By Adele Levine

Sylvia was at our wedding in 1957. Paul was Sam's childhood/boyhood/adulthood friend. We go back well over 50 years, with lots of great memories. There are many words describing Sylvia, but the word I've never known to be used is 'boring'. Knowing her and her energy and her creativity and her quirkiness was always fascinating and 'different'. You learned to roll with that uniqueness, though at times it was daunting.

When we unveiled Sam's headstone she and Paul arrived (she had a walker by then) and as they made it from the car across the grass at the cemetary, she spotted Bill Lockyer, who was then Speaker pro tem of the Senate. She headed for him and with finger wagging challenging him on a political issue and though he was twice her size, reduced him to half her size. He didn't know what hit him, though he, like most in Sacramento, was quite familiar with Sylvia's ways.

When Sylvia and I visited, our talks were wide-ranging, though more and more they focused on her two grandchildren and their accomplishments. They were going to go to Stanford, for sure!
As she aged she remained 'in tune' with what was happening politically and was sure that she had the answers to the problems, if only 'they' would listen.

Through Smith to Redwoods, visiting her continued to be a joy, until it wasn't a joy anymore. The last time I saw her, I was unrecognized and decided that the Sylvia I knew no longer was in the body of the person who was living at Redwoods. I wept as I drove away, and immediately had a soft collision with a car in front of me. I thought of all the words Sylvia might use on an occasion like that, and began to giggle while exchanging info with the other driver. She has left me with an abundance of great memories. How could you forget the likes of Sylvia!!! It would be an outrage...