Eulogy delivered by Shep’s granddaughter, Samantha Resnik, at his memorial service held at Ohavi Zedic Synagogue in Burlington, VT on September, 27, 2008.

Zaide- the best guy ever!

On September 20th, 2008, Sanford Resnik, my Zaide, passed away. Yet really, in reality, he is not gone from this earth. Anyone who has ever met my Zaide has a piece of him living inside of you. He’s alive inside of all of us. It’s truly impossible for Zaide not to be around anymore, because I know his sense of humor is in my heart right now. I know his laughter, his smile, his love, his music; his life… is inside my body. I’m sure it’s in yours also.

My Zaide’s love for life was the most wonderful thing. I’m sure whenever you were around him you were soaking up his infectious glow. It was impossible for me not to be happy when I was around my Zaide. No one on this earth made me more glad to be alive then him. His jokes were truly one of a kind. His courage was remarkable. His love for his family was undeniable. The respect his three sons and wife had for my Zaide was unbelievable. His personality was like a field bursting with bright flowers and sunshine. Even when he was given the bad news about his cancer- not once did he stop telling his jokes. And not once did he stop living life to its fullest.

Now I think it wouldn’t be right to talk about Zaide, without talking about his love for music. At 11 years old he taught himself to play the clarinet, and from then on- it was history. Even though my Zaide loved his pharmacy, his true passion was his music. His music made him feel so good. I remember sitting in the Toms River house and listening to beautiful tunes come out of his clarinet. I remember his unquestionable joy after he had finished playing. It was truly amazing. I remember singing and playing piano with my Zaide and Julia on my fathers 40th birthday. I remember playing piano for my Zaide and feeling so proud of myself that such a great musician was listening to me play. One of my fondest memories, is when I went on a trip with my Mom-mom and Zaide to Arizona and we were hiking along a path just singing every Frank Sinatra song we knew. Dancing the morning away. Also times at my house, just before he was about to go back home- we would dance together usually singing Fly me to the Moon, or Love and Marriage.

Just the other day I was looking at this Grandfather Remembers book that my Zaide had made me for my Bat-Mitzvah. There was a picture of him leading a marching band. On the back of the picture it said he was leading the band for a big parade in Seattle, Washington. He was going to be playing in front of Bing Crosby- he said it was one of the proudest moments of his life.

There are so many unbelievable and absolutely beautiful times I spent with my Zaide throughout my life. I mean, if you were going to spend time with someone-- Zaide was the guy to be with! From early childhood- Oreo sandwiches, searching for pennies, and silly dances. To later on- watching Jeopardy, trips to the ice cream store, adventures in Arizona and Utah, and funny games of scrabble where he would give a “little help” with our words. Truthfully, every moment spent with Zaide was a moment I would never forget, a moment where I was filled with happiness.

Now I am sure all of you have a hilarious story about Mr. Shep. For me, there are too many to count! There was one my Mom-mom told me which I just love. So one day my Mom-mom was in the garden like usual and my Zaide yells out- “when’s lunch? I’m starving!” As you might know, Zaide was not exactly a world-class chef. So my Mom-mom yells back, “I’ll be in- in a minute!” Well, Zaide was a bit impatient, so he goes into the refrigerator for some borsht. So he takes out what he thinks is borsht and he cuts up scallions and some potatoes and some cucumbers and puts them all in a dark brown bowl. So he’s mixing it up, and as Mom-mom comes in he takes a bite and he makes the most horrible face. He goes, “this borsht tastes disgusting!” And my Mom-mom goes,” just eat it Shep!” So he takes another bite and he goes,” this is horrible, this is the worst tasting borsht I have ever tasted.” So Mom-mom says, “I just made it, how could it possibly taste that bad?” So she goes into the refrigerator and sees that the glass jar of borsht is full. She sees that half of the PRUNE juice jar is empty. My mom-mom is laughing hysterically and says, “Shep, your not eating borsht—your eating prune juice!” My Mom-mom had kept telling him to eat it and eat and he kept making this horrible face- he had been eating prune juice the whole time!

I have a really special story that my Uncle Brian just told me yesterday. Well, when my family was up in Vermont, we would always pass this cornfield when we would drive into town. So Zaide would go— “ girls you know how I know when to leave Vermont?” And we would go “how?” And he would say— “when the corn gets cut down! When I see the corn getting cut down, I say OH! It’s time to go home.” Well, we would laugh and laugh. He would tell that a lot. So on Saturday morning when my Uncle Brian was on his way to the hospital, the corn was just beginning to be cut down. When he arrived at the hospital, Uncle Brian said to Zaide- “Dad the corn is being cut down, It’s ok, it’s time to leave.” When Brian was on his way back, the corn had been completely cut down. It was an extraordinary message.

Well, I would like to end this with a thank you to Zaide. So Zaide—thank you for every time you made me laugh. Thank you for every time you made me smile. Thank you for showing me the wonders of life. Thank you, Zaydar, for giving me more joy then I could ever imagine. Thank you for your kindness, thank you for your wisdom, thank you for your music, thank you for your love. Zaide, thank you for everything you ever did. You really left your mark on the world. Zades, you cannot imagine how much I’m going to miss every part of you. I know that I won’t be able to give you a hug anymore, or hear your seal noises when you walk in the door, or laugh at your jokes. And right now, I really just want you near me. But Zaide, I know you’re with me. I can feel it. I feel it in my heart. I feel it down to the very core of me. You will never leave me for as long as I live. Zaide, though it hurts me so very much to say goodbye to you, just know that my love for you was indescribable. Every time I think of you I will smile, because that’s just what you did to people. I love you.

I would like to end with one of my Zaide’s favorite songs:
Pennies in a stream
Falling leaves a sycamore
Moonlight in Vermont

Gentle finger waves
Ski trails down a mountain side
Snowlight in Vermont

Telegraph cables, how they sing down the highway
As they travel each bend in the road
And when people meet, in this romantic setting
They’re so hypnotized by the lovely…

Evening summer breeze
Sweet warblngs of the meadowlark
Moonlight in Vermont