Dear Grandma,

This is Howie's daughter Erinn writing to you. First, and most importantly, I wanted to tell you that I love you very very much. Thank you for being the strong foundation of our family. Thank you for taking care of all of us, your children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, all of their spouses, and my Aunt Hope too. You have the biggest heart of anyone I have ever known. Thank you for all the love you have given us. Thank you for raising all of us to be responsible, independent adults. Thank you for instilling the value of education in each of us. Thank you for being an unfaltering role model, morally, but especially as a woman. Such a beautiful, bright woman who has NEVER been pushed around or held back. You attended college at a time when most girls aspired to be housewives exclusively. You were a star basketball player at a time when women's contact sports were far from the norm. You speak four languages. You touched the lives of countless throughout your career as an educator. You are the type of woman I aspire to be. I treasure every second I have been able to spend with you. Every Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving and the visits in between. Every garage sale, every chocolate cake with lemon icing, every Coca Cola you snuck me behind my mom's back, every story about raising my deviant father or about other adventures in the Murray (or Waters) household. You stood by Grandpa through World War II, and through nearly 70 years of marriage. You have stood by all of us, and you have been there for every single one of us through good times and difficult times. All of us adore you, as did your brother, Frank. His stories about you were filled with admiration and gratitude for the way you took care of and protected him as well. Thank you, Grandma, for putting us, your family, first. Thank you for showing me what a strong woman and a matriarch should be. I am so blessed to have you as a grandma. You are the greatest mother, grandma and great grandma there very was, and I am indescribably thankful to be you granddaughter, and to have had the privilege of growing up with you nearby. I love you so much Grandma.

Love (and lots of hugs and kisses),
Erinn