Maya Angelou said, “I sustain myself with the love of family.”

For so many of us, Angelou’s sentiment is a truism, that our families help us to feel moored to the good, to nurture the core of who we are and hope to be, to open our hearts to joy, intimacy, and love, to affirm the benefits of partnership and camaraderie, to instill the virtues of gratitude, humility, generosity, and faith, and to go out into the world to make a difference, be productive, and discover added meaning through our good works benefiting everyone we encounter.

This past week, my community and I lost two dear friends and two pure souls who adored their families and were adored by them and their wider communities as a whole – Claude Morady and Bruce Corwin.

These men were models of civility, kindness, humility, generosity, optimism, hope, faith, joy, and love. We are all diminished in their passing.

Zichronam livracha. May their memories abide among us as blessings.