Jennie Hurwitz Tabakin and Sherrill Hurwitz on a UJFT mission to Prague and Budapest in 2013.
My mom raised me with help from her mom, my Bubbie, at a time when there were not as many successful single parent households as there are now. She always wanted me to succeed without regard for what I may have been missing in my life and never wanted me to use what I didn’t have as an excuse for failure.
My mom was always a hard worker. I believe she was 12 years old when she started her first job and, in my lifetime, she often worked multiple jobs at once so that she could provide for me. Notably she also worked full time throughout undergraduate and graduate school at Old Dominion, so I guess I would say that she did not accept excuses for herself either.
From her various jobs, she knows people in many different fields and never meets a stranger. My mom can talk to anyone. She used to say that her father said if you dropped Sherrill off in the middle of China, she’d find her way to the emperor. That is one trait that I wish I had more of. She is always very confident and has been unafraid to take on new challenges. Fortunately, this is something that I am already seeing in my children, and I hope they will continue to grow in their confidence.
– Jennie Hurwitz Tabakin