MRS. SCHURGIN'S MESSAGE TO YOU, HER FAVORITE:
 
In case I haven't mentioned it to you recently, I have confidence in you, and in your ability to think independently and creatively, in your compassion for others, and in your pride of heritage and your determination to keep it vital.
 
That was Mrs. Schurgin's message in the 1989 yearbook, and she would say the same thing to you, personally, were she alive today.  And there's more (see below).
 
How was your life touched by Audrey Schurgin?  What did you learn about yourself through her, when she smiled at you and called you buba'leh?  When she spoke with you as if you were the only person in the world? 
 
At SAR's farewell party in December 1996, amid group hugs and throngs of well-wishers, Mrs. Schurgin took the time to thank YOU - her favorite:
 
I want to thank you for making me laugh - really laugh - every day.
 
I want to thank you for teaching me patience and optimism.  You have demonstrated to me over and over again that patience pays, and optimism is contagious.
 
I want to thank you for renewing and revitalizing me all the time. Your questions, your interests, your requests send me flying in all directions, seeking answers and solutions. In the seeking I was enriched and rewarded.
 
Thank you for (bringing me) your rocks, from your vacation in Sedona, from your trip to Israel, from Har Sinai, from the shop on Cape Cod, from the gem show in White Plains, from your backyards, even from the SAR driveway.
 
Thank you for your kisses - the Hershey's kind and the real kind.  Both are delicious.
 
Thank you for believing - you really all are my favorites.  (And my hair really isn't grey.)
 
Thank you for including us in your simchas.  We consider ourselves privileged to celebrate with you.
 
Thank you for caring for me and about me.  I have cared enormously for you.
 
Three thousand miles won't alter my love for you.
 
Ten years have gone by since Audrey Schurgin's untimely passing, and yet her presence is still here.  She embodied, as current principal Rabbi Bini Krauss (class of 1984) said, love and core Jewish values - ohev et ha'briyot u'mekarvan laTorah.  Former principal Rabbi Yonah Fuld wrote in a recent email, "the excitement, warmth, and caring at SAR truly are Audrey's living legacy." 
 
Please send your favorite Audrey Schurgin moments to alumni@saracademy.org, and help us by forwarding this email to your classmates and other SAR alumni you know and cc:'ing alumni@saracademy.org.