♪ ♪>> hi, my name is jamie hooper. in this episode, we are featuring the romantic park locations in your very own backyard. this is your chance to find your heart in san francisco with someone special. our first look out is here at buena vista park, a favorite with couples and dog lovers. it is as old as its neighbor and

both have a significant forest, a refreshing retreat from urban life. the pass that meander we do under a canopy of 0, redwood, pine, and eucalyptus. chill out and this environment and you might see butterflies and dandelions. blue jays fly between the eucalyptus. it is ada accessible. public transit is plentiful. six, 24, or 71 bus. we have conquered the steps, we walked the dogs, and we have enjoyed a beautiful view the park has to offer. this is the place to take someone special and enjoyed a beautiful look out. " come to corona heights,

located in the heart of this district. it offers a spectacular view of the downtown skyline, the bay bridge, and the east bay. the park is one of the best kept secrets. unlike twin peaks, it is hardly ever crowded. on any given day, you will run into a few locals. hop on a 37 bus to get there with that any parking worries. locals can bring their dogs to run with other dogs. there is also grass for small dogs. >> it is a great place. it is a wonderful place for the city to provide these kind of parks. the dog owners appreciate it. >> take time to notice the wildflowers on the grassland. and keep your head on the lookout for hawks and other bird life. take your camera and be prepared to review the city in a way you will not forget. it is prominent with beautiful

formations that are perfect to watch the sunrise from the east over the bay. this is another one of our great look out. we are at mount davidson. it has the highest point of elevation in san francisco, 928 feet. this is the place for you to bring someone special. enjoy all of the pathways, trails, and greenery that surrounds you. it provides a peaceful oasis of public open space and great hiking trails. the spectacular view offers a perfect place to watch the sunrise, or, sunset, with someone you love. >> it is a good place to get away from the hectic life of the city. get some fresh air. the view is fantastic.

>> wear sturdy shoes to conquer the trail, you have the feeling of being in a rain forest. mount davidson is also a great place to escape the noise and the apostle of the city with your partner. -- bustle of the city with your partner. it is quite a hike to the top at mount davidson but the view is worth every step. this is the place to bring that someone special. for more information about reserving one of these romantic locations, or any other location, 831-5500. this number is best for special ovens, weddings, picnics, and the county for building. for any athletic field and neighborhood parks, call 831-

5510. you can also write us at permits and reservations. or walking in and say hello at old log cabin, golden gate park. and of course you can find more information at sfrecpark.org. >> my name is peter stein. i'm a lifelong friend of milton marks and his family at least going back a generation and it's really my honor today on behalf of milton's family, friends and his wife abbey and his sons and nathan and will and theo and

you will be hearing from this afternoon. it's really my honor to welcome you to this commennation of the life and spirit of our irreplaceable friend miltion marks. today we will hear tributes and memories from those that knew milton in many aspects of his life and work, and i think together these memories and tributes will begin to form a mosaic of the multi-dimensional man he was. i use that word because i wrote it yesterday afternoon want thinking of the mosaic of words, and the word cloud that abbey and will and you collaborated on to express the many dimensions of milton markses and you can look at those expressions of

milton and likely add your own. like i said you will be from a number of folks giving their thoughts and tributes to milton today and please stay for the reception afterwards. sign the guest books which are now outside. some of you may have come in before they were placed and together we will create our word cloud and mosaic of milton. to begin it's my honor to introduce the mayor of san francisco, the honorable edwin lee. >> thank you peter. good afternoon everyone. welcome to city hall. it's my honor and pleasure to welcome all of you here on this reflection and celebration event, and just wanted to make sure you knew that when we were talking about

this with abbey shortly after milton's passing away we thought it was a great opportunity for those that knew milton, knew his personality and engaged himself with him and his family over the many years want i find it appropriate of the families -- i am thankful abbey you and the kids agreed this is appropriate for milton and for our memories. i want to express not only our heart felt appreciation for milton's work and our sadness of losing him, but there's so many things in his life to celebrate, and i know milton way back when i started working in the city,

and he came forth and said "by the way -- introduced himself as the son and carolene and the senior marks and said "we have something in common" and" what's that?" and we both went to bowdoin college and we are boft west coast guys and had friends and how did we end up at bowdoin college in maine and as we shared the stories with each us and we realized we loved our college in similar ways. he also reminded me of things i liked about it and many of you know milton is a peaceful man. one not to involve himself in very strong out bursts but you

