Today is Lag B'Omer but for me the significance of the day forever changed 18 years ago. It was the day before Lag B'Omer when my grandmother (A"H) passed away. I flew back home for the funeral, dealt with the racism of my uncles toward my mixed race daughter, and returned home. I haven't been back nor do I have any plans to ever return.
She was a great woman. She took me in as an infant and raised me as her own. Growing up with her on the farm, isolated from the world except for my time at school everyday, gave me a unique perspective on life and shaped me into the person I am today.
We were poor by any definition of the word, but we always had food on the table. I always had clean clothes for school, patched as they may have been. She taught me that we can survive through the darkest times. She taught me to always look for the brighter tomorrow.
I am who I am because Granny raised me to be me. So I light the candle every year on the day before Lag B'Omer and I remember. I remember because I hold in my heart that you are never really gone until the last time someone speaks your name, until no one remembers you. So I remember.
She was a great woman. She took me in as an infant and raised me as her own. Growing up with her on the farm, isolated from the world except for my time at school everyday, gave me a unique perspective on life and shaped me into the person I am today.
We were poor by any definition of the word, but we always had food on the table. I always had clean clothes for school, patched as they may have been. She taught me that we can survive through the darkest times. She taught me to always look for the brighter tomorrow.
I am who I am because Granny raised me to be me. So I light the candle every year on the day before Lag B'Omer and I remember. I remember because I hold in my heart that you are never really gone until the last time someone speaks your name, until no one remembers you. So I remember.
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