Below, I've copied the email exchange in which Aunt Risa answers my questions about her father:
On 3/28/2014 12:41 PM, Annie wrote:
Hi Aunt Risa,
Though we've all been very sad, it felt good to hold you close.
Will's psa test is next week, [last week] and although we have reason for concern, I've decided to feel hopeful until we learn the results. As soon as I know, I'll let you know, too.
As to my questions about Grandpa Yacob:
I'm wondering what your father did to support himself after leaving Poland to start his new life in the Midwest before your mother and my dad sailed across the ocean to join him.
Also, when all of you'd left Palestine, do you have any recollection of Grandpa selling anything? I mean, how did he book passage for five when money was so tight?
Warmest hugs, every day,
Annie
Dear Annie
I can't be of much help with your questions. I don't know what my dad did before my mom and Jack came to the states, other than joining the U. S. army. After they arrived I know my dad tried to learn several trades, but the only one I remember hearing about was that he was taking lessons to be a draftsmen, but quit when he found that his 7 year old son was doing better than he. Dad eventually became a house painter until he fell off a scaffold. Then he and Grandma bought a delicatessen store just before the depression hit. Later, when repeal came through they built a bar in their store and took in liquor.
As for your second question, I don't think he sold anything when we left Palestine. I think he had shipped a stove and refrigerator and radio from the U. S. to Palestine, which were placed into storage when we left. As far as I know, he never paid any storage fees and lost whatever he had left behind and I don't think he ever inquired as to what happened to the stuff. I'm sorry I can't be of more help to you. I'm hoping to hear a good report on Will. I send you both my love. Aunt Risa
So, there you have it.
Just as history plays a more vital role in shaping our lives than we might think at first glance, here is how memory plays a vital role in shaping our future, as well:
Memory tends to play havoc with the way details are remembered or forgotten, most especially when more than one version of a family story is passed down from generation to generation. Over time, memory tends to reshape historical fact into so much fiction, based in hearsay, that eventually, listeners, who choose to believe one story teller over another, may pass down, yet, a third or fourth version of a 'true' story, when in truth, fabrication, which we tend to believe, is often dependent upon how we feel about the person who proves most convincing. So, when details are missing or just don't make sense, I ask lots of questions in hopes of discerning whether a story teller's perceptions are white washing the traits of one character while darkening the hard earned traits of another. Though perception may be a person's reality, that does not mean perception equates with facts as they actually took place.
As the human mind proves emotionally impressionable, I listen with attention to accuracy for this reason: I've witnessed story tellers switch lenses from rose colored to darkly tinted reflections more quickly than the head of a listener can be spun this way or that; you know what I mean ... as is done in a court of law, when one attorney proves so convincing as to win favor with judge and jury, suggesting that miscarriage of justice may take place more often than smart, compassionate folk would care to know.
Though speculation remains open, concerning how Grandpa paid passage for five upon departing from the holy land, Aunt Risa was able to clarify this: Upon leaving Poland under cover of night, my grandpa, Yacob, earned his keep in the new world by joining an army that valued him as a person worthy of returning to his family regardless of his religious affiliation—suggesting that a coward he most certainly was not. And in addition to being a scholar with a passion for education, Grandpa's mind must have been inventive, because how else might a man, who did not have two nickels to rub together, pay passage for a family to voyage across the ocean not once, not twice, but three times ... or are we giving Grandpa too much credit for creativity and Grandma not enough? I mean, back in the day, history suggests that the little woman be seen but not heard ... when she and the king of the castle were in 'clear' view of the public eye ... and thus do details concerning each person's character traits prove vital in order to relate true stories of family life without spinning false tales about character traits.
Perhaps this post points to why I embrace such a deep respect for the power of words. Perhaps this post points to times when my hard earned character traits have been misrepresented, suggesting my need to develop and deliver a 'voice' with as much grace, dignity, self respect and compassion for human vulnerability as possible … I mean, if I don't speak my piece with clarity after another has spoken falsely, my mind grows restless with injustice. And now you know why I choose to spend time in the company of true friends, who know me as well as I've worked to know myself, friends such as Socrates (Know Thyself) and The Bard ('What tangled webs we mortals weave when intending to deceive.')
As to those times when mental unrest awakens me in the still of the night, I pick up my trusty iPad and write until my mind, empowered by insight into self respect and self control, calms frustration down instead of spreading tales of naysayers, all around town.
In case you're wondering if this proved one of those nights, I'd reply, yes. And now that my think tank has offered itself reason to reclaim a hard earned sense of peaceful repose, I'll recharge my iPad and my think tank by catching a few winks of sleep, because, I've been writing for over an hour, and for heaven sake, it's not even 6AM …
When I'm rested, we'll watch Jack's sweetheart, Jennie grow from a shy lass into a woman whose fertile bloom draws my father's eye to her side.
PS
I'm confused
I look at stats, daily, to see which posts are being read
For some reason, post 981, published on April 7th
(Describing Will's Grandma Ivy's bathtub brew)
Has not turned up in stats
And having no clue as to why that's true ...
