The BiG Story

•

Sybil Markowitz, of South-
: field, says she was "a quiet,
introverted girl" growing up
in Detroit. She lived on
Grand Avenue in a home the
family shared with an aunt
and uncle and Sybil's grand-
! parents, who lived upstairs.
Young Sybil loved playing with the
neighborhood children, riding bikes
and dressing up dolls. "And every
night after dinner I was out playing
hide and-seek."
Her husband, Mel Markowitz,
grew up just around the cor-
ner, on Burlingame.
"My grandmother was the nicest
person I ever knew," Mr. Markowitz
says. "She lived to be 98."
I A native of Russia, Mel Markowitz's
1 grandmother lived in Bay City, where
young Mel would often visit. "I
played cards with her, and we went
to the movies," he says. "She was a
great cook, just like my wife."
These days, Mrs. Markowitz enjoys
I taking her granddaughters to lunch
and to the mall. She also loves play-
I ing Nintendo — actually, she's the
family champ. 'Well, I would watch
the kids playing it," she says modest
ly. "That's how I got started. Now, I
often hear, 'Grandma, can you come
get me through this?'"
Mrs. Markowitz often takes her
I grandchildren — she has a total of
I 10 — to the movies, or simply hay-
: ing them nearby. "It's nice just to be
I in tne
L h ouse
ouse with them," she says.
"We don't enjoy vacations by our-
selves," Mr. Markowitz adds. "We
like to be with our children [three
I sons and one daughter] and our
grandchildren."
e A family tradition is Sunday-night
dinners at the Markowitz home,
"where our smallest crowd is 17,"
Mr. Markowitz says. No one misses
the dinner. "It's one of the most impor-
tant things in our lives."
Like his wife, Mr. Markowitz is
more than happy just to have his
grandchildren over at the house.
"We still live in the same place we

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10/16
1998

110

Detroit Jewish News

Mel And Sybil Markowitz and
Michelle, Amanda, Rachel and Sarah Markowitz

did when our kids were small," he
says. "Our four granddaughters love
the idea that they can come over
and sleep in the same room their
father, Andy, did when he was a
boy.

Amanda Markowitz, 10, is in
fifth-grade at Pleasant Lake
School in West Bloomfield.
"My grandmother," she says, "loves
I Elvis Presley, and my grandfather is
into motorcycles; sometimes he lets
I me sit on his Harley. And he looks
I like my Dad's brother, not like he's his
father.
I "My grandmother is really good at
I playing Nintendo. I like it when we
I work in her vegetable garden. She
I has string beans, cucumbers and
tomatoes."
Amanda's hobbies are skiing, get-
ting on America On Line and danc-
ing, especially hip-hop. "I take
lessons at Miss Barbara's," she says.

names, how much each is worth —
than anyone.
"My grandfather took me to a
Mine']."
church parking lot and let me
C
drive, because I want to learn
Rachel Markowitz, 8, is in
how. He knows how to fix any-
third-grade at Pleasant Lake
thing. Once, my sister broke her
School.
American Girl doll and he fixed it
"I love cooking with my grandmoth-
in five minutes.
er," she says. "We make chocolate-
"Something I like about my grand-
chip and oatmeal cookies and
parents is that they are very honest
brownies."
people. And they come to see all our
Rachel likes collecting Beanie
dance programs; they have been to
Babies and Polly Pockets, playing
every show."
• with stuffed animals and the Littlest Pet
Like Amanda, Michelle enjoys
Shop.
dancing — "ballet, jazz, hip hop" —
and wants to be an actor and singer
Michelle Markowitz, 13, is in
eighth-grade at Walnut Creek I when she Tows up.

"My favorite singers are Monica and
Brandy. I love their video ['The Boy Is

Middle School.
Sarah Markowitz, 4, says then
"What I love about my grandpar-
best part of being with her
I ents is that they don't care if I call at
grandparents is going to
• 10 at night or whenever.
"their Barbie room. They have
"I love being with them. My grand-
I
just Barbies in there for me
j ma knows more about Beanie Babies
and my cousins."
— where you can buy them, their