Yetta Zelda

My grandmother,Yetta, my dad, Neil and I

My grandmother, Yetta Zelda, is my hero. I called her Grandma Yetta. She was born on July 19th, 1925 in Bristol, England. She left school at the age of fifteen and worked as a seamstress. During the Second World War, she was evacuated to Blackpool and met Cyril, who later became her husband on March 2nd, 1947. After their first son was born, my grandmother and grandfather moved from Blackpool to London. Five years after my grandparents moved to London, Grandma Yetta joined Grandpa Cyril at the grocery store where he was a partner. The partner abandoned my grandparents, and they were forced to sell the business. By this time, after several grocery and customer service jobs, six sons had been born and the family moved once more to Reading, England. Grandma Yetta did not work again until she was widowed in 1973 when my dad was only ten years old. Later on in her life she moved to Israel for a few years to be with four of her sons who were also in Israel at that time. My grandmother moved back to London and lived to have twelve grandchildren. She died in 2001 at the age of seventy-six because of a heart attack.

After my grandfather died, my grandmother was left with six boys and few financial resources. My grandmother had to take care of six boys all by herself while supporting her family. My grandmother suffered two heart attacks, a stroke and had numerous problems with her thyroid gland as well as dealing with diabetes and taking insulin injections. The two eldest boys went to work as soon as they were able, to help contribute to the family income to maintain a basic family lifestyle. She did an amazing job raising her sons, regardless of the circumstances. They are all successful and have great relationships with each other. My grandmother successfully created a sense of family that has been passed down through her sons to my generation. Consequently even though I see my cousins rarely, I still feel very close to them.

Although I only I saw her rarely since she lived in England and I live in Canada, my grandmother meant a lot to me and has made a great difference in my life. On the trips that I made to London I didn’t always spend that much time with her, except when I went to London especially to see her, and now I wish I had gotten to know her better. I’ve heard many great stories about her from my dad and my uncles, and through those stories I can sense what type of person she was. She was a loyal, honest and determined woman. I hope I turn out to be as great a woman as she.