Thursday, May 29, 2014
If Marie Barone had red hair, was a better cook, and took better care of her family, then Grandma would have spent the last 20 years collecting royalties from the producers of “Everybody Loves Raymond.”
Mary Garofalo was a force of nature. She was the type of person who would throw herself onto the hood of a moving car to stop her daughter from dating a guy just because he was divorced. Or show up at your house at 5pm with a chicken parm dinner in corningware that she cooked “just in case anyone wants it.” Or insist you come in from shoveling snow because you looked like you could use an ice cream soda.
Grandma could mass-produce gallons of chicken soup on any given Sunday.
For almost her entire life, Grandma was a mom. First to her four sisters and baby brother while my great-grandmother was working, then to her children, and again to her grandchildren. Looking back, it’s no surprise that Grandma raised a doctor and a nurse – she was always taking care of other people.
Grandma was our rock. She was the first person anybody would call whenever something was wrong or someone got sick because she was unshakeable. She never panicked, never got upset, and never caved under pressure. She would just stay strong and take care of us for as long as it took us to catch up to her strength.
We love you and miss you Grandma. Rest in peace.
