They were sisters. There were 3 girls. and 6 boys. Jean on the right was born in Poland. Myrna, my mom, was born here. They lived in Bayonne, NJ, a blue collar town where my grandfather had a small tailor shop. They all were very close, and I learned a lot about family life from them all. That’s why “A Raisin in the Sun” rang true for me.
In the house they spoke Yiddish, but otherwise it was English. In 1944 four of their brothers, my uncles, were at war in the Pacific. June 6, 1944 was D-Day, the beginning of the end of Nazi ambitions. They knew that they lost family in the Holocaust, but they never spoke of it. My uncles all came back home to the little house in Bayonne.
My Mom married young at about 18. Jean was older, and her husband died early during a trans-Atlantic crossing. Jean was the family photographer, and now I own about 20 family albums. She used a Kodak Brownie, but she had a good eye. I don’t know who took this snapshot, but I love the closeness of these two,, and the composition is special.
Jean was often at our house, and all the many cousins called her “Auntie Jean”–the only aunt to have that honorific. We still all refer to her that way. My Mom was flamboyant and knew and performed all the Broadway scores. She gave sister Jean that name—-from Auntie Mame.
“Once Upon a Time in America” (movie soundtrack) by Ennio Morricone with the Orchestre del Cinema Italiano. Don’t miss the movie streaming. It is beautiful.