Bronya Genyuk

Life is interesting. Most people spend the majority of their lives always busy trying to get ahead. But if they ever take a moment to think about it…what really matters is your family and close friends.

My grandmother’s entire life was dedicated to what really mattered to her, her family and friends. From early on in life my grandma was devoted to her family. Her parents lived with her, and she took care of them when they were elderly and passing. Following her father, who was a furrier, she became a fur hat maker. She was extremely gifted with whatever she did by hand. One of her biggest talents was her cooking. She never made dinner just for the family. As a testament to her giving nature, you would always see that no matter what she cooked or baked, she always made enough to either share with her neighbors, or with my mom’s friends. My mom’s friends still comment about how her stuffed cabbage, Russian red borscht, geffilte fish, and strudel were the best that they have ever eaten. My sister and I regret that we didn’t have a chance to learn how to cook things the way that grandma made them, especially the borscht. She didn’t have an easy life. She always had to work hard, and has had to face a lot of difficulty and loss. In 1941, during the war, her entire family had to leave their home, and evacuate their home town, due to the Nazis threatening to take over. During that time, her brother Leib, who she loved with all of her heart, was called to serve in the war. Unfortunately, he was declared missing in action after the war. She missed him terribly, and thought of him until her last days. After the war, and until our last day in the Ukraine, practicing Judaism was forbidden in our town. But for every single holiday she made sure to keep all of the traditions in the household, and always made full traditional meals for the entire family. We spent every holiday together. She was so happy when our family immigrated to America. Even though it was a country that she didn’t know, and she didn’t speak the language, she was happy for us, as we would have better opportunities here. She loved life to the fullest, and would find joy in the smallest things. She never asked for anything, and would give anything that she could to everyone that she cared about. Her greatest joy in life was spending time with the family. When growing up, I remember that we had family dinners every weekend. My grandmother and grandfather would come over, make dinner, and all of us would eat together. She was very devoted to my grandfather, and spent many days and late nights with him when he was hospitalized prior to his passing. After my grandfather passed, even though she had to walk with the assistance of a walker, the thing that she looked forward to most, was making the trip to my mom’s house every weekend. She would spend the day there talking, cooking, and enjoying the time with my mom, and on several weekends, my sister and I would join them. The thing that made her even happier than that, was when she was able to visit my sister in Long Island, and me in Westchester. She was thrilled to see our homes and to spend time with us. We all loved her very much, and we included her in every holiday, and special celebration. She came to every family dinner, and both of our bridal showers. She was so happy to be at our weddings. She loved my husband, and my sisters’ husband as though there were her own grandchildren. She was a strong and kind woman to the end. She fought hard during her illness. My sister and I both say that we would not be able to go through all that she had to battle with daily. She fought until the last moment for her life. She wanted to live life; she wanted to spend more time with us. But through all of that pain, the thing that the hospital staff remembers her for is that she always said thank you to every nurse and aide whenever they walked into the room, and always told them that they looked beautiful. During the time of her illness, my sister took charge of her care. She was in constant contact with my grandmothers’ physicians, and made sure that she was given the best possible treatment available. Between my mom, my sister, and I, we all made sure that my grandma would never be alone. A day before her passing, my mom, sister, and I all told her that we loved her dearly. My grandmother’s last words to us were “I love you very very very much. You three are my angels”. I would like to end this with something that a friend of mine said when she heard of my grandmothers passing, “Your grandmother was very blessed to have incredibly loving women like you, your mom, and sister to care and adore her during her life. She is now holding your hands like you have held hers.”