With that, Shayna’s Bubbe, Ruchel turned over and closed her eyes.
“Thank you again for coming,” Bubbe said, her voice a faint whisper. “I’m tired now. Go; come back later if you want. I need to rest.” There was a peaceful smile on Bubbe’s face.
Shayna walked out of the room to find her mother standing right outside the doorway. They walked down to the cafeteria and got cups of coffee then sat at a table in the corner. Shayna looked out the window. It was already dark.
“Were you listening the whole time?” Shayna asked.
“Yes, I was standing outside the door. I heard her story,” Anna said.
“We’ve been here all day,” Anna said. “It’s past dinner time and you haven’t eaten a thing since breakfast. You must be starving.”
“I’m all right,” Shayna said, although she was hungry.
“What can I tell you? It’s a Jewish mother thing. The moment a Jewish mother thinks you might be hungry, she tries to feed you.”
“Yes, I know,” Shayna laughed.
Then her mother laughed too. “My mother, your Bubbe, was a good mother. It was odd when she told her story today. I had never thought of my mother as she had been when she was a young girl. It must be that way for you with me.”
Shayna shrugged her shoulders. “I think every generation feels that way. It’s hard to imagine your parents as young people. Yet you know they were.”
“I suppose that you’re right,” Anna said, sipping her coffee.
“Did you know any of this about Bubbe, Mom?” Shayna asked. “Did Bubbe ever tell you anything at all about her first marriage?”
“Never. She refused to talk about the war when I was a child. And then as I got older, I never pressed her.”
“That man in the picture with Bubbe was Azriel. He was handsome and Bubbe was beautiful. That must be the photograph they took on the night they went to the theater together. Do you remember, she mentioned that night they went to see a play in the Warsaw Ghetto?”
“Yes, I do remember,” Anna said.
“Mom.”
“Yes, Shayna?”
“I think I am going to call Joel when I get back home and tell him that I think I’ve changed my mind. I think I am ready now to have children. I love him. What am I waiting for? He is my best friend. Bubbe is right, the business can go on the back burner. Love is the only thing that really matters. When Bubbe told me her story, all I could think of was wanting to share it with Joel. I want to tell him and our future children the story of my Bubbe, of how strong she was and how she survived the Holocaust.” A tear ran down Shayna’s cheek.
Anna wiped the tear with a paper napkin. “I know it’s selfish but I’ve always wanted you to have a child. I guess every mother wants a grandchild.”
“Let’s go back and tell Bubbe my plans to have a baby, Mom,” Shayna said.
“Yes, let’s. I know she’ll be very happy to hear your decision.”
Mother and daughter walked quietly into Bubbe’s room.
“She might be asleep,” Anna said.
“I know, but I have to tell her,” Shayna said. Then she turned to take Bubbe’s tiny frail hand into her own. It was ice cold. “Mom,” Shayna said, her voice shaking. “I am afraid she’s passed away. She’s freezing.”
“Mama, Mama?” Anna shook Bubbe’s shoulder gently. Bubbe did not respond. “Nurse! We need help,” Anna cried out but she didn’t move away from her mother’s side. “I am afraid that my mother has died.” Anna looked at Shayna with a mask of shock covering her face. “Your Bubbe might be gone,” she said.
Then Shayna heard the faint sound of a bird chirping. It grew louder as the bird perched on the sill outside the window.
“Mom, look. It’s a nightingale,” Shayna said.
“Oh my gosh! I believe that it is. Look at that, Shayna. It’s amazing that the little bird is right outside your Bubbe’s window.”
“Do you think it’s Azriel coming to take Bubbe home with him?”
Anna shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. I don’t know so many things. But I want to believe it,” she said. Three nurses rushed into the room turning on the light. The nurses gently pushed Shayna and her mother aside. One checked Bubbe Ruchel for a pulse. Another listened with a stethoscope for a heartbeat. Then she shook her head. “I’m sorry,” the young pretty nurse said to Anna and Shayna. “She’s gone.”
“Mama! My mother is dead,” Anna said in a whisper. Her voice held shock and disbelief. Then she ran over to the bed and sat down. She took Bubbe Ruchel’s hand in her own and raised it to her lips.
Shayna looked at her grandmother. Bubbe’s face was peaceful. “Goodbye, Bubbe. You’re so right. Love and time are the most precious things in the world,” Shayna said as she took her grandmother’s other hand and held it tightly in her own. Then Shayna went on speaking to her grandmother as if she were still alive. As if she could hear her. “I am so glad I came to see you today. I waited far too long to come home. But I feel blessed that we had this day together. I will always cherish these last few hours I spent with you. And I will never forget your words. I’ll share them with my husband and my future children. Yes, Bubbe I’ve decided that I am going home to tell Joel I love him and I want to have his children. I will tell my loved ones all you said, and I’ll make them understand what matters most in life, as you have made me understand today.” Shayna thought she saw a smile on Bubbe’s face. But how was that possible?
“Did you see that?” Shayna asked her mother.
“You mean Bubbe smiling?”
“You saw it too?”
“I thought I was hallucinating,” Anna said.
“We both saw it. That means Bubbe was here. She smiled at us before she left,” Shayna muttered, putting her arm around her mother. The two women embraced and wept softly. But the little nightingale kept on singing his joyous tune.
The End
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