Category Archives: family stories

Lockdown 1942, Lockdown 2020

Posted on April 9, 2020 by

For me, the current lockdown is a vivid reminder of the two years I spent as a “hidden child” in Belgium during World War II. Actually, I was neither a child nor confined to my quarters like that other, very … Continue reading →

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Raising a Gay Child Before Stonewall

Posted on June 26, 2019 by

I regret to say that I barely remember the riots at Stonewall, the bar in Greenwich Village where on June 26, 1969, a group of gay patrons successfully resisted harassment by the New York City police. The event would play … Continue reading →

Posted in family stories, politics | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

My Guardian Angel

Posted on March 27, 2019 by

I have a guardian angel. I think he is male, though you could not tell by looking at him. He has golden wings and wears a plain white gown. He does not concern himself with politics or other important things, … Continue reading →

Posted in family stories | 4 Comments

Three Family Bar Mitzvahs

Posted on February 19, 2019 by

To the memory of David Loebl (1956-1993) on his 63rd birthday and the 50th anniversary of his bar mitzvah. I was eight years old when my mother and I attended the bar mitzvah of my cousin Ernst Wertheimer (later Worth). … Continue reading →

Posted in family stories | 5 Comments

The Disastrous Consequences of Separating Parents and Children

Posted on July 9, 2018 by

More than fifty years ago, my three-year-old son David and I went grocery shopping in our smallish neighborhood supermarket. I concentrated on the week’s bargains while he immersed himself in the comics rack. Suddenly I felt a small hand tugging … Continue reading →

Posted in family stories, history, politics | 2 Comments

At Home on Echo Lake

Posted on October 1, 2017 by

For the past half-century, my husband of 67 years and I have spent our summers on Echo Lake in Somesville, Maine. This year we wondered whether we would make it. My spouse is not well, and I too have medical … Continue reading →

Posted in family stories | 10 Comments

An Announcement

Posted on June 2, 2017 by

As many readers of this blog know, I have written two memoirs. One of them, At the Mercy of Strangers: Growing Up on the Edge of the Holocaust, is an account of my experience as a hidden Jewish teenager during World War … Continue reading →

Posted in family stories, history | 1 Comment