house and wouldn't let us pay for anything. Said watching us unpack the boxes was payment enough. That was Dad.

Trabalhamos com o Engenheiro Lima por dezesseis anos. Era o tipo de chefe que conhecia o nome de todos e se importava com cada um. Uma perda enorme.

We graduated law school together in 1988. Even then you knew Sylvia was going to matter. She mattered enormously.

She grew the most enormous tomatoes I've ever seen and gave them all away. That's who she was — even the garden was communal.

I read Sylvia's memoir manuscript before she finished it. It was devastating and funny and profoundly honest. I hope someone publishes it.

She mentored me through my first year as a public defender. Her rule: if you leave the office before your client does, you're not working hard enough.

Harold delivered our mail for 20 years. In all that time he never once was rude, rushed, or unkind. That sounds ordinary. It isn't.

Fui su colega durante veinte años. Roberto era el tipo de médico que hace que los pacientes confíen en la medicina. Lo extraño en el pasillo y en las guardias.

He walked the same mail route for 32 years and knew every dog, every child, every widow who looked forward to seeing a friendly face. He was the route.

Catherine was on the board of our nonprofit for 12 years. She never missed a meeting, never let a bad policy slide, and never raised her voice in anger. Formidable.

She took in three foster children over the years while raising her own three. She never spoke of this as sacrifice. She called it the best thing she ever did.

Cathy and I graduated the same year. She went to social work, I went to finance. She always said she got the better deal. I've always thought she was right.

I supervised Cathy's master's thesis in 1981. She was the most purposeful student I ever taught — every word, every choice, in service of something larger than herself.

She started every staff meeting by reading a student success story aloud. It took five minutes. It changed the energy of the whole week.

Mom had a saying: "Justice delayed is justice for no one." She said it in court. She said it at the dinner table. She lived it.

She worked double shifts when we were small and still made us dinner every night. I did not understand what that cost her until I had children of my own.

She hired me for my first teaching job and told me on day one: the kids who need the most love will often ask for it in the most unlovable ways. I have never forgotten it.

My daughter said the first day of school was the best day of her year because of how Ms. Reyes made everyone feel welcome at the door. Every single day. Personally.