THE DORCHESTER YEARS

When I was a little girl, my mother and I went to my grandmother's house every Friday night for Shabbos. Those Friday nights are among my earliest memories, going to Boby's house where I knew I would be eating a delicious meal, chicken soup with knaidelach, homemade, chicken, and always some delicious baked dessert. I remember Boby had burn marks on her arms from reaching into the oven and pulling out the baking pan. I loved going there because Boby's rule was "..no yelling allowed". It was an oasis of calm for me. Also, my grandfather, my Zaidy made a deal with me (at age 8 ! ); I wanted to watch Twilight Zone and he wanted to watch the Friday night fights and they were both on at the same time. My Zaidy and I compromised, one week I got to watch Twilight Zone, one week he watched Boxing. One thing I always did was, when my mother and Boby were in the kitchen washing the dishes, I would be in the living room looking at her photograph album, the old fashioned kind, black, with black pages and pictures inserted into the little corners, with a title written in white ink. It was fascinating to me to see pictures of my mother when she was young, a teenager. All the Jewish holidays were celebrated in Boby's house, my aunt Ruth, my cousin Kenny, sometimes, my cousin Barbara and from out of town, I remember Uncle Bob and cousin Ellen visited. When Boby died, everything changed. No more going to her house on Friday nights. The photograph album was taken apart, the pictures scattered, as was the family. I want to recreate the photograph album. I want to put it back together.

On the Jewish holidays, Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippor, we walked to Shul, the Woodrow Avenue shul. I walked up the stairs, entered the vestibule, turned left and walked up the stairs to the women's section in the balcony. There was my grandmother, sitting in the first row and everybody moved over to make room for me to sit next to her. I thought it was the best seat in the house, because 'we were closer to God' and because I had a perfect, unobstructed view of everything going on downstairs, better than the men downstairs sitting in the middle or the back of the prayer hall.