play with boats in big fountains,
are co-pilots on space ships,
build train tracks,
have snacks at the park,
play on the ipads,
teach their little brothers about Lightsabers,
pile onto Poppi's lap,
and share popsicles...
The Schwuzzard's is a combination of my last name, Schwartz, and my husbands last name, Buzzard (I've just been too lazy to change my last name...)!
play with boats in big fountains,
are co-pilots on space ships,
build train tracks,
have snacks at the park,
play on the ipads,
teach their little brothers about Lightsabers,
pile onto Poppi's lap,
and share popsicles...
Dear Ben:
I'm really glad that Dad and Mom took you outside to see the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station pass over your house. I know that it just looked like a bright star moving fast but it was something special. I stood outside of our house with Nonni and we watched it, too. Seeing the Shuttle and Space Station pass by overhead filled me with this same sense of wonder and excitement that I had when I was a boy and watched the early days of space exploration. I was 12 years old when the Russians launched the first satellite into space. It was called Sputnik. About two years later I saw my first satellite pass by in the night sky. I was 16 when the Russians sent the first man into space. His name was Yuri Gagarin and he was called a cosmonaut, which the same as an astronaut. His little space capsule flew in the night sky over New York City, the place I was living in, and I went outside to watch it. it looked like a bright star moving very fast across the sky. Even though our country, the United States, and Russia were not friends at the time I found my self saying to him--good luck, be safe. Being interested in space, and the moon, planets, and stars is very important. Maybe one day you'll fly a rocket ship to the moon--that would really be great!!
All my love,
Poppi
and smiles...
and smiles...
and smiles...
and smiles...
and smiles...
This is ONE happy baby!
I have so many memories of you – Your big hugs and warm kisses, our trips to Florida, the smell of your apartment building, your candy dish, the canal, your pot roast, your perfume, your shining white hair, celebrating your birthdays, coming to Florida on my own and spending special time together... going to movies, dinners, playing your keyboard, singing and dancing. I remember realizing that for 90-something, my grandma is pretty hip in her thinking, making it so easy to talk to you like a friend. I will remember your visits to California with Grandpa Julie. Grandpa Julie, who always played games with us, told funny jokes, did his exercises every morning, and poured Metamucil into his orange juice-stirring and stirring...the stirring that drove you crazy!
I will remember your strength, your strength as a woman. I will remember your painted nails, the way you always talked about grandpa Irving with such love, your confidence, and your enormous heart. A heart of gold.
Though Ben probably won’t remember his visits with Nana, and Sam never got the chance to meet you in-person, they will know their extraordinary Nana. They will know you through the stories we share, through the pictures we show them, the memory book you made us. They will know you through Nonni and Poppi, Uncle Bob and Aunt Renee. Though you are not here in person, your spirit is here, and will live on in each of us, because we are a part of you.
You will be greatly missed, but it makes me smile to think that after all of these years apart, you and Grandpa Irving can finally be together again.
We love you, Grandma Audrey, with all our hearts.
Love
Dara, Mike, Ben, and Sam
*The way he holds a sandwich with his little hands
*The way he strokes my face when I put him to sleep
*The quiet "sssshhhhhh, it's okay, Sam," that he says when Sam is fussy in the back of the car
*His independence and curiosity
*The way he calls Daddy, "Mike", and when you ask him who Mike is, he says, "Daddy"
*The way he refers to Sam as, "My Sam"
*When he calls "scissors," "fissors"
*That every other word is, "Why? Why mommy?"
*His love of books
*When he "helps" me fold the laundry
*Baking together
*His growing imagination and creativity
*When he says, "I love you, Mommy"