Lucy Toplansky

My mother was born in Vienna, Austria and fled Hitler at age 14 to spend the next nine years in Shanghai. She eventually emigrated to the US around 1947. She was always very strong and basically healthy until her late 60's when the cumulative stress of her life caught up to her. She started feeling weak, had hot flashes and other symptoms, and was eventually diagnosed with MDS. Her other health issues, like back problems, arthritis, etc. exacerbated her condition, and eventually she progressed to transfusions and B12 shots. Through it all, she persevered, even if it meant staying inside all day just to be able to go out for dinner at night. She was an oil painter and produced beautiful works which were displayed in offices and two exhibitions. This artistic expression also came through in the way she dressed and in how she created her aesthetic home environment. I will always miss her, of course, and her cooking, from Weiner schnitzel to hearty soups to cakes. And the residents in various nursing homes will also miss her as their Activities Director to which she was devoted and well loved. She died just short of her 76th birthday and never made it to the 2000's. Strange to be in another century without her.