Rahel's memories

Some of the earliest memories I have of Nana are the kind that I don't even know whether they're mine or constructed from stories. I remember our surprise visit, not the famous scream-run-dance sequence, but Nana hugging me and Bru and giving us candy. I remember playing on the shaggy carpet and thinking I can swim in it. I remember her brushing my hair, and wrapping us up in matching towels after a shower - or do I just remember that picture? It's hard to tell.

Later on, things become clearer. When I was nine I came to the US allbymyself, and we had a great time together. I went with Nana to aunt Ceil's shop, where she worked at the time, and I was allowed to sit on the counter and help make gift boxes. They taught me how to giftwrap (a very useful skill!) and gave me lots of pretty stickers.
Nana took me to see a real ballet performance, The Nutcracker, in a big old theater in Philadelphia. I was entranced, of course. She got us good seats up front, and thought it was really funny when I looked up in wonder at the people in the balcony and asked why we couldn't sit up there.

We spent time in Nana and Zayde's old apartment in Atlantic City, and went out to bike on the boardwalk in the mornings. We went to swim in the ocean, collected shells and made sand sculptures. When I came back later - I was 18 already, I think - Nana was busy decorating the new apartment in Atlantic City. It was so exciting to go out with her to find just the right table, just the right mirror, or to visit Phyllis to see her making the kitchen mat with the broken egg.

The last time I came before she passed away, we walked together slowly on the beach and looked at what the tide washed up. I remember it as a cool and slightly windy day, and we walked for a while in a comfortable silence. That walk on the beach is still one of my most meaningful and precious memories of Nana.