A real mensch

My Grandpa Stan died last Monday, August 30. He was my only grandfather and a real mensch. Growing up, I thought everyone had just one grandpa who had a mustache. My brother and I were the only grandchildren for more than a decade, and we had Grandpa Stan and Bubbe Tulip all to ourselves. The biggest treat for me was getting to sleep over at their house in South Windsor, CT on Friday nights. Matt and I fought over who got to sleep on the sofa bed in the den, which we thought was the best place to sleep ever. There were all kinds of things we didn't or couldn't have at home: Hi-C to drink, Cocoa Puffs for breakfast, and endless Saturday morning cartoons. I loved dressing up in Bubbe Tulip's Mardi Gras beads and marching around the house to Grandpa Stan's John Phillip Sousa records. He used to hide candy corns around the house and tell me that I had a mystery to solve. The candy corns were "clues," and I solved the mystery when I found the hidden bag of candy.

Grandpa Stan was sick but I didn't expect to lose him so soon. He and my grandmother were married for more than 60 years. Eric and I dropped everything last week and flew to Connecticut for the funeral. It was terribly hot the day of the graveside service, and I gave a short eulogy on the behalf of the grandchildren. It was hard, but it was good to be there and having my family around me was comforting. The loss didn't really hit me until we came back to Oklahoma. I want so much to be back east.

It was overcast and drizzling the night before Grandpa Stan's memorial at the synagogue he and my grandmother helped to found. But right before we entered the building, I noticed a rainbow in the sky. I'm not the kind of person to believe such things ordinarily, but I want to believe it was a message from Grandpa Stan. Here I am outside Temple Beth Hillel with the 1939 Weaver High School yearbook. Grandpa Stan graduated in '43 but his sister Lois graduated in '39 with Sid Swadosh, father of my best friend Jenny. Jenny's mom Pat loaned me the yearbook and graciously hosted us in her home once again and kept us well supplied with fresh fruit and Greek yogurt.

Eric and I didn't have much time to ourselves on such a short trip but we did make it to Modern Apizza in New Haven, where we had dinner with my brother and his lovely French girlfriend. We also sneaked in a few hours at Rocky Neck before flying home on Saturday.