Things my sister-in-law can't stand about me

1. I am not a believer in Keynesian economics
2. I think most unions are not a great idea anymore
3. I loved Ronald Reagan
4. I vote Republican a lot
5. I even watch Fox news sometimes


I love you C. You are (one) of the best sisters in-law on the planet. And who doesn't drive their sister in-law crazy sometimes? I think it is hilarious that any of your friends read this. Come on ladies--hit the comment button!

Rose is gone

Rose is gone from here. Her funeral was yesterday. But Rose has been gone from this world for a while. Rose was an incredibly strong woman who lost her mind to Alzheimer's a while back. She was a force. She was tough. She would ask if you had gotten plump. She made a mean plum tart....and never gave away her recipes.
I didn't really know Rose well. She was my brother-in-law's mother. I guess in the end a life can be summed up by the people willing to bury you, to remember you. Rose had two children and four grandchildren and even some great grandchildren. If she had given up and stayed in Czechoslavakia, none of their lives would have turned out the way they did. After fleeing her country she ran again to the USA from France all the while being chased by a horrible Nazi regime. She left for the US without her husband and with two little children. She made her way in our country with little money and few friends. When her husband returned to her years later and wanted to go back to Europe, she put her foot down. She made her life here. She raised her family.
Years later Rose decided she would fight to get her family's money back from the real estate they left behind. We all thought she was crazy. We thought she was tilting at windmills. We were wrong. Years later when the "iron curtain" fell, she petitioned and got some money back.
But all the stories about Rose don't really tell me who she was. When I look at my brother in law and the strong wife he chose, well, that tells me more. I see two people who worked hard together to build a business, to love each other and to support their family. She must have been quite a mother. I see her daughter R, who divorced young at a time when it was very tough to be a single woman with young children. She had a great career and two brilliant thoughtful kids. And she never gave up. She did it with grace and style, like her mom.
So, I suppose isn't really gone at all. And that is what it is really all about....