What is the measure of a life? Is it in the number of breaths we take, or the number of beats of our heart? Or, is it in the number of days we walk upon this earth?
For some, perhaps.
But for others, a life is measured in different ways. It’s measured in the friendships we forge, the love we generate, and the memories we make.
Today, we’ve all come together to remember a man whose life was certainly not measured in the number of beats of his heart but rather in the size and scope and reach of that heart and how it touched us all.

Larry Goldsmith was born on April 12, 1945 in Brooklyn, New York. That same day, in Warm Springs, Georgia – Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the thirty-second president of the United States – died. Larry’s mother would often comment that on that day, “one great man left this earth while another great man arrived.”
Growing up in Brooklyn in the post war years was challenging for Larry. School in particular was a challenge – and because of this his parents moved him from one school to another, hoping one would stick.
What happened was that Larry learned the value of making friends. Different schools in Brooklyn meant different types of people to meet. Italians,
Irish, Russians, Poles, Blacks, Whites, Christians, Jews – it didn’t matter. Larry became a friend to all.