Elisha Lyn Frank

Elisha was born Elisha Lyn Cohen on November 10th in Tampa, Florida. She grew up with her younger brother Michael, father Mark, and mother, Patti. Patti says they were both rather quiet children … not at all like herself! Elisha’s service to the community started young, as a little girl she was a proud member of the Girl Scouts. She was an all-around excellent student and all of her teachers loved her! In ninth grade she began attending Tampa Preparatory School. College was certainly in her future! Her first year of undergraduate studies was in New York at Barnard, an all-girls school across from Columbia. It was there that she met one of her lifelong friends. She left New York after that year to enroll in and complete her law degree at The University of Florida. It wasn’t long before she rushed and became a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and a Little Sister of the Theta Chi fraternity. In law school, students were put into groups according to the alphabet. Elisha’s group, the C group, thought of themselves as the Center of the Universe. The girls of the group became known as the “hens” and they were the social club of law school. While at UF she met Paul. They moved to Miami after college for work and married in 1997. Kyle was born in 1998 and sadly, after a long illness, Paul passed shortly thereafter. Kyle was welcomed into a large, loving family and he was happy to be one of the 72 Anagnostis cousins! Elisha and Kyle lived in an apartment in Miami before moving to Miami Shores. Elisha would pick him up from school every afternoon. Fridays became extra special for Kyle, as it was tradition to stop for ice cream after school. What a treat! Kyle also remembers her as a great batting coach. She taught him never to stand behind a batter. Unfortunately, he was in fact standing behind her during the lesson and still bears the scars. The love story begins… While Elisha and Kyle were still living in Miami Shores, it just so happened that strangers Mike and Elisha were out with separate groups of friends enjoying an evening at an Ale House. Their tables were next to each other. The shots started flowing at the girls table and it didn’t take long before the guys wanted to join! After chatting about the upcoming Dolphins game, the stage was set. Mike surprised Elisha by showing up at her tailgate party the next day. After that, they were inseparable. Harrison recalls being upset that he wasn’t at that game with Mike … but in hindsight he knows Mike and Elisha were meant to be together. Mike introduced Elisha to the Frank’s at a family dinner. When someone reached across the table to taste Elisha’s food, she commented, “I can definitely get along with this family!” Anyone that knew Elisha knew that she loved to eat! They dated for a long five months before Elisha asked Mike for his hand in marriage on Lincoln Road in Miami. She told him she knew he was the one and that she had dated too many frogs! Carter recalls that day saying, “she was so very pretty and forever my life was changed.” They had a beautiful wedding in Coconut Grove on March 18, 2006. Harrison and Carter gained a bonus Mom and Kyle’s wish for brothers came true. The Mike and Elisha Frank family adventure began. The new family hit all of the fun spots. The trips included snow skiing, cruising, and Disney World just to name a few. Their very favorite vacation spot was in Lake Placid every Father’s Day weekend. Mike, Elisha, Harrison, Carter and Kyle Frank became a legal family when Mike formally adopted Kyle. What a lucky kid to grow up having two large loving families! So many cousins it’s hard to count! Elisha’s loves…. Elisha loved the game of golf. Every Sunday, for the past eight years she shared a golf cart with Mike’s dad, Fritz. They talked about everything: life, love, children, and family. Fritz will never forget her words of encouragement and his golf game is better because of her. Pickleball was a new favorite pastime of Elisha’s. She played three or four times a week with the Plantation group. After many games on Mondays, they would go to Smokey Bones for wings. One of Elisha’s favorites. The water called her name. She loved going out on family’s boats and trips to The Salty Snapper. The lobster knew to watch out when Elisha was on the hunt. She holds the family record for the biggest catch. Family Game night was always so much fun. More often than not, it was initiated by Elisha. She enjoyed her Friday nights seated around the card table telling stories and laughing all while the Prosecco flowed. She was our designated score keeper. Elisha was always there for anyone in need, always wrote beautiful thank you notes and other notes of encouragement, found thoughtful gifts for loved ones, attended events anyone asked her to attend, and always made herself available to speak when needed. And she did it all with a beautiful smile on her face. She always shared her love. Her life was filled with love like no other. In the words of her boys, “…she was the best mom ever…” and in the words of her loving husband, “…she was my best friend…” Her love will be with us forever. To be continued… Keep her story going. Please share your memories below.