A food giveaway held in honor of Pearl Young last month on Leroy Avenue spoke volumes of her giving side. She wouldn’t have been a spectator said her grandson Jeremiah Young.
“To be honest my grandmother wouldn’t just be watching anyways, she would be helping everybody else," he said.
Candyce Young said she and grandmother were close and shared the same birthday, spending it together every year.
“She was that grandma that every time I went over she always had something ‘are you hungry?’ even if I wasn’t hungry she was feeding me. She was very caring and loving and I miss her,” she said.
Pearl Young not only fed the community and her family but was known to make Ambrosia salad, a dish that she perfected.
“I don't even think that I really heard of other people really making it. She’s the reason why I knew about Ambrosia. Every holiday it was like, ‘Grandma you making Ambrosia? OK, thank you.' She used to make sure I’d have my own cut put to the side. That was the best," Candyce said.
“The first time I ever had Ambrosia and it's honestly the only time I've eaten Ambrosia was from my grandmother because I've tried it before from somebody else and it just wasn't the same," Jeremiah said.
She made it with love, for sure," he added.
With the one year remembrance of May 14 having fell on the same day as Mother’s Day this year her son Damon Young said that he couldn’t help but feel sad.
“I want to be careful that I don’t re-drown myself. I was in a bad place last year. Bad. Mentally, physically and so I know my mom wouldn’t want just distraught and broken down," he said.
Jeremiah said seeing so many people at the food giveaway last month would have made his grandmother smile.
“I know she would be feeling good just helping everybody because that’s all she wanted to do," he said.
“My grandmother left a legacy.”