Moms Memorial by Robin

So this is what Robin had to say about my mom for the memorial service.

Our mom was the proverbial hard candy,hard shell, soft inside. She was a good mom, a fair mom, and always encouraged us to be the best person we could be.  she always laughed with us, cried with us, got mad at us, for us, and with us, whenever we called her to talk about what was going on in our lives,

She had two wonderful men in her life.  Our father Manny and our stepdad Fred.  she loved our husbands, Andy George and Steven. Her grandsons Marc,  Bryan,  and Edison. And tolerated her grand dogs Maddie, Tug, Hero and dozer.  And the  late Josie, Foley and Jack.
  
Our mom was not an easy person at her best and quite difficult at her worst. However she loved us unconditionally and for that my sisters and I are forever grateful. As Stacy said to Rabbi Jacks yesterday morning,  her oft repeated advice to us was, be nice to your sisters.

We loved to shop together. It was most special when we visited individually and had our mom's undivided attention but it was equally and exceptionally fun when we were altogether. While I could really talk about our mom for hours I won't but I would like to share a few other things.

My husband Andy, (who couldn't  be here because he's recovering from throat cancer and is doing very well) was a fix up by my mom and a good friend who knew Andy's parents. He had just  relocated to Detroit and Janice  hocked him until he came for dinner one night. the rest is history. However, Fred's version is that she lined the three of us up and said
"take one...PLEASE!"  .

Stacy, our baby sister, loved how our mom was always, and I do mean always, on her side. Regardless of who our mom was arguing with or about whatever Stacy had at the top of her list

Laurie, our middle sister, was the one mummy relied on most. She still lives in Detroit and when Janice could travel, Laurie's  house was her personal hotel. They talked every day on the phone at least once if not more. Stacy, Fred and I, have now inherited those phone calls.

A few years ago I learned how to play mah-jongg and my mother used to love to hear how much I won and how much I lost.  I play a couple of older women in their 60s and one in their 80s. One night I played a hand I never have never played before.  For those of you who don't play, please bear with me.   For those of you who do play , it was in the top left corner of the card 1 N. 2 E. 3 W. 4 S. 2013. I picked my own Mahjong tile and, I had a jokerless hand.  I was so excited, I looked at my watch and saw that it was just 8 o'clock and I went "oh my god, oh my God"! I have to call my mom !  My friends said,  you can't call her now, it's 11 o'clock in Florida!   I said it's only 11 o'clock,  my mom is up!  so I called her and not only was she up but she was equally excited for my win.

Our mom always reveled in our successes no matter how big or how small and as you have heard me repeat,  our special nickname for her is MUMMY.  we love her, we miss her and she will stay forever in our hearts.