Saying Goodbye To Grandma

Today, at approximately 9:45am my Grandma, Harriette Simon, passed away. While we were surprised that she left us this morning, she's been sick for quite some time, so this wasn't completely unexpected.

Shira, myself, and my whole family are going to miss her in a major way.

I learned so much from her, from what makes a successful marriage (65 years of marriage to a Simon man - yikes!), to surviving hardships (being away from her newly married husband for years, as he was off fighting in WWII), and giving back to the community (she was volunteering at the local hospital until a few months ago). She taught me about adapting to life, regardless at what it threw at her (she mastered e-mail years ago, and was a reader of my blog to the day she passed on).

We weren't ready to lose her. But alas, we don't have a choice in the matter.

And here's the ironic part - the best person in the world to help myself, and others, to get through this difficult time, would, in fact be, My Grandma.

--Ben

Update: Thanks to David for his wonderful addition to this post:

An amazing woman, with a heart capable of loving everyone she met. Her last night, we looked at the pictures from Hawaii (we hadn't been able to read the blog for a few days), read some letters from her great-grand children, and listen to IL Travatore (a beautiful opera). Even at the end, she would tell us every day how much she loved her family, and how proud she was of all her children and grandchildren.

Grandma lived like she gambled. she thought life should be full of fun, that you should spend it with family, and that even if you lost a little bit (she loved slot machines) you could always sit down and have a nice meal with the ones you love (who doesn't love the casino buffet).

I'll miss her as a grandmother and a close friend, I can only believe that she's up with her friends (Madge in particular), having a good beer and playing at the high roller table with the big guy.