The open Hawaiian shirt. The music collection. The wily cadre of felines that wander wherever they please. The thoughtfully prepared pug feasts of leftovers. The days that start with multiple cups of coffee, which precede the caramel macchiato which later sits half-finished on the top shelf of the fridge, and always completed with a nightcap of either a rocky road or cherry milkshake. The corduroys. The hunt for a good diner. The “huhm” head nod. The nicknames. And, yes, the cigarettes. These are some of things I have come to associate as iconic to Tom Hall. No one can argue the fact that he had his eccentricities. A man of few words and set ways, he was often happy to retreat into his private world. Yet, for someone who so often seemed to fade into the background, he holds a place in the center of my heart, and the hearts of many family and friends. Tom was a simple man. He kept two pairs of pants. He didn’t like to spend too much money. He didn’t like a lot of talk. He didn’t like too much busy-ness. What he most loved was to take it easy and enjoy the basic things in life: to people watch, to smirk at the antics of his three pugs and many cats, to walk around a city --- to take in the sights, sounds, and tastes of what many of us would perceive as mundane. And in his quiet, humble rhythm of life, lived to the beat of his own drum, he might not have known it, but he was a beacon of loyalty, reliability, love and commitment to his family and friends. We knew we could rely on Tom, and we especially knew we could count on his unconditional love for my mother-in-law Blanca and her three sons. He truly understood the gifts of simplicity, humility and steadfast love, and I will always remember his example as I try to embody those virtues in my own life.