Remembering Grandma Pearl


I started to think about what Pearl's life lessons for me would be had she taken the time to write them down. And if I think back over the almost forty years I got to spend with her, there are really four or so:

1. Take care of your family before you take care of yourself. This may not seem like modern thinking, but if I really look to why she would do this it begins to come clear. If you do this, you will make everyone including yourself happy. If I think about each and every meal, I am not sure that she ever sat down with us, but rather served us. And who doesn't remember how each and every meal began, with your choice of a half grapefruit sprinkled with sugar (what I always chose) or a small glass of tomato juice (what Dawn always chose).

2. Stand up for what you believe in. Pearl was absolutely famous for this. She demanded amazing customer service, and I would sometimes feel sad for the people on the other end of the phone, letter, etc. because they had no idea what had just hit them. And yes, I have even been the person at the other end of this belief...my Grandma spent nearly forty years trying to get me to eat lox and pickled herring, not accepting that I just didn't like it.

3. Don't let the other guy know that you are one step ahead of him. She would always win her argument and she knew she would before she even started it, because she was really smart, but she was gracious anyway.

4. Make sure that you are really good at playing Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. I'm not sure about why this one is important, but I can tell you that I spent many nights of my life watching these shows with her and she was good.

Grandma, thank you for modeling these life lessons for me, and for teaching me how to needlepoint and for sneaking whole Passover picnics into the movies when I would come and visit. More importantly than having made an impact on this world, you have made an impact on me. For this I will always be grateful.
Love,
Jodi

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

525,600 minutes...How do you measure....

Image
Dear Avery, You read the title of this post and I bet you are singing it in your head now :) Happy 15th birthday! I have spent probably longer writing this post because I'm finding it so difficult to encapsulate the past year that has been filled with so much change for you.   Friends and Friend Groups and Parties I find myself first wanting to start with friendship.  You live your life in technicolor (i.e. you are emotional) so this is the area where you have always and continue to experience the most highs and lows.  I saw this TikTok clip today in which a professor was talking about how he is changing his way of teaching from his generally more laid back style to more structured as a direct result of his students having spent the majority of their high school years in quarantine and thus lacking skills to achieve in an unstructured environment.  It had me thinking about how quarantine will impact you long term (NB: can you believe that we are STILL talking about Covid?!?).  For
Read more

If I write only once each quarter, does it count as a blog?

Image
Well, it's the best I can do because I prefer to enjoy the moments with you kids instead of always preserving the memories and not being "in it" with you. But then Alex and Avery, you have both been doing so many amazing things lately that I feel compelled to capture some of them here. 1. This is the comment that made me come back to blog. From the book "Horace, Morris, but Mostly Dolores" which is a story about three young mice who are friends that go on adventures. In describing the adventures, the author writes humorous things like "They sailed the seven sewers" which is of course funny because they are tiny mice who wouldn't sail the seven seas. Then on the next page the mice are on top of what looks like a garbage heap holding a flagpole (the flag is made of cheese) and the caption reads "They climbed Mount Ever-Rust". At this point, Alex asks what this means - Mount Ever-Rust and I explain to him that they are probably in a scrap me
Read more

Happy Re-Birthday

Image
  Dear Alex, I was awakened at 5am today, a little bit by the snoring going on right next to me but also because my mind was swirling with what I wanted to convey to you today on your 20th birthday.  You are 20, but today you are also three months old. And that is because three months ago today we got into your car in Boulder and began the journey back to Glen Rock, back to the place where you would do the really hard work of becoming a stronger and more content human being. You did this among the naysayers thinking that taking a break from a linear path in life was for the weak, who believed that using your anxiety to drive you forward was the path to success, when you have realized that it is quite the opposite.  So on your three month birthday, here’s what I want you to know about yourself: 1. You are incredibly strong. Thank you for speaking up for yourself and for doing the hard work 2. You are infinitely interesting. When you speak, people are drawn to you and want to hear what y
Read more