From Ed Davis, first cousin to Giza and Miriam:
On a dark evening, I (age 13) stood with my father at what was then Idlewild (now JFK) airport - which was nothing more than a runway and a few Quonsut huts - waiting for a plane to land which had two cousins I had never heard of, Miriam and Giza. My mother was busy preparing an apartment for them in Kew Gardens, Queens. We lived in Rego Park, just off Queens Blvd. Miriam was miserable because she had left her boyfriend behind in Israel and I was put in charge of 7-year-old Giza. My mother gave me money to take Giza out and to buy her a soda. So I got her an ice cream soda and it did not take her very long to figure how to get from her school to my apartment building on the Q60 bus at the age of 7!  From that time, she was a constant presence in my life. I even took her with me when as an adult I went on a business trip to Madrid and Barcelona, where I met Pina Ocello from Rome, who remains to this day my friend. I cannot write of all the things we did together since it would take too long, but I do remember taking Giza to a nightclub in Madrid to see a flamenco dancer. I do not remember where I was when I was told she had a stroke, but I do recall I had to break a date and the girl was very mad and I never saw her again, but I rushed to the hospital and held Giza’s hand and talked to her, not knowing if she could even hear or understand me, but I did not care. There are so many good memories I will always have of my wonderful cousin Giza.  She is part of me. I cannot write more since I cannot see through my tears to focus.


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Giza Shechtman

February 12, 1945 – March 5, 2022

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