Remembering David

Remembrances from David’s mother, Liese Fischer

(Sent in by David's sister, Diane, on the eve of August 6, 2010, the one-year anniversary of David's passing. See these stories also in "From David's Mother" in the right-hand column of this site.)

I don’t remember how old David was when we were in DC. We went to take a tour of the White House. All of a sudden, the guide had David on his shoulders while he was conducting the tour. How David managed that, I’ll never know.

We also went to Arlington National Cemetery to watch the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. To our chagrin, who marched behind the guards? David!

At the Westbury Music Fair, an Israeli singer, Aliza Kashi, was performing. David loved her – he was about 8 years old. We all went to see her – when she entered, she always said “Hello People.” This time a little boy was standing in front of her and said “Hello” back to her. How David managed to get there, I don’t remember.

We saw Oklahoma at the Westbury Music Fair, a theater in the round. The actors entered down the aisles in between the audience. You guessed it, David was there to shake the actor’s (I can’t remember his name) hand.

Let’s Do It Again

We were vacationing at a small resort. David was about 3 or 4 years old and he fell into the pool. Since he didn’t know how to swim, I jumped in to pull him out. “That was fun; let’s do it again” was his answer.

I went to a department store with both kids. Diane was sitting in the stroller and David was walking besides it. I explained to both of them while we were waiting for the elevator that if the door should close and one of us was left out, they should stay in the elevator until it returns and I’ll be waiting for them. No sooner said, the door opens and David goes in and the door closes. I stood there with Diane waiting for the elevator to return. The door opens and out comes a smiling David and he says, “Let’s do it again.”

The four of us went to Macy’s at Roosevelt Field Mall. We stood in front of a display of Snoopy, and I turned around and David was gone. We were frantic. We decided that Harry would go the desk to make a missing child announcement, and I would stay at the Snoopy display hoping he would return. Some time passed, and no David. Then we spotted him holding a lady’s hand. He had gone out of Macy’s and knew he was lost. He went into a store and told them he was lost and his parents would be waiting for him at the Snoopy display in Macy’s. What a relief! He was told never to do that again!

Vacationing – a long car ride – it is hot – the pool is inviting. David runs onto the diving board and does a belly flop into the water. Everyone gasped, but he came up smiling and had a great time!

During Easter vacation, we went to the Bronx Zoo. All of a sudden, I saw David standing next to a little African American boy, touching him lightly and then looking at his fingers to see if any of his color had come off. I then explained to him that some people are just a different color.

First Grade

David refused to read. I was called by the teacher to tell me this good news and she advised me not to read to David anymore. (We were reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.) How could I stop reading to him?!? During winter recess, David realized if he could read the TV guide, I could not tell him that I forgot about the show or missed the time the show was on. Within the week, he was able to read everything and hasn’t stopped reading since.

David would read so much, he would forget what time it was. Getting dressed in the morning, he had a book on his bed so he could read. He would get so engrossed that he forgot all about getting dressed. One morning I yelled, “The bus is coming!” (It wasn’t) just so David would hurry up. He came running out of his room, not a stitch of clothing on him, carrying his school books!

Second Grade

David did not complain but he wasn’t happy with his teacher. I received a phone call from the nurse’s office that David was not feeling well. Every other day David read the symptoms of vitamin deficiencies and figured out this would get him out of class.

Religious School

He attended religious school and every week the kids brought in money for charity. We got a phone call one Sunday morning that David just swallowed a dime! We eventually found it after a few days! The next thing he swallowed was the tip of a lead pencil. The doctor said no need to worry; it wasn’t real lead.

More Stories

To teach David to always tell the truth, I told him if he tells a lie, I’ll know because his nose will get very shiny. A few days later David came running to me with his hand covering his nose, and of course he was not telling the truth!

David invented a new game - clean up - for when it was time to put away the toys. He told his friends he would watch and count who was able to put the most toys away!!

As David grew older, we always found out about his escapades after the fact. For instance, he went glider flying with the brother of his friend Paul.

After visiting Diane and Barry in the Philippines, he stopped in Hawaii and hiked alone to some of the craters. When I said, “David, nobody knew where you were and you could have fallen,” he answered, “But I didn’t!”

David loved teaching Michael all kinds of things: archery, Monty Python, theatre, and just fooling around. He would lift Michael on his shoulders and dance around, singing, as the “two-headed monster.” The two of them just had a great time. He was the most caring son. He found all sorts of gadgets to make life easier for his father and me. He drove to gardens as long as Harry could walk and took him to watch polo games played near our house. In the nursing home, he went out of his way to find what he thought his dad needed. He was with him when his father closed his eyes.