from Brenda and Daniel Rubin

From Brenda (Nancy's sister) and Daniel Rubin: 

A few memories about my brother in law, Avi.  He always remembered my birthday.  I kept a lovely phone message on my cellphone that he sent me after we had attended Malki's and Jaime's wedding.  He tried to advise me as my older sibling.
There were stories I know from the time Nancy started dating Avi that I remembered.  When I repeated them for Nancy, she didn't remember them so they may be apocryphal.  However, I remembered them for so many years.  So, here they are.
When Nancy was dating Avi on one of their first dates (or it might have been their first), he remembered a kosher restaurant in New York.  He picked Nancy up from her apartment and they went on the subway for a very long time.  Since Avi was in graduate school at MIT and it had been ages since he had been at the restaurant, they got off the subway (I think after an hour and a half in transit) only to find that the restaurant he remembered had closed quite a while ago and there was no other kosher restaurant nearby.  They were starving so Avi bought some fruit (I had remembered bananas) at a stand and they got back on the subway to return where Nancy had her apartment.  I remember how Nancy did not mind the travel or the snafu.  She just remembered laughing and having fun.  The time just flew for her.

Another time, Avi picked up Nancy at the Warwick or Esplanade and one of her roommates was still there.  All the other roommates were out.  Avi said, "I have lots of friends.  There's no reason why you should stay here alone when you should be going out too."  Avi borrowed the phone (pre cell phone days) and called around until he got a friend to take out that roommate.  I don't know any other person of our age who would have been so considerate of another person when picking up their date.  Avi thought of others.

After they had dated a few times, Avi dropped by to see Nancy when he was visiting NY without prior warning.  He thought to surprise her.  To his surprise, Nancy was out on a date with another guy.  Avi sat in the hallway and waited to greet Nancy after her date with that guy! His persistence and tenaciousness paid off.  He was coming to visit my parents with Nancy months later as her boyfriend.  By the time Nancy and Avi landed in LA, they had become engaged on their way to LA on the airplane.  Avi had calculated when they were at the half way point between NY and LA and proposed.

After Amira [Brenda's oldest child, ed.] was born, he loved holding her.  Once, I wanted to take her away from him because she needed a diaper change.  Instead of cringing, Avi said that it was a privilege for him to hold Amira in that state!

I remember visiting Nancy and Avi in NY when Amira was 5 months old.  It was a 5 floor little walk up apartment and yet Avi and Nancy made it a fun place.  However, there was a mouse in the apartment.  Avi and Daniel returned to find me and Nancy screaming, standing on chairs,  with me holding Amira aloft.
We visited Avi and Nancy and Chavi in Brookline when Chavi was just a baby.  I remember how Avi was so comfortable being a Dad and just couldn't stop admiring Chavi.  He took to being a father so naturally.  Chavi was very serious and self composed and quietly kept herself occupied. Avi acted silly with Chavi and Chavi patiently allowed her exuberant Dad to lavish silly attention on her.

We visited Avi and Nancy in hot Florida in the summer after Menachem was born.  I remember how delighted Avi was with his close friends and  Avi would mimic an ad and say of  Heshy  "you can call me Rabbi, you can call me Rabbi Doctor, you can call me Rabbi, Doctor, Doctor." .
After the twins were born, I remember visiting.  When one of the older children in the Karkowsky family would cry for whatever reason, Avi would take one of the twins in his arms and offer comfort to the older child saying, "What you need is a twin."  Immediately, the aggrieved child would revive after hugging the proffered twin.

I will fast forward to the last time Avi was in Los Angeles with Nancy.  He told me that he never met anyone in his life that he would have rather married than Nancy.  We will miss him and his corny jokes.  Love, Brenda and Daniel