My Motivation

This is me with my grandmother, Sylvia Zeig.

Who I was, who I am, and who I will become are all thanks to this wonderful woman.

My grandmother, Sylvia Goodman Zeig, has pretty much raised me from birth. She retired from 34 years of teaching to take care of my sister and me. She has lived with me all of my life moving from house to house, making sure that my sister and I grew up to be who we are. When we were kids, she drove us to elementary school, Hebrew school, and middle school. She helped us with our torah portions, even though she didn’t speak any kind of Hebrew. She transliterated our torah portions to help up learn them. She always took care of us and we were always her main priority. “Sky’s the limit," she would say, always wanting to please us. She ALWAYS put her needs aside for the ones she loved.

This woman is my rock, my grandmother, my soul sister, and my clone. Now, I am her living legacy. They always say that when someone passes away, you can almost feel their entity around you. I never got that feeling and the only explanation why is that because she is me and I am here.

She is my life. She is the reason as to why I do anything in life. She is my drive and motivation.

These Games are dedicated to her. I love and miss her more each and every day. I know that she would be so beyond proud that I will be traveling to Israel as well as representing the country I live in.

My grandmother passed away at the age of 92. Gram, I love you forever and a day, always and forever.