Billie, as I knew her, was not my grandmother, but I once asked her if she could be my surrogate grandmother. I loved her the same as if my grandfather, Murray, had married her. They wanted to remain independent with separate apartments despite years of dating. She was my grandfather's companion, someone to dance with and eat with and socialize with after his wife and her husband died, so they wouldn't be alone. 
I remember one time when I visited and we took a walk around a golf course. Billie took off ahead of us, presumably to let us speak in private, but all I could remember was how much faster she was than us. 
After my grandfather died, I continued to visit Billie at least once a year when I was in Florida visiting my husband's family further south. The last time I visited was in August. We talked for hours and it felt like the most comfortable time we ever had, like we had become girlfriends instead of adopted relatives. My mother-in-law, much younger and using a walker/cane, noted that Billie was actually dancing when she brought me to the car to say hello to the rest of the family. Billie, while at least 20 years my mother-in-law's senior, seemed to have more energy than my mother-in-law. My husband asked me what could I possibly talk to Billie about for two or three hours of my visit. For me it wasn't a forced conversation this past time like maybe it had been previously, so I just said "we just talked." Wasn't like it was an uncomfortable experience like with some relatives. 
I found out she died as I knew I would, by calling her apartment on her birthday as I did every year and realizing this time I didn't have the wrong number. Dialing again wasn't going to get me to her cheery voice (because even when she wasn't feeling well recently she never let on and sounded wonderfully healthy). Our last visit or conversation I asked for a contact person, relatives I knew lived in my area, and called to confirm my old friend was indeed gone, just shy of my birthday call for her 107th birthday. She will forever be my fifth grandparent, my third grandmother, someone who touched my life and the life of my grandfather and stepped in to fill his loneliness in his twilight without my real grandmother. She was my friend and she treated me like her grandchild. I always felt special when I was around her, especially having known someone over 100 with so much life in her. We should all be so blessed to have known Billie or someone like her. There aren't too many of them. I will miss her dearly, especially when I'm in Florida visiting other relatives. Something will be missing. I think she knew how much I loved her. I certainly hope so.

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Isabelle Smith

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Isabelle Smith

10 février 1906 – 20 janvier 2013

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Isabelle Smith

10 février 1906 – 20 janvier 2013

Star of David Memorial Gardens Cemetery & Funeral Chapel

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