My 88-years-old grandma found a boyfriend before I did.

 

When my 88-year-old grandmother Hilda found a boyfriend before I did, I was caught between feeling happy for her good fortune and feeling sorry for myself that I had not had such luck in romance. She wrote me an email to share the news of her match and included at the end: “My aunt always said to me every pot finds its covering, and it’s true! I am sure it will happen for you.”

But as the months rolled by, I continued to be single and swiping while Omama was falling lucky in love.

Hilda — affectionately known to our family as Omama (Grandma in German) — had not dated since my grandfather Hershy died 20 years earlier. Omama and Hershy had met at a New Year’s party at UCLA. Omama was finishing her bachelor’s degree and Hershy was working on his PhD in psychology with the help of the GI Bill. She tells a famed story that she knew he was “The One” right away, even though it took six weeks before he finally called to ask her out. She still wears her wedding ring as a tribute to their marriage, which spanned four decades.

He was the love of her life and a testament to their children and grandchildren that a long, happy marriage was possible. They enjoyed running together. Omama’s shelves were decorated with pictures of her and Hershy at the finish line of various Los Angeles races spanning the decades, with wide grins spread across their faces. Omama and Hershy were #lifegoals.
Since Hershy’s death, Omama had spent most of her evenings of late at Torah study or watching “Jeopardy” alone. She grew up in Berlin and managed to escape Nazi Germany on the Kindertransport, an organized rescue effort that brought nearly 10,000 Jewish children to Great Britain in the late 1930s. From there, Omama immigrated to the United States, and her family started a chicken farm in Van Nuys.
She was often called upon to speak at public events about what she’d witnessed in Nazi Germany. In April 2015, the Burbank City Council invited Omama to be honored at City Hall for speaking to middle- and high-school students about her experiences during the Holocaust. They informed her that another honoree would pick her up and drive her to the event.