Fraeda Parish
What do you remember about Fraeda? Share your stories and photos here, and invite others to come share their memories.
Fraeda Phyllis Aronovitz Parish passed away on Saturday, July 11, 2020. She was a smart, sweet, kind woman with a quiet strength. Born in Rochester, NY, she was the oldest of the four Aronovitz children. Her younger brothers, Gerson, Jerry, and Marty loved their big sister. Fraeda graduated valedictorian at Monroe High School and went on to attend Cornell University. There, she also graduated near the top of her class in Industrial Labor Relations. On a blind date, she met the man she married- Sanford “Bud” Parish. Together they had five children-Jeff, Beth, Rick, Linda, and Bobbi. These five children gave them ten grandchildren-Courtney, Mick, Emily, Becky, Alex, Sam, Nate, Kyle, Eleni, and Lyndsay and two great grandchildren- Harper and Ryann.
Fraeda loved her family most of all and made each child and grandchild feel very special. She also loved the theater, especially musical theater, and went on to get her masters’ degree in theater with an emphasis in directing from Binghamton University. She started a children’s theater group; she also worked in the family travel agency.
Upon moving to Ft.Lauderdale, Fl, she became a realtor. She and Bud owned and operated a title company. After Bud’s death, she went to work for another title company. At age 82, she finally retired and moved to the DC area. She was diagnosed soon after with dementia. The dementia progressed until she was unable to verbalize much and spent a lot of time with her eyes closed. As Covid-19 gripped the nation, the family communicated via zoom or FaceTime. After one such conversation, the children noticed a smile as they began to talk. The following poem came out of that call and sums up how her daughter viewed her mother’s dimentia and will hopefully give others a more hopeful point of view.
What Dream Are You In?
I thought I had accepted that you weren’t there;
Eyes closed tightly, asleep in your chair.
But you heard our voices; we saw a grin .
I couldn’t help wonder, what dream are you in?
Perhaps you exist in a world we don’t know.
Time filled with dreams of days long ago.
How could you be empty after such a full life?
A daughter, a sister, a mother and wife
Perhaps you stay busy just dreaming the past.
All those great memories forever will last.
Are verbal expressions all that we know?
There’s got to be more- deep down, below.
Are you playing with your tea set in your childhood room?
or dancing at your wedding with your handsome groom?
Are you laughing with your father who you loved so dear?
Or with your own children who were always near.
So much to keep you busy, but all from within.
Now I would love to know
What dream are you in?
IF YOU’D LIKE TO MAKE A DONATION TO THE DEMENTIA SOCIETY OF AMERICA, PLEASE SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE AND CLICK ON “in support of dementia society”