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She passed away at midnight. She had a lot of medical problems. I won't go into the whole list but she elected to go off of Dialisys 4 weeks and one day ago.
My mother and oldest brother flew out to be there for her final days and for her funeral. I couldn't make it. But I did write a small eulogy for my mother to read. Here it is:
Ill never forget when my mother told me we were going to go to New York and visit relatives. I was SSSSOOOOO excited. I had never been on an airplane before and now I was going to be on one for HOURS! I think I was eight years old at the time.
This trip would give me three distinct memories of my Aunt Pesh. Here is the first one:
There were three of us traveling: Mother and my brother and myself. When we finally arrived in Syracuse, we took a taxi to her sisters place.
I dont remember just how long that drive was, but I remember turning the corner to the street that Pesh and Sid lived on and was starting to get more and more excited. The taxi cab pulled up and stopped in front of this house and there was this lady that had a basket of eggs in her hand standing next to a couple of ducks. All three of us get out of the taxi and the lady turns and looks at us. You could tell from the look on her face that she knew that she knew us but didnt really recognize us.
My mother says Hi Peshie and waves her hand and Pesh really looks confused at this time. So I shout out Its your sister from Alaska!
Peshies mouth hung open for just about a second then she dropped the basket of eggs and runs right for my mother. Now, being from Alaska Ive heard about bear hugs growing up. Ive got to say the hug that Pesh gave mother was a real bear hug! Then Sid appeared at the door wondering what Pesh was screaming about. Then their kids all appeared. There were hugs all around.
Memory number 2: DINNER!
Same day, but in the kitchen. We sit down for dinner and it smells really good! I mean really, really, REALLY good. Pesh had made some type of spaghetti with curly noodles. I just loved it. Seriously. All I ever had to eat growing up was my mothers cooking and, nothing personal mom, I never really liked liver and onions. This stuff was great!
So when dinner was done, mom asked if we could do the dishes. Sid and Pesh said no, they had a dishwasher. I thought this was cool because we didnt have a dishwasher back home. They took our plates, set them on the floor and called Sam! Here boy. The dog came in, licked the plates clean and they put them onto the shelf.
Memory number 3: Fireflies
The one thing I wanted to do when I went to New York, was get stuck in traffic on the Clover Leaf. All my research had said that the Clover Leaf always had a traffic jam and I wanted to be part of it.
So one day Sid and Pesh had taken us out for a drive and we drove on a clover leaf. We sailed right through it. I was really disappointed by that. So as the day grew darker, we were driving down a road and Pesh asks me: Mark, what are those lights in the field?
I looked and there were hundreds of little lights just flying back and forth above the grass. The lights would blink on, then blink off. Aunt Pesh asks again: Mark, do you know what those are?
And a sudden dawning realization hits me. I DO know what those are. With a certainty that only an 8 year old could muster I shout: MARTIANS!
Its funny even after all these years, that still brings a smile to my face. Spaghetti isnt spaghetti unless it has curly noodles in it. I didn't even know her given name until I was helping my mother with her Eulogy. She was always my Aunt Peshie to me. And she always will be.
My mother and oldest brother flew out to be there for her final days and for her funeral. I couldn't make it. But I did write a small eulogy for my mother to read. Here it is:
Eulogy
For my Aunt Peshie
This trip would give me three distinct memories of my Aunt Pesh. Here is the first one:
There were three of us traveling: Mother and my brother and myself. When we finally arrived in Syracuse, we took a taxi to her sisters place.
I dont remember just how long that drive was, but I remember turning the corner to the street that Pesh and Sid lived on and was starting to get more and more excited. The taxi cab pulled up and stopped in front of this house and there was this lady that had a basket of eggs in her hand standing next to a couple of ducks. All three of us get out of the taxi and the lady turns and looks at us. You could tell from the look on her face that she knew that she knew us but didnt really recognize us.
My mother says Hi Peshie and waves her hand and Pesh really looks confused at this time. So I shout out Its your sister from Alaska!
Peshies mouth hung open for just about a second then she dropped the basket of eggs and runs right for my mother. Now, being from Alaska Ive heard about bear hugs growing up. Ive got to say the hug that Pesh gave mother was a real bear hug! Then Sid appeared at the door wondering what Pesh was screaming about. Then their kids all appeared. There were hugs all around.
Memory number 2: DINNER!
Same day, but in the kitchen. We sit down for dinner and it smells really good! I mean really, really, REALLY good. Pesh had made some type of spaghetti with curly noodles. I just loved it. Seriously. All I ever had to eat growing up was my mothers cooking and, nothing personal mom, I never really liked liver and onions. This stuff was great!
So when dinner was done, mom asked if we could do the dishes. Sid and Pesh said no, they had a dishwasher. I thought this was cool because we didnt have a dishwasher back home. They took our plates, set them on the floor and called Sam! Here boy. The dog came in, licked the plates clean and they put them onto the shelf.
Memory number 3: Fireflies
The one thing I wanted to do when I went to New York, was get stuck in traffic on the Clover Leaf. All my research had said that the Clover Leaf always had a traffic jam and I wanted to be part of it.
So one day Sid and Pesh had taken us out for a drive and we drove on a clover leaf. We sailed right through it. I was really disappointed by that. So as the day grew darker, we were driving down a road and Pesh asks me: Mark, what are those lights in the field?
I looked and there were hundreds of little lights just flying back and forth above the grass. The lights would blink on, then blink off. Aunt Pesh asks again: Mark, do you know what those are?
And a sudden dawning realization hits me. I DO know what those are. With a certainty that only an 8 year old could muster I shout: MARTIANS!
Its funny even after all these years, that still brings a smile to my face. Spaghetti isnt spaghetti unless it has curly noodles in it. I didn't even know her given name until I was helping my mother with her Eulogy. She was always my Aunt Peshie to me. And she always will be.
