Jascha Gelman Memorial

Jascha's first namesake: Jocelyn Wolff, daughter of Jascha's best friend Rachel

"I remember...."- Him like I saw him yesterday - That it is time for another Shamrock Shake at McDonald's-2002 - His huge"menu" files from different restaurants - His laugh - His Pirates hat - How much fun it was to go out to eat with him - How seriously he read the menu in restaurants and what fun it was to be with him - How much he loved all of us - How he was,and always will be, an inspiration to me - How he always remembered my birthday... - How he always knew what was important to me and asked about it... - How charming he was - His collection of recipes - His handwriting - Our supply of green tea and, of course, Zatar, which went on just about everything - His Steelers, Pirates and L.A. Raiders hats - When he had to come and get me from the bathroom in Spectadium after passing out there from being Sunday football drunk - The stories I heard about how he always slept with his shoes on - How much he loved the Kleinsmith girls - Jascha saying to me everyday "Peasmel" can I use your computer to go on the Internet? Then coming into work one day and telling me that he had changed my screen name, it would forever be "Peasmel." - How you could make Jascha cry when he would laugh too hard. - Betting Jascha $5 every year on the outcome of the coin toss of the Super Bowl. - Our annual trip to the race track, watching Jascha thoroughly study every horse, placing our bets for ourselves and my entire family (including my grandma), going back to my parents house to enjoy mint juleps while we watched the Kentucky Derby on TV, and then promptly ripping up all our losing tickets. - Jascha D. taking me out to lunch as a "thank you" for typing a paper for him when he was at U of M. - The pretzel incident - How he loved to go out for sushi - Doing the crossword puzzles from the Michigan Daily in Torts or Property class. - His laugh - His imitations - His desire to learn - His desire to travel - His desire to eat in every restaurant - His desire to enjoy each day - His desire to meet a girl from every Country in the Middle East - Falling in love for the first time every time I saw him. - The way he could make me love anything that he loved simply by revealing the beauty he saw. - His hugs. - The way he could tell my twin sister and I apart, from a mile away, by our walks, with our backs turned. - Kissing jascha in the parking lot of Wing Lake School, and being interrupted by a police officer telling us to "keep it clean." I thought his reference was sexual in nature but Jascha insisted that he was referring to drug use. - The way he never let me lose touch. - The last time I spoke with him on the phone he said sarcastically, "Stay in touch Nadine, I don't want to lose you as a friend." He never could. - That Jascha was the best friend anyone could ask for. He was charming, funny, brilliant, an inspiration to anyone that met him. I feel so lucky to have experienced an enduring friendship with such an exceptional human being. - Him crashing on the couch, shoes on, tv controller in hand falling asleep together, watching Casablanca on the Gelman's couch - Running to Whole Foods to pick up his favorite smoothies-Razzle Dazzle and Da Blues. - Him movin' in for a while on the way back from CO. - Taking walks and playing frisbee together - Him laughing at people who take life too seriously - The voice mails he would leave me..."Leo - tennis today!" click, "swim club now" click, "sex - my house - just kidding" click "where are you?" click... - How he loved to play Aerobie - How he had to have McDonald's Shamrock shake on St. Patrick's day - How he pronounced "milk" (malk) and rear-view mirror (re-view mirror) - His position on the couch as he read the newspaper - His giggle - His burps - His ease with all ages - The nicknames he had for everyone. - When Professor Chadwick uttered those famous words, "Sit down, Mr. Gelman." - Bumping into Jascha at Tappawingo's at the end of June in 1999...[click on Letters, Scott Rose for more...] - His tune and the way he "sang" my name when he saw me - Jascha having the most friendly and nicest personality in the neighborhood, along with the nicest smile. - Jascha cracking up hysterically the first time he heard the "Jerky Boys" tape. - How he refused to call me by the more 'grown up' version of my name -- I would always be 'Cesca' to him - How he wore his dirty bandanas everywhere, even though Dad would go crazy. - How he returned clothes last year after he found out Mom and Dad weren't paying. - Every time I came into town, he was there to pick me up, with a bowl ready. - The two of us so looking forward spending time with each other, telling jokes, playing outside, etc. - His inability to ever do nothing. It was either reading something, watching something, wanting to play tennis, throw the aerobe, play catch, go to a bar, or any other way to occupy time and have fun. - His ability to ALWAYS make Rachel & I pee our pants. - Jascha always referencing the dictionary to make sure I knew what I was talking about. - Sharing a hotel room with Jascha & Jonah the 1st night of Rachel's wedding weekend. Jascha opening up his garment bag - and it wasn't HIS clothes. - Jascha-ism's: too many to name. - His Grateful Dead music - All of us getting in the bathtub with our clothes on - Smoking with Jascha - Opening night at Showgirls with him - Always sitting on his lap - How often Jascha talked about sex, sex and sex! He was the biggest flirt. - Him doing the New York Times crossword puzzles - How he had to put in his eyedrops every 10 minutes - Going over the weather and injuries before every football game for betting - How vigorously he brushed his teeth... - How he always asked detailed questions about my life... - His joy...in so many things - His smile - His infectious, contagious laughter - How much I enjoyed watching him and listening to him while he watched the Simpsons, Seinfeld, Howard Stern - How he yelled at the players, coaches, umpires, announcers, etc. while watching sports - His lists for everything - His Zagat guides - His search for the perfect anti-acne product - His shoes, his(?) flannel jacket, his leather jacket, his orange bandana - Him in his sunglasses - Watching him as he worked on his betting charts - His goal of actually finishing Anna Karenina - How proud he was of Gabe - How he could light up a room with only his entrance and smile - His sense of adventure - How much he talked on the phone - His hot sauce days - His passion - The care he took in writing cards and thank-you notes - How he saved all the Wednesday food sections from the newspaper - The "winning" lottery ticket he gave to me for my birthday, June 1999 - Waking up to go watch the sun rise in Acadia National Park (Maine)--just the two of us - The look on his face as he ate his first lobster meal in Maine - Saving newspapers, magazines and just about everything else - His unopened, but saved, issues of GQ - His incredible passion for food, restaurants, wine

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"He dreamed our dreams. He did something for all of us. He lived. He was. We never really knew what we had. But now, when we can no longer see him, hear him or touch him, we see him everywhere, we hear him so clearly, we yearn for a touch. He lit up a room. His light walked in with him, with every one of us. Let him light up your heart, and you will light up your own rooms, and, in turn, other hearts and other lives. Just think of him--he was a son, a brother and a friend. Remember him. It will serve as a blessing." Judy Gelman, October 22, 2000 Unveiling