My Letter to Zoe...

Zoe:

By now you’ve heard many stories about your Dad, and I’d like to add a few more. Your Dad and I worked together at Intel, and he was one those people who made it worth coming to work every day. Your Dad was a mentsch in every good sense of that word: not just smart, but wise, kind, patient, a great sense of humor, a great teacher, and a generous soul.

We became more than colleagues through the course of working together, and of all the people I’ve worked with here, he was my closest friend, and I miss him each and every day. I had so many plans in my mind about you playing with my sons Ray and Lou, and our families getting together for picnics and family gatherings, and I hope that can still happen when you’re a little older.

Your Dad was very good at his job, which was to take very technical information about how computers perform and make it understandable for everyone. He was a very good organizer and planner, and the work he did was very important for Intel. When I first got to Intel, he taught me a lot about how this work got done in our group, and how to use a program called PowerPoint, which is very popular here at Intel. I will always be grateful for the time he spent helping me get started.

Your Dad enjoyed traveling, and saw a great deal of the world. He spent time living in both Germany and in Israel. I admired his love of Israel and the time he spent living there, but that he could view the country and its problems with open eyes. He was never strident, or myopic in his views, and even with his knowledge, intelligence and education, he kept an open mind. We discussed all kinds of things about the world and how crazy it can be sometimes.

We both also liked baseball, and so we went to baseball games together. We used to joke around that we were both of the “church of baseball,” because this sport can inspire that kind of devotion. We would go see the Oakland Athletics play baseball, and always had fun. I first met your Mom at an A’s game, and was very impressed because she knew how to score a baseball game. Your Dad taught her how to do that. Maybe someday your Mom can teach you how to do it.

We would go out to lunch a lot, talk about work, and the people who drove us nuts, and talk about our families and the wonder of being parents. When someone leaves us, we often talk about how much we miss them. But we don’t really talk about who they miss the most. For your Dad, I know the two people he misses the most are you and your Mom. He loved you very much, and his love will be with you always. And as you grow into the wonderful young girl and woman I know you’re going to be, your Dad will be with you in spirit every step of the way.


Dave Salvator
August, 2007
Santa Clara, CA