Ray Edith Rosenberg

Mom’s Life Story…Ray (Roth) Rosenberg Born on February 26th, 1929 to Esther and William Rosenberg. She was raised in Brooklyn N.Y. In 1962 she moved to N.J. and then in 2001 moved to Florida where she remained until her death on September 26th, 2010. Her Mother named her Ray but spelled it RAY instead of Rae. Many times Mom was mistaken for a man but she never wanted to change the spelling of her name. Mom was a ball of fire right from the very beginning. She bullied her brothers and sister. Her Mom would tell her to stay home while she went to bingo but Mom would sneak out to the bingo game to help. She would run around and read back the numbers and give out the prizes. For some reason the priest called her Bridgette maybe because he thought she was Irish. Bingo didn’t stop there for her, she later would go to bingo 13 times a week. She even ran a bingo game at St. Patrick’s Church in Elizabeth N.J. She once found a stray dog that she tried to hide under her bed from her Mom who disliked animals. She came home from school to find out her Mom found the dog and let it go. She was heartbroken and never wanted a pet after that. My grandmother was a strict kosher woman but my grandfather, well let’s say for example he would sneak my Mother out of the house and they would get pizza and Chinese food. That was their little secret. She always said that she would marry in the Jewish faith but not follow the kosher tradition. In 1948 she married her husband Harry (Mike). In 1949 her first daughter Wendy was born. In 1953 her second daughter was born who she named Marcie, and then her last daughter Meryl was born in 1957. Mom wanted to stop after Marcie but Dad wanted to try for a boy. They did try and Mom mis-carried the boy Dad wanted. They tried one more time and didn’t get their boy but they got me. He he. They lived in N.Y. until 1962. Dad’s job had moved to N.J. and he was tired of the long daily commute. Mom and Dad continued to go to bingo...Until Atlantic City opened…Wow look out AC…Once a month they would go to Ceasar’s Resort & Casino and spend the night there, gambling and seeing the shows. Mom was an avid shopper. A Bargain hunter…She would find the best deals everywhere. When someone would tell her they needed something Mom would search around and find it at a reduced price. In the summer months she joined the community pool so that she could take all of her grandchildren there. Every day she would schlep all of the kids there. She did everything for her grandchildren. She loved being around them.In 2001 Mom sold her house in Hillside N.J. and moved to Florida to be near her family. That’s when she started living life to the fullest. She bought a condo in Oriole Gardens a retirement community in Margate Florida that was in perfect condition but she renovated it the way she wanted it. She joined the women’s club of Oriole Gardens where she went on numerous bus trips, saw many shows and joined her lady friends for many luncheons. 2004 was an exciting year for Mom. We started with a surprise 75th Birthday which turned out to be one of the best day’s in my Mom’s life. Then we took her to Las Vegas where she got to visit her sister in law, gambled and saw some shows. We were on a roll so we went on a cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. Life was good. Mom had a tremendous amount of energy and was always on the run. She went to three different Targets everyday and sometimes even more than once a day. All the workers knew her. They would tell her when the prices were going to be reduced and she would surely be back in the morning when the doors opened. She even told the security guards there when things in the men’s department were real cheap. Once she even went and bought some things for one of them because he was working and was afraid that they would be gone by the time he got off of work. Mom had a room just filled with toilet paper, paper towels, aluminum foil and whatever else she could get at a discount price. Neighbors would come in and buy things from her when they needed it. She would make no money on it. She always rounded it off to the nearest dollar but the lowest price. She was very generous to all of her family and friends. Around 1975 Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer which resulted in a mastectomy. She was an inspiration to many people that had the same disease. In 2004 she was diagnosed with lung cancer. She went through treatment and was in remission. Every afternoon at 4 p.m. Mom had to be home to watch Judge Judy. She had a passion for her and also loved her game shows, especially lingo. She loved playing rummikub which she learned while sitting at the pool. Her other hobbies were reading, scrabble, doing jigsaw puzzles and doing the jumble in the newspaper. Mom was an excellent speller. We didn’t need a dictionary around her. She loved her cars. Bought a new one every seven years or so. Her last car was her Toyota Camry. She saw a car with spinning hub caps and decided to buy them for her car. Not consciously knowing she actually pimped out her car. Her grand-daughter was at work one day when one of her co-workers said he had just seen the cutest thing. A little old lady with these big sunglasses on driving down state road 7 (441) in her pimp mobile with her spinning caps. Her grand- daughter looked up and asked him if by any chance it was a bluish green Toyota Camry and he said oh why did you see the same thing and she said no I think it was my Nana…LOL. She treasured most of her gifts. One gift that stands out above all the rest was the decorated car plate from her grand-daughter Laurie. The tag read HERE COMES NANA…And boy was that true. In 2008 things took a really bad turn. She was diagnosed with dementia. Jewish Family Services came in to the house to help us and that’s where we met Susan Salerno who has become our lifelong friend. She was with mom until the end. She cared for her like her own mother. They would sit for hours and play cards while Mom would change the rules all the time and would usually win. Mom was also very generous with her money. We had to keep a stack of hundred dollar bills in the house because every time someone would come to visit she would force them to take a hundred dollar bill. It was a game. She would give it to them and they would give it back to either Marcie or myself. She seemed the happiest when giving away her money. Once she even tipped the UPS driver $50.00. I’m glad I was there. I ran after him and got it back and gave him $5.00. She wanted to buy herself a big diamond ring. And boy do I mean big. I took her to K-Mart where I asked the sales lady to play along with me. She bought the biggest gaudiest ring they had and she thought it cost $7,000. She was so proud of her ring and showed it off to everyone and even told them it cost $7,000. I would wink at them so they would go along with it. In December of 2009 it got harder to take care of her. Marcie needed more help. Our Doctor recommended Hospice by The Sea. They came in every day and gave Mom a bath. Brought all the equipment we needed and supplies. A nurse would come in about once a week and check her out. The Doctor would come about once a month. She had the best care. We met some really wonderful people through hospice. Althea the CNA that came in to bathe her, the registered nurse Denise and her social worker Debbie. All are truly caring and devoted people. On September 13th Mom was moved to the hospice facility in Boca Raton, Florida. Her last 2 weeks were spent in the most beautiful setting surrounded by loving and more caring people. She had a music therapist by the name of Stephanie who came in two times a week and played the guitar and sang to her. Nurses that did the healing touch. They made us so comfortable. Mom remained there until her death on September 26th 2010. Mom leaves behind her three daughters, and her wonderful son-in-law Mike who she treated like the son she never had, 5 grand children and nine great grandsons and finally the last one Emma who is her first great grand daughter. She leaves behind many friends who will remember her as the target lady…We will all miss her greatly…

Ray Edith Rosenberg

February 26, 1929 - September 26, 2010