Thursday, October 05, 2006

Rest In Peace, Abby Spivak

After writing my silly note earlier about having "lost" my video camera, I opened my email just a minute ago to find a devastating note.

My friend, Abby Spivak, a rabbinical student for whom I played a birthday concert back in June, suddenly passed away. The note from her father didn't go into any detail, so I can't provide anything more than this news, but I'm absolutely heartsick.

Abby and I have known each other for almost 10 years. She was the one who spent time doing a lot of HIV/AIDS outreach into hospices and homes, working with Project Chicken Soup. Her entire life was dedicated to helping others. I'm going to miss her terribly.

We loved you Abby. More than you can ever know.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

and hugs also from the hubby and me, Steve.

Brian

Anonymous said...

Steve,
I am a good friend of Abby's and I was out your performance in June for her birthday. You were amazing as always and I know Abby loved every second of it.

I was just thinking about your song, Save Me A Seat, a minute ago and decided to log on to your site.

Wondering where Abby will be tomorrow during her funeral. Wonderng if she will take a break and go across the street for a snack. Nah she want's to hear it all.

Anyway I just wanted to say that I know your story, your music and your friendship meant so much to her.


Jesse

Steve Schalchlin said...

Jesse,

I was thinking about Abby when I woke up this morning. It's about 3:30am as I write this. I didn't know Abby's health situation in detail. She never "burdened" me with this kind of knowledge. All I knew was that she used to tell me how much my songs meant to her. She was truly a humble and compassionate person.

Yael said...

Many years ago I was a friend of Abby's at the University of Judaism. After I graduated we lost touch but I kept asking people I saw from the UJ how she is. Nobody told me that she was so sick for so long. I just found out the news today about her passing. It is heartbreaking to know such a beautiful soul is no longer with us in this world. The world was a better place for having her in it and there is a void without her. Does anybody know if her family set up a place to send donations or if I should send them to project chicken soup please contact me at yweinst@gmail.com. May her memory be a blessing.