Today my Mom would have been 86 years old. If she were still
alive I might not be telling you that, as she was a bit vain about her age. She
was over a year older than my Dad and I think she always wished it were the
other way around. Go figure.
This photo is from her childhood album and was taken on the
roof at 3619 Bedford Avenue. That’s the big red building on the NE corner of
Bedford and Kings Highway. She was 14 years old. After she married my Dad in 1950 they lived there in apartment 3-C with my
Grandmother Marcus and her brother Uncle Irving and their Russian born father "Max." A woman named Mary, and eventually her
husband Mack, also lived there. Mary was the Irish woman who raised my Mom during the 1930's and became a lifelong friend of
my Grandmother's.When Mary and Mack moved to California in the late 1950’s, she
went with them. My Uncle always said that they took the Dodgers with them.
This picture always fascinates me because it shows how much
more mature people seemed to be "back then". Of course the country had just been through the Great Depression, and this photo was taken in the middle of the Second World War which followed it. That might account for part of it. As a matter of fact, that’s my
Uncle Walter’s army cap she’s holding. He was home on leave at the time after basic
training.
Happy Birthday Mom!
You would have been confused by much of what is happening
these days, but also thrilled with some of the other things. Like blogs. You
would have had one; and a Facebook page. Those long distance phone calls from
faraway places would never have been necessary. But I wouldn’t have missed them
for the world. They are how we bridged our divide. Those calls are why when I
miss you I am able to smile. They are why I’m smiling now...
Love always,
Robert
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