Dear all those present, thanks for coming to say fare well to
    my father.

    Dear dad, I will say good bye to you too.

    Of course we realized that some day you wouldn't be there
    anymore, but your death still came suddenly.
    You fell, in your own house ... ... and died from your
    injuries.
    It is terrible.
    On the other side, I find comfort in my conviction that this
    accident saved you other misery.
    You had a disease, although you wouldn't call it that way.
    You had Neuropathy, an affection that leads to less and less
    control over ones movements. The future doesn't look bright
    in that case!
    But you didn't seem to worry about that at all, you always
    seemed satisfied.
    That makes me ponder on the way that you tackled the blows
    that life brought to you. You had the gift of focusing on
    positive things. You lost a lot of dear-ones in your life:
    your first child a few days after she was born, two wives and
    a grown up son. And now you were losing control of your body.
    Instead of being mad or feeling sorry for yourself, you found
    strength and comfort in being thankful that you had known
    these people, and in what you still could do,... ... In that
    you are an example for me.

    Something you couldn't do anymore the last period of your
    life, was playing piano. Playing piano was something you did
    from child on, and something that you enjoyed very much. For
    me as a child it was wonderful to fall asleep on the sounds
    of you playing the piano downstairs.

    Something else that I have good memories about are our
    vacations in the mountains. We, as your children, had a bit
    of difficulty starting the long daytrips, climbing up the
    mountains. And than you started telling stories, exciting
    stories, from the Old Testament . I hung on your lips and
    forgot everything about walking. You were an excellent story
    teller.
    You knew so much, about so many things. I was lucky to have a
    father that knew the answer to all of my questions.
    With joy I recall the extensive discussions we had at
    dinners, especially about astronomy and philosophy.
    Thanks to you, I have enjoyed a wonderful time as a student
    and got the opportunity to see something of the world.

    You left a letter in which you said that you can accept that
    your life has ended and that you are happy with the life that
    you have had.
    You had a rich and meaningful life. You thought that a person
    should use all his talents and that is what you did. You may
    be proud of yourself!
    Until recent, you were still active in your working field.
    Two summers ago you presented a seminar at a conference about
    atomic masses and was awarded the SUNAMCO medal for your
    work. A great achievement and honor!
    Besides that you always kept reading, you devoured books.
    Just some weeks ago you called me on Saturday and told me
    that you didn't have anymore books to read. So I went to the
    library and got you 4 thick books. I thought that would keep
    you busy for at least 3 weeks. But when I visited you the
    next Thursday to go shopping together you finished already 3
    of them.

    Dad, I am glad that you were able to stay in your own house
    till the end, because that is what you wanted. You took care
    of yourself and was active till the end. I am grateful that a
    future that you couldn't do that anymore has been spared to
    you. You had more and more trouble to control your body, but
    now you are freed from these limitations.
    Fare well, thanks for having been able to know you for such a
    long time.