JJ has asked that I share some lighter moments of Mal’s life with you. He was full of adventure and life with him was never dull. He was a doer and always on the go. We met when we were 10 years old; I was going to Hebrew School with his brother and Jerry was the one who introduced us. We dated and were married when we were twenty. Here are some of my memories of Mal’s younger days…

Mal really loved cars. When he was a teenager, he bought a Model T and one day came to pick me up. We had just had an disagreement before he came over. As we were driving, he suddenly pulled to the side of the road and yelled, “Get out of the car!!! I said, “I will not! You drive me home!” He replied, “Get out of the car, stupid; the car is on fire!” So, I got out…

He also had a red Ford that he had souped up. He would take the hood off and drive around town. He would love to pull up to a light, gun the motor and watch the flames fly up out of the carburetor into the air, as I ducked down with embarrassment…

Mal was in his early 20s when he accepted a job with Ponder and Best and we moved to Los Angeles. He also loved to hunt and shoot and had bought some guns. He had a 357 Magnum. One day one of our next door neighbors with whom we had become friends, asked if we could watch their apartment because they were going out of town…

So, the next night, as we were saying good night to some friends who had come to dinner, Mal noticed that our neighbor’s door was ajar. The manager was an older man and Mal was sure he was asleep, so he sent me inside and pulled the neighbor’s door shut. He quickly came inside, closed our door and got out one of his guns. A few minutes later, we heard their sliding door on the patio opening. As Mal slowly opened the door with his gun in his hand, he found himself face to face with our next-door neighbor who also had a gun. Just at that moment, our new neighbor who had moved in to the left of us (who neither of us had met) opened his door and said, “What the … is going on here?” Thus began a wonderful friendship between the six of us….

Mal’s love of shooting and hunting also led to my final story which took place many years later when Mal was married to JJ and I was married to Avner… It was right after the riots in Los Angeles, and Avner and I had decided that we should buy some guns for protection. We weren’t sure what to buy so we called on Mal to help us and the four of us went shopping. We so confused the salesman, that he asked, “Who is married to who around here?” and we all laughed…

Mal will be missed by many of us. He was blessed to have met and married JJ who has been a wonderful companion on his life’s journey. She has also blessed him with two wonderful sons, who he adored and spoke of often with such love and pride. He was like a brother to me throughout all these years and I am sure he is looking down on us now and smiling as he reminisces with all of us…