A Grandpa and a Ceremony

"Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friends." - "We Can Work it Out" The Beatles

This is the greatest gift you can give someone. To learn to take advantage of the now, because it passes way too quickly. My grandpa Irwin, my mother's father, just passed away this Thursday and now I fully grasp what this saying means.  He was such a mensch, which is Yiddish for a person who possesses admirable characteristics, such as fortitude, firmness of purpose and compassion towards others.  Just a couple months ago, we went to visit my grandpa in the hospital, he had been declining in health for a long time, and the nurse had brought him lunch; a chicken salad sandwich, water and chocolate ice cream. He had only eaten half of the sandwich and when my brother came to his bedside, my grandpa offered him the other half of the sandwich saying, "Here, you should have it." My brother said, "No, thank you grandpa, it's for you," but grandpa insisted. He was concerned about my brother, while meanwhile he was lying in hospital bed attached to an IV. Another story that I was too little to remember, but was relayed to me by my mom was when I was four or five I was watching my favorite Disney princess movie “Beauty and the Beast” and my grandparents were watching it with me. When the ballroom scene came and the teapot started singing “Tale as Old as Time,” I curtsied to my grandpa and he bowed and we danced together to the song. Even though I don’t remember this, it brings tears to my eyes. He was such a great man and I miss him very much.

That was the first significant event of the last week. The other was a ceremony I attended in honor of my Uncle Mike being promoted to Brigadier General in the Army Reserves! It was an amazing ceremony. It took place in Virginia at the Fort Myers Officer's Club (If you know where that is, great! If not, it is just outside of Washington DC) and there was a speech made by a Major General, he took the oath, was adorned with stars of a general and my brother and cousin presented him with a pistol and holster, and he made a lovely speech and thank yous at the end. The food was delicious and it was awesome seeing that side of my family for a second time that week. It was such a special week that someone at the Journal News found out about it and wrote a story about the weeks events.

You can read it here

More soon, 

Amanda