Goldie Weinstein

Goldie Weinstein died peacefully at home on January 9, after a long illness. Fortuitously, she had recently visited with Allan and Diana, Jordan and Lisa and the great grandchildren, Alexis and Jack. Perhaps a final goodbye. She lived with her daughter, Elinor, who was there when she died along with a beloved caretaker, Maggie. And, in fact, if you live as long as Goldie, could it really be a meaningful life without the love and concern of family and friends?

Born almost a century ago, in a world long gone by, she was 95 years old - an incredible survivor, celebrant, and student of political, social and personal history. She was the daughter of Ida and Yidel Kantrowitz, poor Romanian Jewish immigrants. They fled the awful perils of their birth country to a completely alien land, believing in America and toiling to bring its storied future to their children. Goldie began life on the lower eastside of NYC, along with her brothers, learning English in a school filled with immigrants of every stripe - she never knew how she learned, just said there was no choice. She became a truly American girl, yet respectful of her religion, her parents and her roots.

My mom lived through the Great Depression, the attack on Pearl Harbor, WWII, Joseph McCarthy's hideous reign, the fears of polio, tuberculosis, and influenza, some of the greatest scientific medical discoveries of all time, the hope and loss of John F. Kennedy, Korea and Vietnam, the civil rights movement, the feminist movement, Watergate, rockets to space, the aids epidemic, free-love movements of all types, the tech revolution, and so many presidents and elections.

She experienced the ongoing challenges of anti-Semitism, the trials of friends and relatives whom she cared for and supported, but also the celebration and nurturing of her two children and grandchild, the enviable harmony and grace of her marriage to Jack, cut short way too early by a cruel illness. She seemed as if she would not survive it. But she did, and remained devoted to the family, learning, volunteer work, holidays and cooking, and the arts. She worked throughout her life, showing an increasingly great interest in self-improvement and education. I think her favorite career was as the wife of Jack and mother of Elinor and Allan, and devoted member of her extended family. But her great avocation, which latest for over 25 years, was the education she obtained through college courses, museums, opera and classical music, and theater - she was so modest about her fine mind. Goldie was all a person should be: not a moment wasted, and all moments lived with love.