29 Comments
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Danielle Fried's avatar

Capturing all the right things, as usual. Thank you for bringing grandma and grandpa to life in your stories. Nostalgia at its best.

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Debra Fried's avatar

Thank you, my love. xx

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Roberta Bowman's avatar

Oh Debra! Just beautiful. Sending love and caring thoughts to you and your family. Of one thing I’m completely certain: you are your mother’s daughter.

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Debra Fried's avatar

Roberta! What a lovely thing to say. No compliment could mean more to me. xx

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Marcia Longman's avatar

George said it best: “A lifetime of love in 500 words.”

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Patti McConnell's avatar

Up to the sky. xoxox

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Debra Fried's avatar

Patti - your support is one of the things that keeps me writing these essays. I can't thank you enough. xx

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George Tannenbaum's avatar

Just wow.

A lifetime of love in 500 words.

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Kathy Lu's avatar

What George said. Thank you for sharing your story.

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Debra Fried's avatar

Thank you for reading it, Kathy.

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Debra Fried's avatar

Well, I wish I were capable of being that concise... but I get the point and love you for making it. Thank you, George. xx

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Karen Brodman's avatar

A whirlwind of emotions and memories as we watch our dear mother fight for life at the end. So beautifully written. Thank you, Deb.

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Debra Fried's avatar

That means so much to me... hardest time I've ever had writing one of these, and I wanted to get it right for her and for us. xx

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Susan Roman's avatar

Simply beautiful.

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Teresa's avatar

Oh oh oh you have transported me back to Lake Ripley trips with my mom, Felice Freeman Lenz and bestie Penny Markgraff, the blue Chevy wagon loaded with kids and inflatables, the picnic lunch and waiting an hour before jumping back into the drink, the Fried’s and the Bergs were on a beach blanket somewhere nearby, I am sure. I love your mom, her technicolor swimsuit, the smell of salt and zinc and gel, your sweet little four year old panic, the joyful rescue. I miss you, I miss your mom, I miss mine, too. For all the feels all the time, thank you dearest Debbie for sharing your writing gift with us.

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Debra Fried's avatar

You so get me and you so get moms and you so get love. Thank you, my darling. xx

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Jessica Latour Isler's avatar

So so beautiful.

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Debra Fried's avatar

Thank you, Jessica!

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Ruth Shaw's avatar

This vignette speaks volumes about love and loss. Thank you.

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Debra Fried's avatar

Thank you so much, Ruth.

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david cohen's avatar

with tears…..so beautiful….such love…

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Debra Fried's avatar

With love back to you, David. Thank you.

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Lutheran Liar's avatar

Wow. Just…wow.

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Debra Fried's avatar

A "just wow" from you is all I need! Thank you, Alice!

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Ken Meyer's avatar

Beautifully told.

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Debra Fried's avatar

Tess. I remember when you were in this space with Rita. You were so there with her and I could feel your pain and love for her in your words in all the time. Thank you for saying such incredible things - especially today - nothing could have touched me more. Happy Mother's Day, my dear friend. I love you right back.

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Tess's avatar

I’m reading this.. right now.. on the dawn of not just any day….Mother’s Day.

This has to be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever read. I feel every single moment of it.. right down to the space between. The lost. You.. my love are a beautiful writer.. a beautiful friend… and a beautiful daughter. Stay in this space with her. I love you so much. 🩵

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Caroline's avatar

Well you really need to send this to The New Yorker. Or The New York Times. And do it now.

The perfect capture of that unforgettable existential panic as a tiny child totally lost and vulnerable. Of your whole world gone, eclipsed. The feeling of seeing your mother again — and therefore the whole and only world you know, reappear.

And then the process at the end. Of wanting to sit next to and just breathe with your mother — to hold onto that world - until she decides — no more.

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Debra Fried's avatar

Caroline, I can't say thank you enough. You brought me to tears. I'm sitting with her now. Breathing. And taking solace in what you said. Thank you.

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