Randall Fogel-
man and grand-
mother Goldie
Fogelman. "I
love spending
time with her.
Not a traditional
grandmother in
any sense of the
word"

Jennifer Rosenwasser and grandparents
Sylvia and Israel Abramovitz.

resents

BARBARA WYLAN SEFTON

Special to The Jewish News

jr

Lowell Friedman and grandmother Nellie Friedman. "My bubbie is a
link to the past and gives great insight to the future and makes the
best chicken soup."

Ethel Spiegler
(left), now 92, of
Memphis, Tenn.,
with granddaugh-
ter Yael Weil (pic-
ture was taken 10
years ago). "With
11 great grandchil-
dren, she's a great
grandmother in
every sense of the
word."

2/27
1998

88

odi E. Berger will tell you
that she has always loved his-
.
tory. So it comes as no sur-
prise that the Farmington
Hills resident is recording a slice of
her own.
"I'm videotaping my grandparents
[Ruth and Ralph Smith, of Berkley],
and grandmother [Jeanette Berger, of
West Bloomfield]. I feel a need to
capture their lives and their history.
Although I will remember some of
their stories, I won't be able to
remember all of them to tell my chil-
dren and grandchildren," she say's. "I
tell my grandparents and grandmoth-
er that they will be famous one day
— in the Jodi E. Berger library."
Berger says she feels fortunate to
be able to share her life with her
grandparents.
"I am the grandchild, and they are
the grandparents. There is nothing
else like that bond."
But beyond the bond, Berger says
she has learned a great deal from
them, mostly in the way they lived
their lives.
Like Grandma Berger's sisterhood

Barbara Wylan Sefton is a free lance
writer from Novi.

-

work with Congregation B'nai
Moshe, which taught Jodi about the
importance of community involve-
ment. And the Depression experi-
ences of grandparents Ruth and
Ralph Smith taught her to work hard
and save money.
The relationship between young
adult grandchildren and their grand-
parents is unlike any other. It is a
cherished and respected bond
between generations divided by 50
years or more. Young adult grandchil-
dren say they treasure the stories of
heritage, life lessons and insights that
only a grandparent can offer.
But it is the enormous love that
grandparents bring, that their young
adult grandchildren value most.
Oak Park resident Yael Weil, 29,
says she learned about the impor-
tance of religion and heritage from
her grandmother, Ethel Spiegler, 92,
of Memphis, Tenn.
"Someone who has lived 92 years
has something to tell. She always has
something to teach me from her life
experience," says Weil.
"I don't know how else to put it. I
just love her. She is such a joy to be
with. She is interested in my life and
in my children's lives, and loves me
for who I am. And, she makes the
best potato latkes in the world!"
Weil says her grandmother's