knew his passion was always behind everything that he did, and of course those years later when i became the public works director we engaged again as he was working with the friends of the urban forest and reminding me "you don't cut the trees down. we have to take care of our environment. we need a rich canopy of trees in the city" and this what is means to so many people, and he was one of strong voice bs our environment. he has been known for that and in the years of 2000 he took up the college trustee on the board. many of you know in the past years he was passionate about his work at city college. he knew, and again we had the opportunity to share what we got out of college and what so many

generations of youth would want and desire in our city college. he was leading the effort in my opinion to restore and to elevate the level of integrity and transparency at our city college. he demanded that of the other trustees as well as the administration . he went through some hard times as a trustee and shared with members here of the difficult years when things weren't as transparent as they should have been and integrity wasn't at the top of someone's mindful priorities but this is something he stood for. this is something him and his family stood for. as i know carolyn and her work on the status of woman and miltion and trying to appear at every community event he could be to know you care about everything that happens in the city. well,

milton represented that and i want to say he will always be in my heart as someone that we owe a debt of gratitude to for his civic high level of responsibility and integrity. he pushed that as part of his legacy and not only we suffer this loss and it's to remember and all of us that holds positions in the city the public expects us to the highest level of integrity and responsibility. that is the standard that the marks family has had and all of the generations, and that is something that milton himself held in high regard and he wouldn't expect anything less, and i know abbey as we have talked in celebration of his wonderful devotion to you and the family we always wanted to make sure when we talk about

milton marks iii in the city is stands for integrity. it stands for transparency. we must do better and he was always about doing better and i knew him with having a dry sense of humor but passionate with things and got us whether it was the environment or whether it was education, whether it was public integrity of public office holders. he got us to agree this is something we have to pay attention to and again welcome. thank you very much for being here today and again as we mowrn this incredible loss to the city our city will continue to always celebrate milton's life, to honor his accomplishments, and to know that he tried every way he could and did succeed in making san francisco a better place for everybody. thank you.

[applause] >> and now a long time friend and supporter of the marks family. my pleasure to welcome raby from congeeration. >> good morning everyone. good afternoon. we stand in the month here. it's called the bitter month. there are no holidays in this jewish month other than sabat which is some evening. we stand here in a month that is a pause between the high holidays and the winter season, and it is a time of reflection. it's a time of quiet iewd. we're going to hear many voices today, all that will reflect the beauty and warmth

of milton. i would like to return to the silence that we shared together during his funeral, a bitter time, and yet there was a sweetness to its silence just as milton in his illness was silent. there was a sweetness to his silence. just as in health milton had silence, and there was a kindness, and integrity, and there was a response in that quiet and take a moment to realize how much we much that silence of an ear that truly heard and understood, a man who was committed to principles of justice and kindness and peace as our mayor just described. i

could encapsulate owl of the somes in his one name. to be happy that there maybe blessing within this world; that there be leadership and truly royalty within the family and city. the warm silence you felt in his presence is sorely miss. the warmth and kindness i reflect upon each moment they think of milton is treasured. we need more moments of silence like this. his memory is a blessing and is a part of each of us. when we are present , when we are aware, when we are kind without

agenda. these are the words of milton. this means to find contentent in our place and every breath is an opportunity for us to praise this world, to praise our lives. every breath has that chance, and until milton's last breath we felt he was aware. he was content with his soul. with love and yes with silence. i pray for you and the family. may it not be bitter. may that silence be sweet. we will treasure his memory as a blessing in celebration for us

all. thank you. >> and now it's also an honor approximate pleasure to introduce you. >> >> or to welcome milton's sister, caro marks. >> dear milton, on august 9 our younger brother david called to say he just left you after a visit, a visit which he had hustled to accomplish on route after a vacation when abbey called to say you passed away when after he left and turning back and heading back to apy and the boys and heading back to you and how characteristic it was for you to see david before you died. how very milton the gesture was and i knew you

waited not so much for yourself but david would feel such profound remorse the rest of his life had he missed the chance to say goodbye to you and this is the generosity in the years i knew you and the 19 years we lived together. your gifts to me during your life were often made of time, consideration, and affection and shrewd and intuitive understanding that the most prized gift is the one the recipient feels you would give no one else. this is why the 1965 los angeles metropolitan police department manual you gave me in 1986 remains one of my favorite books of all time, and you remember you know how i devour books and i am the only criminal defense attorney in

