Aly’s Grandparents ‘Just Thrilled’
Watching your granddaughter perform intricate somersaults and jumps, swinging in the air like a rubber band, landing on the floor from a balance beam after a back jump where her head was only inches away from being hit is not for the faint of heart.
But 71-year-old Susan Faber is simply ecstatic to be Aly Raisman’s savta.
“I’ve always known she was good at gymnastics. I never knew she was this good! I am just thrilled about the whole thing,’’ Faber said in an interview with the Boston Globe.
Faber was watching the all-around women’s gymnastics finals live on her computer, sitting by her twin sister and a dear friend in her hometown of Newton, Mass. Aly, 18, just missed winning an individual bronze medal and finished fourths after helping team U.S.A. win the gold on Tuesday at the London Olympics.
“She’s so smooth under pressure,’’ Faber said. “She seems to inspire them all… She has become a woman I am very proud of.’’
Not far away in Needham, Mass., Marty Raisman, Aly’s paternal grandfather, chose to root in the town auditorium, surrounded by over 400 locals who came together to watch the gymnast perform.
“No matter what … it’s still a great honor,’’ Raisman told the Globe.
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
, editor-in-chiefSupport our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
