My maternal grandmother, Lena Krostar Gorbach, was the only grandparent I knew. She was born around 1880 in the Pale of Settlement to parents who had an arranged marriage, as was customary for Jews at that time. Her parents soon divorced; her mother came to...
When I was age eight my maternal grandfather Max, passed away. My grandmother Bessie, known as "Gram", moved into our two-bedroom apartment in a Bronx city housing authority building. She and my grandfather, immigrants from Romania and Russia, came to America in the early 1900's seeking...
When I was a child I had a plan in place “should anything happen to my mom and dad.” It was simple; I’d just go live with my Aunt Betty, my mom’s sister. Clueless as to what plans my folks might have made in that...
[caption id="attachment_1346" align="alignleft" width="300"] Ga-Ga with Lindsay at about 6 months[/caption] My father-in-law, called “GaGa” by his grandchildren, was a well-to-do man by any measure but refused to eat potatoes for his entire adult life—not even a french fry could cross his lips. To him, potatoes...
When my Uncle Myron, known to most as Rabbi Myron M. Fenster, was to visit Baltimore for the annual gathering of the Rabbinical Assembly asked for a favor, I couldn’t say no. He wanted to go to an Orioles game at Camden Yards. What was...
[caption id="attachment_1350" align="alignright" width="294"] Pancoe family photo circa 1933—Earl is in the top row, far right.[/caption] My maternal great uncle Earl was conceived by my grandmother during the Spanish Flu epidemic when my grandmother became sick with the flu. Like many other infants carried to term under...
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