1. She was born in New York City and raised by her stepfather (Zaide Sol to us!) after her father died.
2. She found her half brother through an article in Good Housekeeping magazine.
3. One of her favorite movies was Seems Like Old Times with Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase. She often quoted the line "She's not outside eating chicken, that's for sure!" You have to watch the movie to understand, but, trust me, it's funny!
4. When we "ran into" Michael Jackson in Las Vegas, my mom was the one who saw him first and set our adventure in motion.
5. My mom was married to my dad, Ed Bookstaff for 47 years!
6. She loved dogs and would have LOVED that I got a service dog!
7. She liked shopping at TJ Maxx so much that it was in her eulogy!
8. Also from her eulogy: "Annie was to purses what Jackie O was to sunglasses." (eulogy written and delivered by my brother- in-law Larry Kaye)
9. She was a real estate agent. When one of her clients first moved into their new home and had a delay in water service, she had bottled water delivered immediately!
10. She loved elephants.
11. She liked to drink margaritas!
12. She treasured our yearly family reunions--she wouldn't take no for an answer!
13. Sedona, Arizona was one of her favorite places to visit.
14. She liked fast cars; her dream was to fly on the Concorde...when it still existed!
15. She always wanted to go into space.
16. She loved to play golf. When she hit a good putt, she would say "even a blind chicken gets good sometimes"..... Cracked us all up!
17. She used to bring our grandma's 7 up and bananas home from the nursing home so they wouldn't be wasted... Even though nobody really liked 7 up and bananas!
18. She loved watching the Lipizzaner Stallion shows.
19. Her mother had 8 siblings, but she was an only child.
20. She had 4 children, and 11 grand children.
21. She unselfishly encouraged each of us to follow our dreams, even though our dreams took us away from our hometown.
22. She drove across the country several times to help each of us start our adult lives in new towns.
We love you mom! We think of you often and you will always be with us!
