Baba

My grandmother passed away 30 days ago, about 3 months before her 90th birthday. She was my last grandparent alive. Her passing away was the end of a generation. My Grandparents, My parents’ parents have left this world and we are now on our own. This transition that happens inevitably in one’s life at some point is very sad and significant. My childhood was filled with happy memories from my grandparents, watching them get older and weaker is not easy and puts in front of you the fact that life will come to an end so you should make the most out of it, for yourself and for the people you care about.

My grandmother was a well known Chemistry professor in the Soviet Union with important contributions in the field of Organic Chemistry. She was also a wife, a mother, and a grandmother. She was good at everything she did, she dedicated her life to both science and her family, and she did it with passion, love and care, always.

Although she wasn’t well in her last months, her passing away, which luckily was peaceful I was told, was a shock to me. I saw her last in May 2019 as she lived in Israel and I live in London. I was hoping to see her one last time later this (2020) year, however this didn’t happen. I was able to video call a few weeks before she passed away with my dad visiting her daily in the hospital. She did recognize me, I was told she was forgetting things and people, and was happy to see me and hear my voice as she always was. She always said she wanted to live at least till the day I get married and have children, unfortunately she will not see that day, but I am happy she was able to see me graduate with a PhD, just as my dad and she did before, she was very proud.

With her passing away, I contemplated on what makes a human being: their memories, feeling, thoughts and dreams. These are all held in the electro-chemical connections between the neurons in the brain in a unique way, unique to that specific person, their experiences, and memories. These connections morph and adjust with every experience, feeling and thought throughout their lives. Then, all of a sudden, all disappears at once, the brain shuts down, all the connections disappear, and with them all the memories, feelings and thoughts she ever had. And yet, she continues to be in our minds and memories, as if those connections were partially transferred to us and are kept in our brains, in our own unique ways, until we will die as well one day.

Thank you baba for everything you’ve done for our family and for me, I will always remember and love you.