On This Rosh Hashanah And Yom Kippur 5783, I Thank You For Your Kindnesses
The High Holy Days are fast approaching. Each year at this time, we ask the Almighty to forgive our transgressions. This year I also want to thank my dear friends who stood by me and mine in the past seven years or so. I want to thank Krishna and Alex Ryba, my dear friends and neighbors for their moral and physical support since my beloved husband, Peter, passed away. She listened to me over and over again as I cried out in anguish at the devastating and sudden loss of my darling Peter. She is a professor at Brooklyn College. Fridays are her days off. At my age, I seem to have more appointments with doctors than social occasions. On some Fridays, she tirelessly drives me back and forth to those appointments. While she waits for me to be done, she grades her papers. Shirley Alaghband was a miracle sent to me when Peter passed away. I really believe that she was heaven-sent. She appeared almost from nowhere. I had not seen her in years and here she was! She supported me when I badly despaired and everything was bleak and dark. When she felt I was going to be okay, she discreetly faded into the background. I am forever grateful to you, my dearest Shirley. I will never forget your kindness and compassion. Each week we still send Shabbat Shalom greetings to each other. I will always think of you as my God-sent dear, dear friend. Your presence supported me when I was ready to crumble. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Naz - Nazak -e- man, Shirin-e Shirinha. My dear loving Pakistani soul sister, Shama Hossein, never leaves my side. She visits me, shops for me, eats with me, and is there for me always. She shares her oldest granddaughter, Ella Mae, with me. Ella Mae calls me Grandma Stella and I tingle with joy! Shama is my ‘gerti khanom’, my gorgeous, statuesque friend. I can hear her exclaim, “Oho!” as she reads this. So okay, we have grown a bit older and she is not the ravishing siren she once used to be; but I still cherish one of her most important traits. I cherish her kind and her loving ways. Her goodness makes her presence radiate with goodness. Thank you for being my friend, Shama dear, the joyous, shining brightly candle in the life of those who know her! My neighbor, Stella Yakubov, calls me occasionally to say she’s going shopping, do I need anything? She is younger than all of my children. She is thoughtful. She is kind. Through the years she generously allowed me to borrow her daughters, to take them to different holiday parties in the synagogue. I did not have my grandson, Teal, living here then. Between Krishna and Stella, I did not feel deprived of being a grandmother! They were both kind to me and shared their children with me and I loved playing Grandma Stella to them! Last but not least, I want to thank my dear children, Kelly, Jessica, Matthew, and the apple of my eye, the joy of my existence, my beautiful grandson Teal! They are my present blessings. I cannot imagine what life would have been like without them! To my beloved Mama and Papa and the love of my life, my darling Peter, you had shed love and sunshine on my life. Your love, even now that you have been gone so very many years, sustains me with each step I take. When I falter, I think of you and I am able to carry on. Thank you. There are many people who have helped me along my way since Peter passed away. You know who you are. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you and am grateful to you. May God bless you all. In closing, I feel compelled to add, to those who have recently deeply and cruelly hurt a member of my family, I forgive you but I shall never forget, not ever! I wish you all a sweet, happy, and healthy Rosh Hashanah. May your prayers be heard in heaven during the holy days of Yom Kippur. Shana Tova!