Friend, mother, grandmother, mother-in-law

I met Adele Grossman in the summer of 1986 when my then girlfriend, now wife, brought me to her house to meet the parents for the first time.  To this day, I can still remember the look on her face when she came in the door after finding out that my wife and I were engaged.  She was thrilled that she could throw another party.  And what a party she threw.

She was like that.  Generous, kind, loving and very outspoken.  I grew to love her over the years.  I don't think any man could have had a better mother-in-law even if they tried to create the perfect mother-in-law.  


In her 60s, she went back to college to earn her undergraduate degree, graduating from Cal State San Bernardino with a degree in Political Science.  When she went back to school, it spurred me to also go back to school to earn my masters degree.  


She was a reader of books, mostly non-fiction.  Her library at their house is amazing with a large collection of biographies and other assorted non-fiction political type books.  If you wanted to read about United States government, or a person of interest in history, all you had to do was go downstairs at their house and you could find something there.


She doted on her three grandchildren.  I have many favorite photos, but this photo that I'm posting is by far and away my favorite shot of her.  Her health had just started to decline at this point, so she's using her grandson Andy, my middle child for support, which Andy willingly gave.  He was 16 years old at the time, just on the cusp of manhood.  We were on a walk along the shore of Lake Arrowhead and you can see the happiness in both their eyes as they experienced this walk together.


Unfortunately, her health continued to decline and sometime in the early morning hours on Monday, she passed away in her sleep.  She will be missed by all who knew her.  She was a great friend to her husband, a wonderful mother to her two daughters, a loving grandmother to my three children and the best mother-in-law I will ever know.