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FAMILY IS ALL THAT MATTERS Digital Book

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Family Is All That Matters 148 that Hannah and her first husband had accumulated. Iosif was far too decent for that. He relinquished claims to the bulk of the money, houses, and automobiles. "Everything that your mother had before she met me is yours," he said, signing over all the houses and automobiles. At probate, the process by which an estate is divided, the lawyers were astonished at Iosif 's generosity. Lev and Margo, who were living briefly in Framingham, Massachusetts, with their two daughters, Lana and Stephanie, invited Iosif to come live with them. Iosif moved back to the East Coast in the autumn of 1992. He found a job as a security guard at a gated residential community. When Lev and Margo moved to the Washington, D.C., area in 1993, Iosif again moved. Lana and Stephanie were happy to have their grandfather living so near to them. In 2002, Lev and Margo built a home in McLean, Virginia, near the nation's capital. Above: Iosif and Hannah Volsun at their wedding in Toledo, Ohio, 1986. Iosif got a job as a night and weekend receptionist at a 12-story subsidized apartment complex in Reston, Virginia. He worked this job om 1993 to 2004. He was assigned an apartment at the complex. Iosif has very good memories about this job and made a lot of iends with the residents. Sometime later, he moved into a nice two-bedroom townhouse near a lake. In 2004, Iosif took a job at the battery department of a Target store in Reston. Iosif is a vibrant and healthy man who is dedicated to physical fitness and even in his 80s jogs every day—he looks 15 years younger than he is. He spends a lot of time at his son's home, tending an outdoor fish pond filled with koi as well as a large indoor saltwater fish tank. He is very interested in the history of the Volsun family and is working on a film about his parents. Iosif now has time to look back on his life. He has experienced many hardships and many setbacks, but his philosophy is relentlessly upbeat. "It keeps me alive to think about the positive things," he says, adding that there are always millions of small positive things on which to focus. Iosif has returned to Torah, fulfilling his father's prophecy. He is very grateful to Shlomo for encouraging him to go to America at the first possible opportunity. It worked out well for everyone, especially Lev and Yeva. Is Iosif happy now? "Yes," he says. "I have my son and daughter. I have my daughter- in-law and two wonderful grandchildren. I have my iends. I can pray in the synagogue. I am grateful for everything." On the occasion of his 80th birthday party in July of 2004, hundreds of members of the Volsun family gathered to celebrate his life. There he said a few words that sum up his outlook on life. "If I could turn back time and start my life at the beginning, and I could ask God to change any part of my life, I would ask Him to repeat my life in every second, every hour, every day. I would ask for everything to be exactly the same except for two changes: one

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