NOT ONLY A GOOD APPETITE My mother used to tell this story – in Russia it was the custom to invite travelers to dinner at private homes. One evening a man was having dinner with my mother’s family and he said to my mother, “Little girl, you eat like a bird.” To which my mother answered, “Ja, aber ich Scheiße wie ein Pferd.” Which means, “Yes, but I go to the bath- room like a horse.” Well, that translation is not exactly what it means. Her mother was horrified. In those days girls were not encouraged to get an education but Sonja’s father insisted and she was enrolled in a Catholic school taught by nuns. The nuns frightened my mother with their black habits and their severe teaching methods. Still, she was often used as an example to the other children – “Why can’t you be like Sonja.” She was very intel- ligent and a good student. In the Russian schools they taught dancing as part of the curriculum and
THE BROTHERS Meanwhile Uncle Charlie and Uncle Max went into the electrical appliance and furniture business. Charlie had had to drop out of school to support the family. He got a job as an ice truck driver. This was in the days before refrigerators. It turned out to be a good thing because it gave him the inside track on when refrigeration was arriv- ing. That is how he opened a store with Uncle Max to sell refrigerators. It was called Carson Brothers. Eventually Carson Brothers expanded into two stores, an electrical appliance store and a four story furniture store. MY RIGHT ARM My mother and I were always very close. She was always there for me and she was interested in every detail of my life. Every day she told me I was her right arm. We used to wash and dry the dish-
My mother came from a town called Choslavitch in what was then Russia but is now Belarus.
so my mother had eight years of dancing lessons. She loved dancing – if no one asked her to dance at any gathering she would simply get up and dance by herself. THE SWEATSHOP Like most immigrants, my mother and her family struggled to make a living in America. In Philadelphia she worked in a sweatshop factory sewing clothes. Her sister Katie worked in a similar sweatshop. The boss- es would stand in back of the workers and make sure they worked every second they were there. It was slave labor. Aunt Lil worked in a furrier shop and sewed linings into fur coats. I remember her bringing work home to make extra money. She would sit with the heavy fur in her lap no matter how hot it was. In those days there was no such thing as air conditioning. Her hands eventually became crippled from the work.
es together. While doing this she loved to sing, especially her Jewish or Russian songs. My mother struggled all her life. I would have to say she had a very difficult life. She spoke five languages and could also write in some of them. But her talent and skill was used up in the struggle to make a living and raise a family. She was the strength of our family.
My mother, Sonja “Sadie” Krezinsky
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