Dec. 22, 2001 - 16:12 MST

THE WONDERING JEW

Way Back

Some months ago I wrote about the passing of a man who was almost 100 years old. A man who in my early childhood I thought was my Uncle. The fact that he was Jewish led me to believe I was also - at least 1/4 and the girls I thought were my cousins. In my heart he will always be my Uncle. Chuckle, late in my life I found out I was half Jewish on my Dad's side, so its in the blood, no?

At his memorial service last year I met his two oldest daughters who I had known when I was a little kidlet. It was a poignant thing, the three of us old folk talking together and seeing each other as we had been in our early memories. The oldest girl, lady now, is my age and the other is a year or so younger.

The last I had seen them was when I was a teen ager and my parents and their parents met about half way up the Rampart Range Road between Colorado Springs where they lived and Denver where we lived, for an all day picnic.

As my Dad and Mom both worked at the Western Union and their Dad also worked there I would hear about the girls from Mom and Dad. Of course during the war we lost track of each other. That family of five girls spread themselves across the United States and were hard for Dad to keep track of. And then Heather and I went off to Illinois and then for ten years in Florida.

Not too long after we moved back to Denver, Heather and I visited with the girl's Dad and Mom and kept track of each other pretty well. but heard little of the girls. I had talked to their Dad not too long before his death and we were trying to find a date we could go visit. He never let out a peep about the condition of his health to me.

All his girls were at his memorial service, two of them I remembered cuddling them when they were babies.

I found out that my Dad had kept their family informed about me and in turn they told the ladies about me.

Within the confines of a memorial service we did get to chat a bit, exchanged addresses and so forth.

Recently the oldest girl, Shirley began writing me. The exchange of letters between us is the dovetailing of our lives. Just recently she told me she was e-mail able and gave me her addy. It will be a busy time between us, happily so.

You know, we go Way Back . . . . . . .

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