My Great Grandma
My mother was the youngest of six children. She was orphaned at the age of 4-5 years old. The older 5 children were then raised by her oldest brother Saul. My grandmother's sister, Rachel, was married and was childless, she took my Mother into her home and raised her. My mother called her Aunt Rae. The story goes that every winter in Upstate New York it was cold, rainy and snowing. My Great Grandma, name was Anna, was widowed and came every winter to live with her oldest daughter. Even though Aunt Rae kept a kosher home and was strictly orthodox, evidently it was not kosher enough for her mother and she brought her own dishes and pots of pans. (Holy MOLEY - How would you like to be in that kitchen?) My mother's job was to walk her Grandmother to Temple every Saturday morning, rain or shine, yes even if it was snowing, with the full instruction to help her Grandma off the curb and across the street. Easy enough. Oh yeah? When my mother tried she would slap my Mom's hand and tell her she certainly didn't need her help. This was a continuing routine for several years. Of course my Mom never let me help her and I think that independence was handed down to me, my daughters and probably continues with my granddaughters - so........thank you Great grandmother.
P.S. G'GMA was never sick - she slipped on the snow, broke her hip and died in her 90's