<span class="gmail_quote"></span>I realize this is off-topic, but I need to post it.<br><br>I had to go up to Connecticut on January the 12th quite unexpectedly<br>because my great-grandmother Ethel, someone I was very close to, died
<br>that morning, at 93 years old. She was an incredible woman. I was<br>asked to be one of the pallbearers.<br><br>Her ultimate goal in life, and one she fulfilled every day, was to<br>make people laugh. She truly enjoyed life, and everything about life.
<br> She never despaired or cried, and when her time came, she knew, and<br>left this world smiling.<br><br>My Bubby (Yiddish for Grandmother), my Dad's Aunt Bev, and my dad's<br>Aunt Charlotte (Grandma Ethel's daughters) were with Grandma Ethel
<br>when she died. I remember Bubby telling me that the last thing<br>Grandma Ethel did was hold their hands and say:<br><br>"It's okay. My husband's here now. It's okay. I'm only going to<br>cook with him. I love to cook. I love to be with him. And I am."
<br><br>Those were my great-grandma's last words. I may not have heard them,<br>but I know that's what she said. I believe my Bubby. Those words are<br>Grandma Ethel.<br><br>I remember how she used to be. She loved to call herself "an old
<br>crow." It was always funny, and always made my brother and me laugh.<br><br>She also loved to cook, and was incredible at it. Long before I was<br>born, before my father even met my mother, Grandma Ethel and her
<br>husband owned a bakery. I'm sorry I was never alive to enjoy the<br>bakery, because dad and his family would rave on and on about it in my<br>lifetime. And Grandma Ethel would always tell me stories about the<br>
food, making my mouth water! Italian food, Kosher food, pastries for<br>all the Jewish and, yes, Christian holidays, and so much more... the<br>Zwerdling Bakery was a true phenomenon in Connecticut, and very<br>popular. They even had a chain!
<br><br>She only cooked, in my memory, a few times, thought, before she was<br>too old. What she did cook, however, as simple as it may have been,<br>was incredible.<br><br>I remember one thing that always stuck in my head. She once told me a
<br>secret. Her favorite band was Led Zeppelin. At the time, I wasn't as<br>big a fan as I am today, but I was a fan, nonetheless, and I knew all<br>about them. And it shocked me, because whenever I saw her, if she was
<br>playing music, it was classical or Klezmer!<br><br>She was an example, and still is an example, to all who live. You<br>should never fight. You should never despair. And you should never<br>be miserable. Always laugh. Always joke. Always be happy. This is
<br>what my Grandma Ethel taught, and what she wanted everyone to see.<br>She always laughed. She always joked. She was always happy. Please<br>remember this. No matter how much you want to cry, or to fight, or<br>to curse, or to disappear, remember that laughter is better than
<br>fighting, crying, and being sad. Laughter is what will get you<br>through. This is what Grandma Ethel taught everyone she touched. She<br>did not fight growing old. Maybe it had to do with her having<br>Alzheimer's. But she didn't the whole time. She only had it at the
<br>end. When she knew she was growing older, she accepted it. She<br>laughed about it. She joked about it. And she didn't fight when it<br>was her time. She was ready. She was, and still is, a shining star.<br>
A light in the darkness. I know she is happy with her husband, now,<br>opening the bakery, and treating those who come to incredible food. I<br>love you, Grandma Ethel, and I'll never, ever forget you.<br><br><br><br>
<br><br><br><br><br>Thank you for taking the time to read this. I appreciate everyone<br>here letting me get this out.<br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>See Me at my YouTube Channel:<br><br><a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/jimmyRRpage">
http://www.youtube.com/user/jimmyRRpage</a><br><br>Please comment!