Tribute to Henri Parens, M.D.

Our Zaida was a perpetual optimist, whether it came to his life, international events, or to his family. This would often create lively dinner discussions, as Henri would passionately defend the state of humankind, particularly its basic goodness, while his sons, wife, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren often disagreed. For me personally, Henri's perpetual optimism stretched back to our family's trip to Italy.

During the summer of 2006, we visited Italy to celebrate Henry and Rachel's 50th anniversary. Our grandparents graciously rented out an entire villa in the Tuscan countryside for 3 weeks for the whole family to enjoy. One morning, I decided to take my skinny, seventh-grade frame out to the small pool on the property. There I thrashed about, swimming laps clumsily back and forth. Henri was the designated lifeguard and watched me swim. This became a core element of his belief in me and our experience together. For years and years, Henri would tell the story about how I persevered, swimming laps back and forth across the pool. Henri was convinced that despite my mediocre-at-best swimming technique, my determination to persevere demonstrated a commitment to working hard. When it came to working hard, as all eof you know, Henri was as committed as one could be. From that day in Italy forward, Henri would tell this story at every family function, and he would repeat the mantra “we're not worried about you.” Henri valued hard work and commitment to one's passion, regardless what that passion or interest might be. You can see it here in five adult grandchildren, all with incredibly different career paths and interests. Still, all of us are united by Henri's commitment to working hard and doing what we love.

On another note, a few days before Henri's passing, I was visiting France. I was able to visit Henri's childhood safe house in St Raphael, where Henri lived before boarding one of the last immigrant ships to America. Being able to experience that moment of history,