Nancy Perry Graham EDITOR
My Friend Fern
Normally you don’t become best buds with your real
estate agent. They are nice enough people. But sometimes
you wonder: Do they love me only for my commission?
I never wondered that about Fern Greenberg.
Back in the summer of 2000, my family and I moved
from California to New Jersey. Long trip, young child,
new job, tight budget, not much time to find a house.
Lots of stress.
Then Fern entered the picture. Dressed in a bright suit
and fun jewelry—always—with a big smile and a bigger
heart, she had endless energy and a can-do attitude you
knew better than to mess with. I loved Fern on sight. I
loved that she found a beautiful, affordable Tudor house
for us in about 48 hours. I loved that everything struck
her as funny—including when my toddler set off our new
home’s monstrously loud security alarm, putting the entire
neighborhood on full alert: “INTRUSION! INTRUSION!”
The longer the warning blared, the harder Fern laughed.
When you met her, says her husband, Ed, “you wanted
to be with her some more.”
On March 12, 2009, Fern suffered a fatal asthma attack
that took her from us at the way-too-young age of 53.
As the holidays approach (she threw a mean Halloween
costume party), I miss my friend Fern.
HAPPY DAYS The four children—from left: Jalesa,
Neil (held by Fern), Kenneth, and Chaz—miss their
mom but are “plugging along,” says their dad.
Since winning our Most Heroic
Pet Contest, Magic has served
in the Make-A-Wish program,
gotten global news coverage,
and written her first kids’ book,
due in October. Okay, she had
help writing it, but still. Proceeds go to children’s charities.
Read more at aarp.org/magic.
A MAGIC LIFE
And I worry about the family of five she left behind. At
71, Ed, a former pharmacist with advanced diabetes (legal
troubles and disability forced his early retirement), is doing his best to put all four of their kids through college at
once, with his Social Security check and some financial aid.
Those remarkable children are Fern’s lasting legacy:
Kenneth and Chaz, who will soon be 21; Jalesa, 19; and Neil,
who will be 19 in October. Two sets of twins—kind of. Fern
gave birth to Kenneth first. Shortly after, she and Ed adopted Chaz, a girl with an artistic flair, who was born with
three fingers fused and an extra finger on her thumb. True
to her mom’s spirit, Chaz never allowed this unique challenge to hold her back. A couple of years later, on the day
that Fern delivered Neil, a social worker dropped off baby
Jalesa—Chaz’s biological half sister—with the Greenbergs.
They’ve had custodial rights to Jalesa ever since. A typically
atypical American family—and a joyful one.
The holidays are a good time to remember—and to
celebrate—the lives of the special people who are no
longer with us. Special people like my friend Fern.
CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEFT: ART STREIBER; COURTESY OF THE GREENBERG FAMILY; JENNIFER ANFINSEN
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and your lives at aarp.org/magtalk.
