Saturday, February 25, 2023
For those who don’t know me, I am Cindy Chazotte, Merrily’s sister. They say that sisters have a special relationship that spans a whole life time. It is true, my longest-lived relationship was with Merrily. I have about 70 years’ worth of memories of her. But since we don’t have a time for all of them, I decided on sharing only 2 that were important to both of us. They will give a glimpse into who Merrily was.
The first was a recent one. It was our trips to NYC to watch Jenn run the NYC Marathon. Some of you may have seen the picture I posted on Facebook of the 2 of us. Our faces lit with smiles and enthusiasm for her daughter, Jenn. We carb loaded with Jenn the night before the marathon at an Italian restaurant near our hotel. This was not a sacrifice on our part. We smiled and laughed as we traipsed through the boroughs to cheer Jenn on as she ran. On the last marathon trip, subways became Ubers as Merrily’s health was declining and she was using a walker. But her spirit never flagged. It was difficult for her as I remember having her sit on her walker as I pushed her from the Grand Stand at the Central Park finish line to a street where we could get an Uber back to the hotel. The celebratory dinner was at a restaurant across the street, chosen for location, not the sports bar from the year before. It didn’t matter to any of us. Jenn was the light of her life, anything for her. Being together was more important than anything else.
My second memory, started early in our lives. We shared a bedroom while growing up together in Jericho. For as long as I remember on Christmas Eve, we stood on our beds looking out our respective windows looking for Santa. And every year Merrily would say “Did you see him? Come quick.” I would race across the room only to hear her say, “Oh, you just missed him.” This tradition lasted her lifetime. I checked my texts on December 24 this past year – she wrote “Better check the night sky.” The next text from her on Christmas Day was “Did you see him?”
Now every Christmas Eve, I will be checking the night sky, no longer for Santa but for my sister, Merrily.