possession of such a treasure. do you remember when we spent that long evening together at an airport and either coming in or leaving new york city and i had the book and had martinis and we read the book together and you loved one line "female criminals can be unwidely uncunning" and we had that conversation about why airportings never have clocks and after that i saw you two times and more sorrow and the first is when you family were in the gold country and i met you there before we went back to our house. although it was summer

rain pored all day long. the pewter sky was inseparable from the horizon and you my brother and by that time were also becoming inseparable from the horizons of your illness and the line between you it and were blurring. it was during that first visit i understood that you would die and not eventually but sooner than that you. you were in a wheel care and -- chair and we waited while abbey and the boys got the care. it's the first time we were alone together. as the rain drummed i turned to you and saw that you were crying, crying silently not moving and i reflected then how curious it

was before i never seen a person cry in this alarming manner silently and letsing the tears go down your face and like you were unaware they were there and it frightened me and filled me with apprehension and something was slipping away from me, i didn't know what it was. i didn't know it was you that was slipping away. you were the thing i couldn't hold on to. seeing you cry made me cry and my throat swelled with all the questions i didn't ask because i was too cowardly to get the answers. once the family was back in the car it was business as usual and answer nathan's questions about the cold rush. probably the best gift you gave me, and i say this frankly to

no offense intended to nathan or abbey, and almost on par with the police department manual and requested to me act as a cosupportive person at nathan's experience and this gift, the one of nathan's birth was in every aspect vintage milton like so many of your gifts. it was created. it benefits more than one person. it sincerely flattered the primary recipient and it was free. do you remember when we both lived in new york and we and cousin andy were leaving the subway when a man asked for a dollar for a cup of coffee. you replied "come on i will buy you the cup of coffee and the sandwich" and we were all shocked. he gave you a

long appraising look and gave a comical shrug and the two of you went and you instructed us to wait for you at washington square park. another gift from milton and no moraling, just good. you laughed so hard when you guy ordered two peanut butter and jelly sandwichs in that dinner. the next time i saw you right before you died and the call and choking on tear s and barely able to speak you said "the doctor said i have two to four months left to live". there is no reply to such a statement and i gave none. ards and quite often i replay that conversation again

and again and not stopping the looping recital. i was tormented with the knowledge that you knew you were going to leave us soon, and i would have sacrificed my every dollar, my ever pleasure for you to learn your death wasn't imminent. i am sure it was like a living presence and like a conjoined twin and can't get rid it and there everyday, and the weight of the greatest most profound and terrible knowledge a person can have. the thought of your having to haul this knowledge everywhere you went remains almost unbearable to me. to calm the panic caused by the fact that you knew you were soon to leave us i invented a scenario and i would have given it to you as a gift. i imagined there was a brief time each day

or two that you were not tormented by what you knew of your prognosis. every morning i thought as you slowly emerged from sleep and the briefest of minutes you experienced your awakening self to be the once small child you were and little boy's life and no burden and weightless and floating. each morning you woke up into the innocence that with with all children and at the time you're unknowing ofior fate and i am imagine before you died you began the return to the child you were, a little boy of great purity. i want to believe for those hours you were free of the weight of what was near and sleep took you back in time and guiding through the corridors

you occupied and the bliss of a child. i would have given anything at all to make this imaginary scenario true and as you watched your children run and play and laugh and scream. our last visit was your last sunday as you died four days later. when we arrived you were in a hospital bed in your and abbey's bed and your eyes were closed. as soon as you heard by voice you reacted but you couldn't really move or talk. there were occasional murmurings that you gave that showed you understood what we were saying. all day long you would lift your head up and fix your eyes on me intently and with the unguarded candor and gaze at me for long

periods of time. your eyes looked so beautiful. they were always beautiful. hazel and changeable in color and slanted and it was you were looking for and at and through and into me all at the same time. you were so very present when our eyes met, like the world had fallen away and only two people and four eyes inter locked. what was it that you were seeking from me? were you asking if i knew what was happening and -- drew pictures and watched the olympics and giggled just rough housing away from and offered the children offerings and outfitted you with the items you need in the after

life. a bird, a lego with a dead bug in it and a ratty stuffed animal. if i could return the fraction of the gifts you gave me over the years i would have a different end and you wouldn't have to grieve your own death and explained the silent crying. do you remember when we went to jersey together and look at the towns we read about andace bury heights and had commerce and trade. vacation havens for the victorious they were and we had books and they contained prints and photos of women with carousels in the long dresses and the men all of whom reassembled the marx brothers or another and salt water taffy and ices and in the