Guess I have no choice other than to
Chalk that up as one of life's little mysteries ...
On 3/28/2014 12:41 PM, Annie wrote:
Hi Aunt Risa,
Though we've all been very sad, it felt good to hold you close.
Will's psa test is next week, [last week] and although we have reason for concern, I've decided to feel hopeful until we learn the results. As soon as I know, I'll let you know, too.
As to my questions about Grandpa Yacob:
I'm wondering what your father did to support himself after leaving Poland to start his new life in the Midwest before your mother and my dad sailed across the ocean to join him.
Also, when all of you'd left Palestine, do you have any recollection of Grandpa selling anything? I mean, how did he book passage for five when money was so tight?
Warmest hugs, every day,
Annie
Dear Annie
I can't be of much help with your questions. I don't know what my dad did before my mom and Jack came to the states, other than joining the U. S. army. After they arrived I know my dad tried to learn several trades, but the only one I remember hearing about was that he was taking lessons to be a draftsmen, but quit when he found that his 7 year old son was doing better than he. Dad eventually became a house painter until he fell off a scaffold. Then he and Grandma bought a delicatessen store just before the depression hit. Later, when repeal came through they built a bar in their store and took in liquor.
As for your second question, I don't think he sold anything when we left Palestine. I think he had shipped a stove and refrigerator and radio from the U. S. to Palestine, which were placed into storage when we left. As far as I know, he never paid any storage fees and lost whatever he had left behind and I don't think he ever inquired as to what happened to the stuff. I'm sorry I can't be of more help to you. I'm hoping to hear a good report on Will. I send you both my love. Aunt Risa
So, there you have it.
Just as history plays a more vital role in shaping our lives than we might think at first glance, here is how memory plays a vital role in shaping our future, as well:
Memory tends to play havoc with the way details are remembered or forgotten, most especially when more than one version of a family story is passed down from generation to generation. Over time, memory tends to reshape historical fact into so much fiction, based in hearsay, that eventually, listeners, who choose to believe one story teller over another, may pass down, yet, a third or fourth version of a 'true' story, when in truth, fabrication, which we tend to believe, is often dependent upon how we feel about the person who proves most convincing. So, when details are missing or just don't make sense, I ask lots of questions in hopes of discerning whether a story teller's perceptions are white washing the traits of one character while darkening the hard earned traits of another. Though perception may be a person's reality, that does not mean perception equates with facts as they actually took place.
As the human mind proves emotionally impressionable, I listen with attention to accuracy for this reason: I've witnessed story tellers switch lenses from rose colored to darkly tinted reflections more quickly than the head of a listener can be spun this way or that; you know what I mean ... as is done in a court of law, when one attorney proves so convincing as to win favor with judge and jury, suggesting that miscarriage of justice may take place more often than smart, compassionate folk would care to know.
Though speculation remains open, concerning how Grandpa paid passage for five upon departing from the holy land, Aunt Risa was able to clarify this: Upon leaving Poland under cover of night, my grandpa, Yacob, earned his keep in the new world by joining an army that valued him as a person worthy of returning to his family regardless of his religious affiliation—suggesting that a coward he most certainly was not. And in addition to being a scholar with a passion for education, Grandpa's mind must have been inventive, because how else might a man, who did not have two nickels to rub together, pay passage for a family to voyage across the ocean not once, not twice, but three times ... or are we giving Grandpa too much credit for creativity and Grandma not enough? I mean, back in the day, history suggests that the little woman be seen but not heard ... when she and the king of the castle were in 'clear' view of the public eye ... and thus do details concerning each person's character traits prove vital in order to relate true stories of family life without spinning false tales about character traits.
Perhaps this post points to why I embrace such a deep respect for the power of words. Perhaps this post points to times when my hard earned character traits have been misrepresented, suggesting my need to develop and deliver a 'voice' with as much grace, dignity, self respect and compassion for human vulnerability as possible … I mean, if I don't speak my piece with clarity after another has spoken falsely, my mind grows restless with injustice. And now you know why I choose to spend time in the company of true friends, who know me as well as I've worked to know myself, friends such as Socrates (Know Thyself) and The Bard ('What tangled webs we mortals weave when intending to deceive.')
As to those times when mental unrest awakens me in the still of the night, I pick up my trusty iPad and write until my mind, empowered by insight into self respect and self control, calms frustration down instead of spreading tales of naysayers, all around town.
In case you're wondering if this proved one of those nights, I'd reply, yes. And now that my think tank has offered itself reason to reclaim a hard earned sense of peaceful repose, I'll recharge my iPad and my think tank by catching a few winks of sleep, because, I've been writing for over an hour, and for heaven sake, it's not even 6AM …
When I'm rested, we'll watch Jack's sweetheart, Jennie grow from a shy lass into a woman whose fertile bloom draws my father's eye to her side.
PS
I'm confused
I look at stats, daily, to see which posts are being read
For some reason, post 981, published on April 7th
(Describing Will's Grandma Ivy's bathtub brew)
Has not turned up in stats
And having no clue as to why that's true ...
Guess I have no choice other than to
Chalk that up as one of life's little mysteries ...
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