We lost a good friend

Tonight our family lost a wonderful friend, Reese Livingston - a smart, kind, wonderful, and truly insane human being. He will be sorely missed. I can barely describe how much he will be missed. Rarely in life do you befriend someone with such a big heart and a magnificent sense of humor. We feel for his wife, Jessie, and their families.

Reese will probably be best known by his friends for his twisted sense of humor, which included joke-telling, physical humor, and all-out craziness. I have a memory of a picture of Reese that my dad took. In the picture, Reese had thrown himself onto the ground in front of someone's private plane, as though it had run him down. His humor was very in-the-moment, and always brilliant.

I am sad that my girls will never know him, but I have many stories with which to regale them. Reese was afraid of babies, afraid that he would drop them, but I forced Fiona into his arms this past July. He probably only took her because he was afraid that *I* would drop her if he didn't. => It didn't last long - perhaps 30 seconds - and she was back over to me.

For the people who saw Reese regularly, such as my dad, I don't know how you will get over his loss. A light has gone out.

Reese, we will miss you like hell.

His obituary, as printed in the Hartford Courant, follows.

Maurice "Reese" Livingston
LIVINGSTON, Maurice "Reese" Maurice "Reese" Livingston, Glastonbury, loving husband and best friend of Jessie (Sussman) Livingston, born in 1946 to Gertrude and Alvin Livingston, died on Wednesday (November 7, 2007). A graduate of Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood, NJ, Reese was a consummate businessman first for Domino Sugar, then Fort Howard Paper, and later for Ober-Read Associates. In 1993, he founded RJ and Associate, Inc. Reese always had a joke or story to tell, a warm smile, loved everybody, had a gentle touch, a passion for life, and was a friend to all. He is survived by his wife of 38 years; his mother, Gertrude; his brother, Leon and Leon's wife, Zena; his sister-in law, Alice and brother-in-law, Ed Mannix; and several nieces, nephews, cousins, and great-nieces and great-nephews. The funeral service will take place on Sunday, Nov. 11, at 11 a.m., at Louis Suburban Funeral Home in Fairlawn, NJ (201-791-0015), with interment to follow.