Count Your Blessings

By Madeline Frank

How many of us ever remember to count our blessings? Do you give thanks for your blessings? How do you remember the people who have helped you, believed in you, and loved you over the years? Do you start the day with a positive attitude remembering the blessings you were given?

Mother’s Day is fast approaching and I am thankful for a wonderful caring mother, grandmother, mother-in-law and Aunt –in-law. Do you give thanks for your blessings? Every year we have special days to remind us to give thanks. We should give thanks every day for our blessings.

My Momma, Romayne Leader Frank arranged her law classes so she would be home when my older brother and I got home from elementary school. She'd have milk and cookies on the dining room table for my brother and I and she would join us with her coffee. We would all study together every day after school. Momma had her law books to study and my brother and I had our homework from elementary school to study. If you had a question Momma would say very softly, "How about opening your book and looking for the answer?"

As a child of 8, I remember thinking that it didn't feel quite so lonely and awful anymore to sit and do our homework because Momma was right there with us doing her homework too. We worked together for three years until Momma finished law school at the top of her class. Momma, Romayne Leader Frank taught us to look for the answers to our problems. She taught us to think for ourselves.

Mary Chernick Leader ,my Grandmother, my Momma's mother,worked as a secretary at the Boroughs Corporation, had a women's stock club where she taught other women how to study companies and invest in the stock market with little money to develop a nest egg. She also helped the Braille Society and sang and played the mandolin in a Mandolin Orchestra. She raised a wonderful daughter my Momma, Romayne Leader Frank, who learned from her patience, kindness, dedication to her family and caring about others.My Grandma Leader enjoyed reading and doing cross word puzzles and had a remarkable vocabulary which she shared with her daughter, my Momma.

When I was a child of 7, I remember Grandma Leader sitting patiently with me encouraging me to read. She had a Hershey’s Chocolate bar and a bottle of Coca-Cola on the table nearby and every page of the book I read to her I would receive the prize of a bite of chocolate and a sip of Coca-Cola. This was a big treat as both Momma and Grandma did not ordinarily let any of us eat candy or soda pop.


My Mother-in-Law, Pearl Neustein Berger was the 6th child out of 8 children born to Regina and Herman Neustein. My Mother-in- law, Pearl raised her two children, ages 5 and 13,when her husband Samuel Berger died of Cancer. She worked hard to provide for her children giving them good moral values ,taught them to study and work hard, and to care about helping others. She had them go to religious services every week. She worked hard to make sure both her children went to college and graduate school.

For many years she worked at B. Altman’s in New York City, a wonderful department store. I remember, shortly after my husband Allan and I were married, my husband had to register for his next semester of graduate school and he could not get off work to go to Barnard Baruch to register. I was working that day too. His Mom, Pearl Berger, had that day off from work and she said she would get him registered at the school. She was always willing to help her children and others. She was one of the most caring and honorable people I have had the pleasure to know. She was five feet one inches tall and to me she was one of the tallest and strongest women I have known because of her caring and commitment to her family, friends and helping others.

Pearl Berger’s sister, my Aunt- in- Law, Helen Neustein was the 7th child of the family. Helen also worked at B.Altman’s Department store in the shoe department. She was a wonderful person with a very big heart raised with the values of honor and respect just like her sister Pearl. My husband, Allan, remembers her playing baseball with him as a child. She was always patient and kind. Helen was also about 5 foot one inch tall but she seemed 6 feet tall because of her caring and commitment to her family, friends, and clients.

What are 3 things you can do to remember the blessings you have been given?

1) Start your day by remembering and writing down your blessings. Think of one person who has made a positive impact on your life and do something nice for them.

2) Honor a special person in your life on a weekly basis by acts of kindness to others.

3)Think of the people who have made a difference in your life and honor them in some way by sharing those blessings with others by acts of kindness.

Remember to start your day by counting your blessings!

What have I learned from my Momma, Romayne Leader Frank, my Grandma Mary Chernick Leader, my Mother-in-Law, Pearl Neustein Berger, and my Aunt-in-Law, Helen Neustein?


1)Be patient and persistent no matter how difficult the problem and keep working to find your solution.

2) Never be overwhelmed by adversity and stick to your course of action to solve the problem.

3) Remember that if we help others we will be helping ourselves at the same time.