Today Sunday, November 27, 2022, marks one year since the sad passing, on Saturday November 27, 2021, of my beloved wife of 57 years, Violet (Stark) Glickstein, age 79.
This year has slipped by so fast! Almost as if I went to sleep on Saturday, had a nightmare, and woke Sunday morning to realize ... it really happened!
I'm living in the same apartment we shared for the last 10 years of her life (Freedom Pointe Independent Living, The Villages, FL). Nearly everything I do here triggers flashbacks to those "good old days" when Violet was here to do it with me.
For example, meals in the Dining Room. When she was here, we'd go down together and usually find other residents, usually couples, who'd join us at the table. If no one was there, we'd eat alone (but together with each other). Now, I have to schedule my meals with friends, or do take-outs.
Another example, talking. You all know Violet had strong opinions on nearly everything, and our political views were somewhat orthogonal. We each had large TV screens and separate control boxes to record programs we liked. Each of us could see the other's recording lists and watch their programs.
Violet was not happy with the political slant of some of the stuff I recorded, and vice-versa. However, almost every evening we'd get together and watch either the ABC or NBC national news, or both, which I record daily. I've continued to record both ABC and NBC and I watch at least one of them every day.
Another example, driving. When we moved to Florida from Upstate New York about 20 years ago, we made a "command decision" to learn to live with only ONE car. After decades of having two cars, we made it work. (In 2016, when our daughter Rena was quite ill, Violet took that car to Atlanta, GA and helped care for her. So, for weeks at a time, I had no car, and had to make do with my bicycle and golf cart, and friends. (One week, when a friend flew down from NY, I did rent a car.)
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This posting is a summary of how much I miss her, and how family and friends have gone out of their way to help me get along during this difficult time.
In addition to being a special blessing to me as my wife, Violet was also a devoted mother to our three children, Lisa, Rena, and Sara; and a loving grandmother to Lisa's children (Alex, Michela, and Samantha) and Sara's (Isaac and Emerson). Violet was also a great friend to many others.
WE CONTINUE TO REMEMBER AND HONOR VIOLET
We, as a family, will remember Violet for all the great times we had together. Education was important to her, and she delighted in family events at our children's and grandchildren's elementary and high schools.
Advanced education, at the College and Post-Graduate levels, was particularly significant. Violet and I "kvelled" (Yiddish word meaning "burst with pride") as our children were awarded the degrees they had earned (PhDs for Lisa and Sara, a Masters for Rena, and Bachelors for Lisa's children, who are working and/or pursuing graduate studies).
Speaking of degrees, Violet earned her Bachelors in Chemistry in 1963 (not the norm for females in the 1960's). Once our children were out of elementary school, Violet went back to college to earn her Masters in Computer Science (1983), when in her 40's! (With all those advanced degrees flying around in our immediate family, I felt "obligated" to get my Masters and PhD while in my very ripe 50's!)
In addition to delighting in education, Violet loved to travel with me, family members, and friends. At or near the top of her list of favorite places in the world were destinations with "Disney" in their titles: Disneyland (California), Disney World (Florida), and even Shanghai Disney Resort (China). We visited the latter in 2017, when our Grandchild Michaela, a Hospitality Major at Purdue, was doing an internship at a Chinese resort, see The Virtual Philosophy Club: Beyond Communism - the Emergence of a Newly Prosperous and Increasingly Capitalist CHINA! (tvpclub.blogspot.com) and The Virtual Philosophy Club: CHINA - WAY BEYOND COMMUNISM (tvpclub.blogspot.com)
We also travelled to England when our Grandchild Alex was interning at Oxford. We would have visited our third Grandchild Samantha when she was interning, however, she was in Australia, so far off the grid that a visit was not possible.
Other family vacations included our Alaska cruise in 2010, where Violet showed she still had lots of "zip" in her as we flew between trees riding the zipline in Ketchican, see The Virtual Philosophy Club: Plenty of ZIP as We Mature (tvpclub.blogspot.com)
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From left to right sitting around the table: Michaela Hagler, Jerry Hagler, Alex Hagler, David Moyers, Rena Moyers, Lisa Glickstein, Samantha Hagler, Violet Glickstein. I (Ira) am standing in the rear with Lou who lives on the cruise ship. |
In 2014 we took the family on a Baltic cruise that included a brief stop in St. Petersberg, Russia, see: The Virtual Philosophy Club: Our Brief Visit to Russia (tvpclub.blogspot.com)
As we waited in the St. Petersburg park, along with our Grandchild Alex, I noticed the pigeons had an unusual fondness for the famous Russian writer, see photos above. I tested my ability to sound out Cyrillic characters by reading the inscription on the Pushkin statue, "Алекса́ндр Серге́евич ПУШК" [ALEKSANDER SERGEVITCH PUSHKIN].
Our daughter Lisa composed a marvelous obituary that captures the essence of Violet.
According to Wikipedia, Shiva (Hebrew: שבעה, literally "seven") is the week-long mourning period for first-degree relatives. The ritual is referred to as "sitting shiva". According to Jewish law, we assume the status of "avel" (Hebrew: אבל; "mourner"). This state lasts for seven days, during which family members traditionally gather and receive visitors.
For reasons I can't defend rationally, I'm very pleased that our daughters Lisa, Rena, and Sara, and Lisa's children, Alex, Michaela, and Samantha attended Hebrew school, learned to read that ancient language, and went through the formal Bat Mitzvah process. I don't think any of them had then or have now any real literal belief, which, in a way, makes it a sort of minor miracle that they did so. (This last sentence brings tears to my eyes as I read it. How about you?)
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- Wedding and Farm Days
- Passing the Genes and Memes
- Computers R Us (Ira and Vi's careers)
- Retirement in The Villages, FL
- Our 50th Anniversary Baltic Cruise (Air Travel and Shipboard activities)
- Our 50th Anniversary Baltic Cruise (Land-Tours)
50th-0 CELEBRATING OUR 50th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY (tvpclub.blogspot.com)