Groundhog Day

Today is Marcie’s birthday. She was born February 2, 1927. She would be 89 years old.
We were married on September 12, 1948. We were married 64 years, 5 months and 19 days.
This year Marcie’s Yahrtzeit falls on March 3^rd, according to the Hebrew lunar calendar.
On the evening of March 2^nd, I will light a Yahrtzeit candle and chant El Moleh Rachamim and Kaddish.

Family Matters

The accompanying photos were taken on the Hebrew Orthodox Memorial Society Cemetery, 5820 German Hill Road, Baltimore Maryland 21222 (by Larry, who else?) and are the monuments of family members.

Dora, Chana Leibe and Manye (nee Rissin) were sisters. Manye married Simon Malkin who migrated from the Ukraine in the early 20^th century. He established a hardware store at Pratt and Central Avenue in Baltimore and sponsored Dora and her children. Dora’s husband, Konstantine Golberg     (for whom I am named) owned and operated a bakery in the Ukraine. Early one morning while making deliveries, (remember Tevye, in Fiddler?) a mishap occurred. Konstantine contracted pneumonia and died at an early age. With Manye’s assistance, Dora and her four children came to Baltimore in 1914 and established residence on the third floor of the hardware store. William, age 16 worked in the hardware store and supported the family. Dora begat Sophie, William, Goldie and David.

Manye and Simon begat Phyllis, who married Eli (Ginny) Paul and Sarah married Harry Spritz, a dentist.

Chana Leibe begat two daughters, Sonia and Lizzie.

Sonia married Nathan Janoff and begat Harry, Jesse, Louie, Gloria and Betty. Harry was an Optometrist and married ( I don’t remember who) and moved to Danville, Illinois. Jessee married Ruth Owings, who died young  ( they are both buried on the Beth Jacob Cemetery in Finksburg) and worked in his Father-in-law’s business. Louie was a night club entertainer and constantly moved around. Gloria married Robert Snyder who owned Snyder’s Cleaners on Liberty Road. Betty married Nolan Chipman, a lawyer.

Lizzie married Philip Peril who owned a hardware store in the 4800 block of Park Heights Avenue. She begat Selma, a Registered Nurse and Annabelle, a legal secretary. Selma married Leon Hillman ( who died young) and begat Alan and Barry. Annabelle married Henry Caplan and was childless.
William’s descendants will note that that William’s brother, David died at age 92, Dora, Sophie and Goldie lived into their middle and late 80;s, William died at age 80 and Esther, William’s wife died at 90 years of age, indicating a long-life gene.

Engagements

When I was notified that Natalie and Alex became engaged, I was reminded how Marcie and I became engaged. Marcie was living at home with her parents. Late one Sunday morning I came to her house and went upstairs to her bedroom. She was awake but still in bed. I sat on the side of the bed and said, “Marce, I think that we should get married. What do you think?” She replied, “Okay” and that was that! She was 21 and I was 23. What did we know?!

Appointments

Yesterday I went to the auto dealership to get some maintenance work done. (Of course I had a coupon; two, in fact). When the service writer asked if I had an appointment, I replied, “Son, I’m 90 years old. I don’t make appointments anymore.”

Something Good

A man walks into a Catholic Church and into the confessional. He blurts out, “I had sex with my wife six times yesterday”. The priest says, “ I notice That you are wearing a Star of David. Are you Jewish?” The man replies, ‘Yes, I am.” The priest says, “ You are Jewish and you are in a Catholic Church confessional telling me that you had sex with your wife six times, which is not a sin. Why are you telling me this?’ I HAD to tell someone,” the man replied.

So, if something great or even good happened to you and you want to tell someone, like you started a new job that you love, or you sold a Sherpa, or one of my great grandchildren made the Honor Roll, or you closed the sale of a prime property, send me an e-mail and tell me about it. I love to hear when something good happens to one of my family. IT MAKES MY WHOLE DAY.

It is difficult to determine where to go if you do not know where you have been

One hundred years ago, William Golberg landed at Locust Point in Baltimore, after sailing from Hamburg, Germany. He came with his mother, Dora and three siblings, Sophie, Goldie and David. It was necessary that immigrants be sponsored by someone living in the United States and the Golbergs were sponsored by Simon and Manye Malkin.  Manye was Dora’s sister.

The Malkins had previously immigrated and established a hardware store at Pratt and Central Avenue. William was the man of the Family; his father, Constantine died earlier in the Ukraine. The Golbergs lived on the third floor above the hardware store and William worked in the store to support the family. He was 16 years old; only Sophie was older.

The Malkins were called Uncle Malkin and Tante Manye. Tante is Yiddish for aunt and fetter is Yiddish for uncle. I have no idea why we did not call him Fetter Simon. They had two daughters; Sarah, who was adopted and Phyllis. Sarah married Harry Shpritz, a dentist and had two children, Gloria and Norton. Phyllis married Eli (Ginny) Paul and had one daughter. Ginny Paul was an accomplished softball player and played second base for a world championship team sponsored by Jack Pollack, a political Baltimore 4^th District leader. The hardware store relocated to Liberty Height Avenue and was renamed the Liberty Paint and Hardware. Ginny Paul worked in the hardware store and it existed until his retirement.

William had a house built at 3326 Ingleside Avenue and married Esther Poloway in 1924. Dora and Sophie and Goldie moved in with the newlyweds. William worked for the Independent Lock Company until his retirement in 1963. Kenneth arrived in March, 1925, Ruth in June, 1929 and Marvin Bennett in January 1931.

Birth

I am so excited! I would like to announce the birth of a ………………………………TOMATO!!!!!!!!!!! Three weeks ago, I went to Home Depot and bought two planters, two bags of topsoil and two six inch tomato plants. My Aide, Mariana and I planted them along with some miniature pepper plants that she grew from seeds. The tomato plants are about a foot and a half high. Today she noticed a tomato the size of a marble, had appeared. I have a long way to go to recoup the $67.00 that I spent at Home Depot.