Tuesday, November 10, 2009
I remember my cousin Jason's eulogy for my grandpa's funeral a couple years ago. He talked about my grandpa's hands; they were workers hands. They were caring hands. My grandma had those same hands. If she wasn't cooking, she was cleaning. If she wasn't doing that, she was sewing. She sewed all of my Halloween costumes for the first 10 years of my life. Those hands me breakfast every morning during visits. I remember those hands during games of Gin Rummy at home in Kent. It was me, my brother, Cris, my dad, Grandpa (if he wasn't dozing in a chair) and Grandma. She would always sit there innocently, peeling chestnuts, or munching on cookies, and somehow, she would always come out of no where and win. While she collected the winning chips, she would shake her head and laugh, like didn't know how she kept winning. I remember those hands helping my brother and I roll the dough to make gnocchi when we were small. I don't think you could describe grandma without talking about her gnocchi. Her food has this way of making you feel exactly how she made you feel: warm, cared for, happy, and somehow very safe because no matter where you were eating it, (even if you were defrosting frozen gnocchi from her last visit), you were in the presence of family. She could probably have won anyone over with her gnocchi and meatballs. Her cooking was always a treat and I felt spoiled growing up with it. And no one spoils like a grandma. Every time my brother and I would visit, she'd slip us money with the explicit directions to buy something just for ourselves, and to not tell our parents. She would say, "Take it. This is between you and me. Listen, because I�m your grandma." I remember the last time I saw her. It was this past summer, and she was the closest she's been to her old self than she had been in a while. She was joking and smiling, and to see her like that was a blessing. I remember my last conversation with her. I was about to leave for Korea and saying goodbye. She turned to my dad and said, "You better take good care of her." she then turned to me and said, "And if he doesn't, you let me know." And she playfully waved her finger at him and nudged him on the cheek. Nothing could have captured her spirit more accurately. Everything she did was for family, for the people she loved. I feel lucky to be part of her family and to have had the chance to grow up with her care, her sense of humor, and of course her Halloween Originals. There�s that saying- life has to end, but love doesn�t, family doesn�t. She will live on the memories that we have of her. It�s heartbreaking to lose a person as kind, caring and compassionate as Sue Chizzonite. But we can all find solace in knowing that she's now with Grandpa. I imagine her still telling him what to do, with him grinning in response, and telling us, "Do you hear that? She�s always bossing me around!� I picture her humming as she moves around the kitchen, somehow putting all the food and dishes away before anyone makes it through dinner. I can hear her laugh and see the smile she'd have as she'd shake her head in amusement to someone's story. In fact, she�s probably smiling down on us right now, asking, �All this for me? You guys are crazy.