My Zayda

The earliest memories of my Zayda are of him playing with my brother, sister and I in our backyard in Chatsworth. He always played with us and I remember him laughing and smiling and holding me upside down . I used to stand on my head a lot when I was a kid... I think I stood on my head for two years straight. Zayda told me my head would be flat if I kept on doing it and he was sort of right about that. I remember how strong I thought he was ... I thought his arms were so big and I couldn’t believe that he never beat me at arm wrestling. That was one our favorite things to do. Of course, I never lost. When we got a swimming pool, I would pay Zayda a dollar to dive off the diving board and make a huge splash. He really didn’t like to dive off the board, in fact, I don’t even know if could swim that well.... but he did it anyway. He would have done anything for us. As we grew up and got into sports I remember Zayda and Bubbie coming to many of our track meets, baseball games and soccer games. They were there, always...and we wanted them to be there. Zayda used to tell me that he was a catcher when he played baseball in Duluth. He told me that he was so poor he didn’t have a mitt and used to catch the ball with his nose and that is why his nose was so crooked. He had a great sense of humor and I can only imagine the real reason his nose was so crooked. Although Zayda was the sweetest guy in the world.... he wouldn't take crap from anyone. Zayda was a survivor, the toughest of the tough. I never heard him complain once in his life. When times were the toughest he would smile and tell me a joke or tell me that the nurse was after him. He had so many nurses after him, all the other patients were jealous. Everyone loved Zayda but Zayda loved Bubbie... and he told me every time I saw him. He loved her so much that it kept him alive. He took much of his strength from Bubbie who if Zayda was the strongest man alive, Bubbie is the strongest woman. And their Love, the strongest love.

I will miss Zayda very much. He was a good, simple, humble man. He was strong, loving and caring. His sense of humor pulled him through many tough times, more than his fair share. When times are difficult for me I will draw strength from my Zayda’s life.