Four Great Grandparents

Here are four great grandparents, my grandmothers’ mothers and fathers, all of whom crossed an ocean before the age of thirty to flee oppression and likely annihilation and start life all over again in a strange new place.

On the left are Dan Pomoranz and Tillie Weiner, parents of my father’s mother. You’ll meet them in Part Seven of Pintele, and from Tillie you will learn a Yinglish phrase you’ll remember for the rest of your life.

On the right are Jennie Axelrod and Simon Ragovin, parents of my mother’s mother. Jennie’s origin story figures prominently in Part One of Pintele, and Jennie and Simon’s two daughters are major characters (in more than one sense).

All four of these great grandparents were born in the late nineteenth century, and I was too late to meet any of them. But of course, I wouldn’t exist if they hadn’t existed, or if the golden door had been closed.