June 19, 2005

Today we buried a Siren, Leslie Peckman...for those of you who were not blessed to know her, let me tell you a bit about Leslie...she came to us about seven years ago in the fall...sitting alone in the Sirens meeting room when I walked in, we struck up a conversation before anyone else arrived...I found out she rode a Honda Shadow 1100 and was looking for a womens' club to join.

She came to the meetings, rode with us and became a pledge... Gigi and I hosted a club pot luck that winter and Leslie and Joyce came. We discovered we had several things in common: a few similar antiques, a red-lured parrot, we were both married to our partners, we each had a Honda Shadow, and were employed in the education system...Leslie and Joyce worked for the city school system...Leslie as a guidance counselor and teacher... we were invited to dinner in their home in Long Beach, meeting their sons, Keith and Daniel, LuLu the parrot and Telly the Macaw...
 

As we came to know them both over the years, we discovered Leslie to be a true Renaissance woman...she was an excellent cook and loved nothing more that cooking for her friends and family... she loved antiques and had a wonderful collection of music boxes... They had a motorhome they used for camping trips, packing up the parrot and the boys, when the kids were little, and traveling the country... She held a captain's license for power boats... She was intelligent, well read and had a well thought out opinion if she was asked for one...she respected a person's right to have a different viewpoint than her's but was willing to argue and try to change your mind...she had a tremendous sense of justice and equality for all...but most of all, she loved her family, her God and her friends. I never heard Leslie say a bad thing about anybody.
 

For Leslie, family was everything...she was so proud when their son, Daniel and daughter-in-law, Gisela moved to Denver and Daniel became the principle of a Yeshiva...then they had a daughter...and Leslie and Joyce became grandparents...she was overjoyed to have a grandchild...Keith, their youngest, graduated from college and Leslie, now a full Siren, became an officer: Treasurer...she was fully involved in club affairs...she and Joyce hosted potlucks and summer barbecues...she organized the only Sirens' scavenger hunt and sent us riding all over Nassau County...she made up multi tool ( think Leathermen) holsters with the Sirens logo...she made up mini-Sirens flags for use on our bikes during Pride...Joyce drove our Pride Parade van and Leslie proudly took her place in the front of the parade as an officer... she loved us and those of us who got to know her, loved her in return...
 

She fell in love with a red and white Valkyrie and soon added it to the garage. She looked good on her bike and it fit her like a glove... in 2002 Leslie retired and Joyce followed in 2003...they built a home in Key Largo, sold the house in Long Beach, packed and moved to Florida...Leslie liked to call their new home "The Sirens' Southern Club House"... there was a standing invitation for any Siren to come on down and enjoy their hospitality... an accident resulted in Leslie getting a broken wrist and
ultimately having to sell the Valkyrie... I visited in early spring of
2004... we had a wonderful time seeing the sights, eating out and just being together... she and Joyce headed north in the motorhome come June and, we got to spend some quality time with them while they were here before they headed off to Colorado to visit Daniel and Gisela and the granddaughter...fall saw them back in Key Largo cleaning up after the hurricanes when Leslie fell and broke her foot...I often felt my friend
was like Job, always being tested...but even when things seemed their darkest, she had Joyce and her love of God and family to help her through...things weren't easy for her and she struggled with many issues...this past spring, Gigi and I went down to visit...Leslie and Joyce had signed up to become volunteers for the Everglades National Park...they proudly showed us around "their" park and took us out in the new boat. Then it was off to Key West because Gigi had never been there...they wined and dined us and let us share their joy and some of their sorrows...They had just closed the house and were heading to Colorado when Leslie fell sick in Kentucky...Septicemia, resulting from an undetected infection, ended her life...Leslie was the most courageous woman I have ever been privileged to know and it was my joy and blessing to have been her friend...I miss her already...

Jerry