My Lifelong Childhood

MORE ROOTS...AND GARDENS! Family history used to be passed down from older relatives.   We rely on these stories as well as our memories retaining them...something we can no longer take for granted.  Now we have all sorts of websites like Ancestry.com, My Heritage,  DNA offers in our in-box, and, if you're like me, old photos, newspaper clippings and documents.  Some of our forebears stand out more than others depending on the caring and nurturing we received from them.  This leads me to my... MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER Fannie Mantel Sperber Zeisler, more easily know as "Little Nana" was the one grandparent with whom I spent the most time.  I could probably devote an entire blog to her because of her nurturing and warm disposition.  She eventually acquired the moniker "Sunny Fanny". After her husband, Grandpa Leon died suddenly in 1938, she, as the matriarch of five children, now all grown or at least in late teenage years, carried on with her world at

THE FAMILY ROOTS The word "root" in its botanical iteration, indicates a support, conveying nourishment to the rest of the plant via numerous branches.  We all have roots, some we know about, others that come as surprises.  A few years ago, I became interested in my own roots.  Amateur as I am, my genealogical skills are gradually bearing some fruit.  I think the impetus for me is to pass this story on to my children and, eventually, their children.  Probably, to read someone else's family history is quite boring but, in each of our families, their are real human stories about love, tragedy, migration, achievements and failures.  Allow me to share... Maternal Side       My mother, Beatrice Sperber Mayer, was a first-generation American, raised in The Bronx section of NYC.  Her parents were  Leon, who was from Vienna, and her mother, Fannie, was from Galicia in the old Austro-Hungarian Empire. She grew up in a very warm, loving home with two brothers and two sister

Fond Memory brings the light                 Of other days around me;                                    The smiles, the tears,                                             Of boyhood's years,....                                                    (Thomas Moore 1779-1852) My infancy began on October 20, 1944 in Mt. Vernon Hospital.  It was an auspicious day, not so much due to my birth, but because Gen. Douglas MacArthur, as he had sworn to return, arrived back in the Philippines, wading ashore, with reporters and photographers capturing the moment.  My dear mother, Beatrice, (and the Japanese) must have been so surprised that she went into labor!  Back in that era, hospital "confinement" was up to two weeks compared to today's one day. I think my parent's total bill was around $25! My discharge was accompanied by little wads of paper from my Pediatrician, Dr. Henry Kaessler, instructing my mom how to feed me.  Unfortunately, I was not breast fed so I

OH, NO...YET ANOTHER BLOG!!!! The internet is filled with blogs of every variety, taste, quest for knowledge and interest.  Why add my blog to this cornucopia of media? 1. I HAVE TIME:  At almost 73 years old and freshly retired from a long career in Medicine, I finally have time to get all my memories and thoughts in print. 2. MY MEMORY IS VERY MUCH INTACT: As the human brain ages, it tends to pare down neurons that are no longer useful. Blogging is a useful exercise to help this paring become more selective. 3. I HAVE HAD A RICH, FULL, AND HAPPY LIFE: I have taken many roads which would have ordinarily been untaken and I want to share this and perhaps help others to take some chances in life. 4. MEMORIES GIVE ME JOY AND SOLACE:  ...all the more joyful to share them! MY MISSION: WHY A LIFELONG CHILDHOOD???       Childhood is a time of exploration, acquisition of new skills, play, education. adventures, time with loved ones, loving and being loved.  It has provided me with