What My Grandmother Means to Me

Born in Providence, Rhode Island to Abraham White and Etta White, my grandmother was a spunky little girl with radiant hair and bubbly eyes. She always loved being around people. This quality is, in fact, what has helped her achieve momentum all throughout her life. The fact that she never ever gave up while she was working to the highest degree to achieve her goals is what is now giving me the inspiration I need to accomplish my particular goals. Her attitude towards life and living the American Dream is something that she never took for granted. Her ideals & morals, in life, were always rightfully justified. Many people, including myself, are following in her footsteps. She has lived a great life. When she knows that she is right, she speaks up, a lesson she has taught her children, my uncle & my father, and her grandchildren over the years. Her dinner parties at her home on Dudley Street in Fall River, Massachusetts were always extremely very festive. My grandmother means the world to me. As my father says, she is "the belle of the ball" and "the cream of the crop." Her outlook on life has always been very positive - never ever negative. She, even, takes life with a grain of salt and doesn't have anything negative to say about anybody.

I can remember going to Montreal, Quebec with her and my father. We had the best time touring Le Vieux Port de Montreal (The Old Port Of Montreal), eating sumptuous meals at The Brown Derby and attending groups & lectures at The Jewish Community Senior Center. Our trips didn't end there. My youngest brother, Jonathan, my father, my grandmother, and I took a trip to the Concord Hotel in upstate New York during the summer of 1994. The four of us had a wonderful time participating in lectures, going to dances, and enjoying theater performances. The hotel was exquisite and the meals were sumptuous. It was an experience that, much to our dismay, we would never be able to experience again since the restaurant closed down. My grandmother also enjoyed going to Yoken's Restaurant in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, which, just recently, also, closed down. My father's uncle and his wife opened the restaurant in 1947 and it soon grew to become one of the largest restaurants in the country. But, as my father says, all good things must come to an end at some point.

My grandmother is the matriarch of the Yoken family. The Yoken family has indeed been a very strong family over the years. We've experienced happy times and sad times, but we're still a loving, close-knit family that people from all over the world have really grown to love. People, everywhere, love my grandmother. When my grandmother smiles, one knows immediately that she is that caring person who has been through it all and who has done it all - all to help improve the world and the society in which she lives.

Finally, my grandmother has always known exactly what to do and how to do it without allowing anyone to get in her way. She has always left a good impression on people and, most importantly, she has always been loved by her family.

Written In March Of 2004