As you know the 11th of Tamuz marks the 5th Hebrew Yahrzeit for my father, Marshall Harlan Epstein, Meir Zvi ben Natan zichrono livracha. It is hard to imagine that five years have passed since my father’s petirah. Sometimes It is hard for me to bear. I miss my father every single day, even if I don’t say it out loud. He is always in my thoughts and prayers. Every morning, when I pray., I never forget to say tehillim. That is when I think of him, because the power of tehillim can be strong. It pains me and I’m sure others when there is not much we can do to help our loved ones in situations of dire need, and prayer can be the best way to ask Hashem for help to heal our loved ones.
I see that today, the 11th of tamuz is a day of sadness, but also is a day of remembrance. Remembering and never forgetting all the moments that my father and I shared. Never forgetting and remembering the moments my father shared with his brothers, his mother, his father, his wife, his children, his in-laws and the entire mishpacha. A special memory that comes to mind, is when my father would join me for prayer at YCQ and at Mesivta of Roslyn. I did not realize then, how much I appreciated spending that time with my father, when other didn’t have that opportunity. I am grateful to Hashem that I had those moments and I cherish them to this day. All our memories of my father are very special and dear to us all, I encourage you who knew him to think of one and hold onto it on this day. Let us always remember my father, Marshall, Meir Zvi, as a caring, loving and thoughtful person who put others ahead of himself. Dad, I love and miss you dearly!
Your son Yonatan Yitzchak.
As I read this beautiful letter from my son, Yonatan Yitzchak (Yoni), an image comes to mind of the last day of Marshall’s life. My son Yoni was instructed by Rabbi Oppenheimer to put on tefillin on his father and daven shacharis with him. He did this with great emotion and cried as he davened with Marshall who was not awake. This was the last kavod that he could do for his father. It occurred to me that in a sense, Yoni was giving back to his father, what his father did for him as he was growing up. We never know what impression our actions have on our children!
By Yoni Epstein and his Mom Rachel Epstein