I met Marcy Diamond in 1960, when she was a 16-year-old high school junior and I was a 19-year-old high school dropout. I was working to help support myself and my family and basically in an aimless state. Shortly after we started dating, she introduced me to her parents. I wondered how I'd be received because I didn't have a diploma, I had a menial job, and was seemingly going nowhere.

Teddy was very pregnant and my first image of her was lying on the couch with a very prominent belly. She was resting from a hard day's housework. She was very welcoming and sweet to me, which, of course, is her nature. Later in the day, I met Willy when he returned from work. He was polite and quiet, not a man of many words.

Marcy had prepared me for this, explaining that he was a serious guy and not one for small talk. Of course, his hands did the talking... a magnificent, 6-foot tall Queen Anne highboy in curly maple dominated the room. I was thoroughly stunned by the beauty and workmanship of the piece. I was experienced in home maintenance and done some carpentry, but this was high art. I knew that I was in the presence of a gentle but towering master.

When I'd come to the house, I would often visit with him in his workshop and discuss tools and techniques. We also discovered that we had classical music in common, something that wasn't true for Marcy's other friends. We also had occasions to chat about history and politics and Jewish culture.

Even before I married Marcy, Teddy and Willy embraced me as another son. They didn't have much choice as Marcy and I were inseparable once we met. My own parents died a few short years after our marriage, and it was very comforting for me to have my other family to be part of. They are the only grandparents my daughter Rachel ever knew.

Willy and Teddy have been the anchors of my life for 56 years. Through innumerable seders, meals in our sukkah, weddings, and childbirths, and simchas, and noches, they've been there... always helping and encouraging. How incredible lucky I've been to be part of this amazing clan and with sorrow and infinite gratitude I celebrate the passing of my Father.