My Heritage, Part 1

Our Creator has been especially kind to me regarding my amazing family. My father, Bernie, besides loving me unconditionally as only a good father can, taught me so many important things. One that comes to mind is the lesson of the baby tree. I teach it to my sons and daughter too. We moved many times because Bernie is/was a dreamer and also worked in a field that required moving to advance. Every time we moved, Bernie planted a tree in our new yard. He said this is one way we can make sure that everywhere we go, we leave it a little bit better than the way we found it. So now, I pick up trash even if it isn’t mine and I throw it out. I pick up things that may cause someone to fall, even if it is not my family. My children are showing that they understand this lesson. Michael holds doors for the people that follow us even if I don’t tell him to. Thomas smiles at everyone he meets. Katherine helps others whenever she can.

Dad also taught me about non profit organizations for that is where he worked all his life. Dad is the last member of his generation in his family. His father was an activist. His mother was committed to the Jewish National Fund and women’s suffrage. Bernie’s father was Max. He was a union steward at a Department Store in Brooklyn, New York. His photo is in The World of Our Fathers and in Heritage by Aba Eban. In the photo he is leading a strike of workers of various nationalities. Signs were in English, Italian, Hebrew, and other languages.

One thing that passed on every generation in my family is the belief that all peoples are to be treated equally. My mother, Rose was an artist, a teacher and a friend. She loved to tell stories about the people she met in each day’s adventures. One thing she felt good about was making friends with people from diverse backgrounds. Our children seem to be truly free of prejudice. Daily and more I try to work on eradicating any vestiges of racism and other prejudices within me. With a “nice liberal” girl like me, the stuff looks like arrogance (believing subconsciously that somehow I am better than others) and being “helpful” to people of color without being asked or asking.
My brother Bob, is someone who should go down in history as a truly great man. He is someone you probably haven’t heard of yet he has had a great deal of influence and has done a great deal of good for this world. I’m glad that his children are interested in following in his footsteps. Bob is more than just a college professor and writer. He is a mensch. I’ll write more about him another time. I’m grateful to be his sister and I’m so proud of him.

I am grateful to have cousins, aunts and uncles that also have been good people who are committed to helping making this world a better place. Through fate, I managed to move to Houston in 1982. In Houston I had the blessing of time with my world-changing cousin Mark and his wife Carol. Anybody who knows Mark and Carol knows that they have met two truly beautiful people. I’ve never met more generous, kind, and smart people in my life. Plus, they have two grown daughters who learned well from their parents how to be angels on Earth. (Now, Karen is truly an angel in God’s care. May she rest in peace.) God has truly blessed me with a fabulous family.

When I write and publish my autobiography, it will really be the story of several generations.