Sam led off with a toast (Domaine Chandon). Sam outdid himself, speaking on a few hours' notice.

He picked up on the theme of Ayshet Hayil, spoke of how Bess welcomed him into the family, and was at once humorous and genuinely touching. He spoke of how when Bobie was alive, the family centered around her. Now that she is gone, Bess has filled her place.

     Next, the Ingall children offered two songs:

Narrator #1: Now is the time of year when the days grow longer and the nights grow cold.
Chorus: But in Florida, not so much.

Narrator #2: And the people of the great nation get together to choose their next leader, in a process that is eminently democratic.
Chorus: But in Florida, not so much.

Narrator #3: And at this time of year, 90 years ago, a wonderful woman came into this world.

Narrator #4: Concurrently with her birthday, we tell the ancient stories of our tribe, and we say "Nes Gadol Hayah Sham"--a great miracle happened there.

Narrator #5: The miracle is this: How could one small teabag last for eight days and eight nights!?

Oh, Bessie Bessie Bessie.
To you we say hooray,
You've made it to age 90,
Please do not say "oy vey!"

Oh, Bessie Bessie Bessie,
From you we nachas shep,
We came to toast your b-day,
It wasn't any shlep.

Ohhhhh.........

WebTV...she's a-clickin'
Technosavvy, she's a chicken,
She emails her flock, she's checking her stock,
Please don't look at Scient, Grandma Bess.

Games of Scrabble, are you playin'?
Against Bess, better be prayin'
She has lists of words beginning with "Q"
She'll wipe the floor with you,
Your ass is kicked at Scrabble by Bess.

At Wolfie Cohen's Rascal House we're noshin'
We get the giant bread basket for free,
Order one poached egg for two small dollars,
Oh what a joyous bargain that'll be!

Later on we'll canoodle,
As we sit by the poo-ool,
Joe Sausage is vicious, Claude sleeps with the fishes,
That's a Golden Bay Towers Wonderland.

Ohhhhhhhh.....

Bessie, Bessie, Bessie
We can't say how much we love ya,
We toast your happy birthday,
You'd make a better president than George Dubya!

Bessie, how we love ya, how we love ya,
Our dear old Bessie,
We'd give the world to fly
To be with you in M-I-A-M I know
That my granny's waitin' for me, savin' for me,
Down in Miami.
She's got a bag of tea
She's used each day...since....1983-Did we say
Thrifty? Don't be
Miffed, we still want
Gifts from
Our dear old Bessie.
You've reached this day with so much class,
At Scrabble you still kick...our...ass!

We came down to Hallandale from far and wide,
So on your 90th we'd be by your side,
Now we'll share a thought a two
To show how much we love you.

From Cape Cod to Boston to Florida we'd drive,
It's a miracle we made it to you alive,
Finding you in a swimcap,
Or doing a lap,
These are a few of our favorite things.

Saving tinfoil, collecting pennies,
The Scrabble Queen,
A good dirty joke or a clean Yiddish phrase,
On you we could always lean.

Waking up in the morning to hot blueberry muffins,
Cinnamon donuts and Lender's bagels,
Introducing us to lobster, knishes too,
These are a few of the things we love about you.

When 5' O'clock came around,
Hors d'oeuvres would abound,
Whiskey sours at all hours,
Fribbles at Friendly's, your candy drawer,
Labelled food in the freezer galore.

Birthday and Chanukah
A check in the mail,
We had to deposit it,
And never fail,
Or else there would be a phone call from you:
"My checkbook's not balanced--what did you do?"

Back-to-school shopping was always a treat,
We would come out it clothes to you in your seat,
Then off to the shore store was never a chore,
Fashion shows for papa were never a bore.

Chasing geese with the broom,
Or the bat in your room,
Sunday calls always came before noon,
Chevy Caprice Classic was the car you drove,
Fasten your seat belts for 90 more years.
 
 

Finally, the Certilman-Hirschtritt children presented a collage they had made.
 

We presented Bess with the family gift, a certificate describing the collection of books on Jewish art to be purchased by the Hebrew College in her name.
 

I'm so glad that the gift you gave me is one of tzedakah. It is the best possible gift that you could give me.

How fortunate I am to have such a loving caring family, not only caring for me, but for each other. My fondest wishes are that after I am gone, you will continue to follow this pattern. Even when or if you have any disagreements, let rancor vanish. Keep your fences mended. As Bobie used to say, "Overlook." That is the best memorial you can leave me.

At first, I resisted your offer to celebrate my birthday, but having you all here, to gaze upon your beautiful glowing faces, has warmed the cockles of my heart. I know that you were right.

May you all have many happy occasions to celebrate together.

May God bless you and keep you.
May His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you.
May His face turn upon you and give you peace.

Sunday morning, we gathered for breakfast. Finally, the Israeli woman delivered: orange juice, bagels (supplemented by a bialy run by Sam), lox, tomatoes, cream cheese, Israeli salad, Greek salad, whitefish salad, and smoked whitefish. We cleaned up and spent the day hanging around. We spent the day hanging around, returning for a pleasant informal supper of leftovers.

  ......

It was a celebration of life, of family, and of a great woman.