12/20/11

On December 20, 2011, my grandmother, Judith Ann Carr Cholewiak passed away. She slipped silently away looking over the city she spent nearly her entire life in from her one of her favorite places to see it from. I commonly referred to her apartment as the swankiest place I'd been or swankadelphia complete with a big tv on which she watched her Blu rays, played wii and watched EVERY eagles and Phillies game. A wealth of knowledge would be an unjust descriptor for her vast array of interests an skills. She was truly one of the most intelligent; tough as nails women I've ever had the pleasure of knowing.

She always said the she had positively perfect grandchildren and made her top priority to take interest in the interests of all 9 of us. From newspaper clippings about Michael's football games or any new detail she could find about Philadelphia to ask or talk to me about on our trips to 3 Brothers pizzeria or the newest changing technology. She forever had new information about the topics that interested each of her grandchildren. While I'm biased on the topic I believe she was right about her grandchildren, but that is only true because she was a positively perfect grandmother.

The last memory of my grandmother is a particularly fond one, just two days before she passed away my family was doing what we call “family shopping day” which is on the Sunday before Christmas we all get together and shop for families in need and soup to nuts supply their Christmas. On that day she sat on the floor and helped me box up the clothes for the young girl that I was shopping for, saying that it was the first time all year that she sat on the floor wrapping presents. While sitting on the floor we talked about Stephen Girard and his school and what he did for the city of Philadelphia and general Philly fun facts. I think as far as final memories go, that’s a pretty great one.