Esther Gordon

January 23rd, 2017

Esther and I learned to garden together (her skills quickly outshone mine) and cared for each other’s plant babies. We talked together about suburban living and jewish living and parenting and reading and cooking and shopping and lots of stuff. She & Murray and Andy & I went to each other’s family weddings, bnai mitzvah, big birthdays, holiday meals, showers, impromptu backyard drinks and barbecues and yes, some funerals. We actually did that thing where we’d run over to each other’s house in our bare feet to borrow sugar when we were cooking and ran out…Our kids played in her backyard; her grandkids played in ours.

They were unendingly patient with our (two) dogs as they grew from rambunctious puppies and ran all over their yard, jumped all over them and their guests, pooped on their patio. They taught us by example about how a family learns and supports and loves each other through some big challenges. They walked each year as a big family team in the Autism Speaks event in Chicago. They cheered for our kids through their elementary and high school years; we admired their kids and the families they have raised. They were kind and welcoming to our “girls” – the foreign au pairs who came each year to live with us and get to know life in America.

The day we moved in, Esther & Murray came over and knocked on our door and gently asked if we would “not put up a fence between our two yards, but share the space together.” We never regretted saying yes to that. The day we moved out, 18 years later, I was feeling fine and not crying at all … until we had to say goodbye to the Gordons.

We’ve seen them since a few times, but I thought we’d have more time to do it again.

As I told Murray, Brian, Geoff and Laura: she taught me by gentle example how to be a grown-up — the kind of grown-up I wanted to be, anyhow. Patient, kind, committed to her family and making the world a better place, always curious and learning something new.

She was a woman of valor and the best next-door neighbor anyone could ever ask for and a true friend.

Z”l Esther, your memory is a blessing to me and to so many others. I will miss you.

~Karen Jacobs
~neighbor & friend, Chicago, IL

January 23rd, 2017

Murray
Mary and I are so sadden to have recieved the news about Esther over the weekend. We are stunned as we can only remember her as so young, beautiful, and full of life.
May the memories of Ester continue in all of our hearts for ever.
Our thought and prayers remain with you and your family.
Mary and I our living in AZ until the end of March, but we look forward to catching up with you soon.

Tom

~Thomas Long
~Friend, Madison WI