Today my 95 year old cousin Irving shared an interesting story with me, which also fills in some dates.
The other day, Irving was looking at his 1923 passport photo, taken when he was just 4 years old.
This passport was used when he and his older brother Marvin, and their parents, Aunt Zena and Uncle Jake arrived in the U.S. From Russia.
They arrived in Akron, Ohio where their sponsor lived. They remained there until right after Irving's Bar Mitzvah in September, 1932 when he turned 13.
Irving and his family then packed up their new Chevrolet and with Uncle Jake behind the wheel, headed for their new life in Los Angeles, where among others, my grandfather Abe (Uncle Jake's brother) and his family were living.
Shortly after crossing the California border, they began seeing orange groves seemingly everywhere and were captivated by the magnificence of the oranges.
Feeling compelled to stop, Uncle Jake proudly purchased a box of oranges for $1.00 and then they continued their journey to Los Angeles.
When they arrived at my grandfather's home where they were initially staying, Jake happily showed him the oranges. "How much did you pay for them," my grandfather asked.
"A dollar," Jake replied. "You could have gotten them here for 20 cents," my grandfather responded.
Irving and I laughed at this long ago story.
In considering his comment to Jake, one should remember that this was 1932, during the Great Depression, and he apparently expressed the first thing that crossed his mind.
My grandfather was a wonderful man to me (and to Irving) and I love him to this day. He passed away in 1961 at the age of 75, when I was 16 years old, and I always treasured his wisdom and his kindness..
I still do, as I can hear his words and recall his thoughtfulness in my mind.
Dick
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