MY EX GRANDMOTHER DIED TODAY, A LADY BEFORE HER TIME

Rita Silver was a remarkable lady. She died today at 104 years old. I remember when I first met her in 1985, she told me there was no such thing as old age. It was all in the mind.

Rita came from Latvia as a violin player when she was young. She left her family and came to America. Her family were killed by the Nazis. She made a life for herself and got married and had two boys.

She was one of those ladies that was before her time, she read medical journals and all types of literature about health. She believed in the power of the mind. She became her version of vegetarian. She ate basically the same thing every day of her life. Cottage cheese & fruit, canned and fresh.

Even after she lost her hearing she kept playing the violin every day and did her exercises. For many years she walked for several miles a day. She accepted me as family from the second I met her and would love to take me to her bedroom and put make up on me and do my hair. I never asked her to; it was something she enjoyed doing for me. We had wonderful talks about health and well being.

She definately inspired me and when I became vegetarian in 1993 she was very supportive.

I won't say she had a good life, because it was a hard life. Her husband had polio and he was confined to a wheel chair and she took care of him for many years. But she always had a positive attitude. What a special lady