Butsy

Mark's grandma "Butsy" passed away today. She moved into a nursing home this year when it became harder and harder for her to stay in her apartment. She started going downhill a little while ago and its been a tough last few months. We are all glad shes not suffering anymore but of course its hard to believe we won't see her again. She has been a grandmother to me since Mark and I started dating. I'm so glad I got to experience being one of her grandchildren and that she got to know Max. One funny story about what a character she was; As most people reading this know, Mark lived in the same building as her. Both of his grandmothers lived in the same apartment building. One passed away when he was 10, and the other was Butsy. Mark "inherited" his fathers mothers apartment when he was a senior in high school doing an internship in Baltimore. Well, it wasn't really his but his parents kept it since they always needed a place to stay while they were in Baltimore. Mark was the one who used it the most though. He continued to stay there on nights off from camp, vacations from college, and eventually he lived there full time after college. He brought the average age in the building down to about 75. I spent alot of time there as well since my cool boyfriend had his own place. And don't think that he renovated it or anything...it was a grandmothers apartment, fully equip with floral wallpaper, a breakfront displaying lots of judaica, and a few editions of the Jewish times from the 80s. Mark saw Butsy pretty much every day back then. She would bring him food (she didn't cook but she would go get it for him) and the sports section of the newspaper. She would come in in the morning to drop off the sports section, usually without knocking. One time (it must have been during college) I had slept over and heard the door open and then close early in the morning. Later that day Mark's mom told him that Butsy had reported to her that she saw "4 feet under the covers instead of 2". Marks mom was like so what do you want me to do about it mom? And Butsy said "nothing I'm just letting you know". She told on me! Its a good thing we ended up getting married and I wasn't just a random person she caught in bed with her grandson. Thats just one of the many stories that show what a funloving grandma she was. She had such a personality all the way up until the end. She always said that the years that Mark lived in the building were the best years of her life. She got to show off her grandson to all of her friends all the time. She had a great life. She was 93.

We already miss you Butsy!