A Beautiful Life

Most of you know, I have spent a good part of the last two years traveling the world. The one worry in the back of my head during my travels was what if something were to happen to my 94-year-old grandmother while I was thousands of miles away on the other side of the globe. She and I made a pact before I left that she would ‘wait’ for me until I returned. We were both quite logical direct gals and I guess, weren’t exactly afraid to discuss the inevitable. But, true to her word as always, she waited for me to return. Since I have quit working full-time I have been able to do some things that would obviously not have been possible with a full time job. One of these things was being able to live with my grandma for two months in her apartment in New York City.

Unfortunately, during the last few weeks I was there she started to feel bad. The very day I flew back to Chicago she checked herself into a hospital. About a month later, I called her the day before I was to fly to Belize. She had literally just walked in the door of her apartment and was so happy to be home after several weeks in the hospital. A week later, while I was still out of the country without phone or internet access, she died.

I flew home early and my family came together in Manhattan for her memorial service. She would have been so happy we were all together. She lived a long and amazing life. She was a very strong and independent woman who never complained – not once. She was feisty and sharp, but also extremely generous and selfless. All I can say is how lucky I was to have her in my life this long and how lucky I was to return from my travels when I did to spend those two months with her. Miss you G-ma.

• Obituary in Jewish Forward
• Obituary in New York Times
• Obituary New York Times #2
• Oral History Interview – Milken Archive of Jewish History
• Ladies of Yiddish Theatre & Film
• Internet Broadway Database
• Internet Movie Database – IMDB