I never really spent time alone with Herby except after Phyllis died and we were helping to keep him comfortable, the best that we could. All my impressions were seen through the eyes of Phyllis who never hesitated to give her descriptions. I knew that he was her best audience, laughed whenever she opened her mouth and exclaimed afterwards," Isn't she wonderful" or else he would say, "Isn't she beautiful". When we suggested to Phyllis that she was babying him or giving into his needs or requests, no matter how inconvenient they were , her explanation was "what good is a wife if she can't make her husband happy?" They loved their personal times together when they would go off alone to new Hope or to Blue Bell for lunch It was seldom dinner because they enjoyed the ride on sunny afternoons and it was usually Mondays or Tuesdays, never Sat and Sunday when other people were around. Phyllis's greatest pleasure was buying herby clothes. He had the best in leather jackets and cashmere sweaters. She bought bargains for herself, but Herby's were top rate. He loved his car with its' cowhide seat covering. She fed him steaks and lobsters, especially when she purchased them on sales days. He hadn't tried chicken until later in life because it wasn't steak. Yes he was his own person. She told me of the time they went to a restaurant and a smiling maitr'd brought him a jacket (or was it a tie) to wear and he pranced angrily right out of that restaurant declaring he wasn't interested in that treatment. Because Herby was working on weekends at the market for most part of their life, on Saturdays, Phyllis went to parties alone without him and she declared, it was great that way because then she could have cocktails and hors d'oevres which were the best part of the food, and she could easily get to talk to everybody, and then she could leave before dinner when she had enjoyed the best part of the party by declaring she had to go home because Herby was coming home late for dinner. Herby was superstitious, at least there was one mishegus that I remembered..he would not allow a celebration for his birthday, we couldn't wish him well. He considered that an omen for bad luck. If we did, Phyllis would "give us the eye" warning us to keep quiet. One of you children already said that Herby ws his own person, and that's for sure, but he was allowed to be, mainly with Phyllis's approval. It added challenge to her life and she enjoyed it for just that. They loved that Billy talked to Herby every day, that Jonny visited them regularly and that Carole was there for them even after she moved away. They couldn't rave enough about their grandchildren. Each child had performed so spectacularly, they marveled that the kids had come from grandparents like them. They talked about them constantly and felt that somewhere someone had done something right. We'll miss Herby but never just for Herby..he was part of a pair, and a very special one together.