Hello everyone.  If you expecting to hear about the genteel, quiet, soft spoken woman who passes away, um… you are in the wrong place.  I am going to talk about my grandmother today, Eleanore.  She was NOT a soft spoken, delicate thing.  She was rather a force of nature.  She may have only been 5 feet tall and 120 lbs soaking wet, but trust me, that didn't stop the force of her, ever.

From stories that were told to me as a child, Eleanore was a hand full from the time she was a child.  She was the adored, only sister of 4 brothers.  She loved to be spoiled and attended to.  She was very beautiful and would have been the first person to tell you that!  I remember her telling me many times how right before she got married, that she had 4 "gentleman callers" who wanted to marry her at the same time, but she chose my grandfather – whew, good thing for me or I'd be the one in the wrong place today.  Now, if you told her she was vain, she'd laugh and take that as a compliment.  She would have been the first person to tell you that.  But then on the other hand, there were so many times when I was growing up, that she'd be tucking me in bed and sitting with me chatting and she would tell me how beauty is on the inside.  It didn't matter what anyone looked like on the outside – it mattered what they were on the inside.  She was an enigma.

She was vibrant, full of life and full of opinions.  When you were a loves one, she never held back on sharing those opinions either – whether you asked or not.  One of my favorite stories was about one night when I was little she came over to baby sit.  While my parents were out, she decided to re arrange all the furniture once I was asleep.  When my parents asked her why she did that, she replied "because it looked better that way."  In her heart, she always knew what was best for us and even when she drove us a little crazy, it was always meant with love.

She did love her family fiercely.  Heaven help the person who wronged any of us, she would go after them like a lioness protecting her cubs.  And when it came to grandchildren, Eleanore was like a Jewish, female version of Santa Claus – with out the red suit that is….  I remember growing up, she lived around the corner from us and she came over every day.  And every day she had something for me.  She was a fun grandmother when I was little.  She always had the time to play a game, watch the crazy dance shows that Robyn and I made, listen to us "play" – if you can call it that – our musical instruments, read a story and my personal favorite, sitting with me and talking when I was tucked up in bed before going to sleep.  She had a way of making you feel like the most special child in the world.

For a tiny woman, she had a loud voice and was very vocal.  She could be very argumentative.  On more than one occasion she said, "You only fight with the ones that you love…"  Well people, she loved ALL of us a lot, huh?  Seriously tho, I think that was just a part of our family.  I remember when Grandmom Beizer was still alive and would have the holiday dinners at their apartment on Front and Godfrey Ave.  Most the Uncles were there – Uncle Milt, Uncle Davey and Uncle Hymie, the Aunts, Aunt Mildred, Aunt Fan were there, all the older cousins Arlene, Andrea, Bobby, Matt were there, my parents, Uncle Paul and Aunt Eileen – well she was Aunt Honey back then, were there and me and Melanie perpetually at the kids table and Robyn and Brandon in highchairs. It was a loud crew.  Those were vibrant days and wonderful get-togethers.  You had this small space with these vibrant, intelligent, LOUD, opinionated people – none of whom had any compunction about speaking over the other and often speaking at the same time.  It got noisy, even heated at times, but always full of love and laughter.  Many of us have that vocal, stubborn tendency in our family… not me of course; I'm talking about everyone else….  Eleanore LOVED those times.  I know she has missed her brothers for a long time and I know she especially missed her husband and her son.  As hard as it is to say good bye, I take comfort that she is with many loved ones now and looking down on us smiling.

I take comfort that this past Yom Kippur we were able to be together and she was able to spend time with loved ones that she hadn't seen for awhile.  I know it meant the world to her.  I am glad that she got to meet and know two of my kids.

Eleanore would have loved having everyone here today and she would have really loved that they day was about her, well maybe not the being dead part.  If she was here, I believe she'd want us to celebrate her life.  For ninety five years, she was a force of nature leaving her mark on the world.  I will miss her, but she will continue to live thru our stories and memories.