Uncle Mickel and Sania with Daughter on the farm
“GIF ME DA VHEEL!” When I was sixteen we took a road trip to Montreal, Canada to visit Uncle Meyer and Aunt Rose and their family. At least some of us did. There was my mom and dad, my brother Marvin, my cousin Marty and his girlfriend, Ethel, and my cousin Frances (Marty’s kid sister). Because only so many people could fit in the car it was between Frances and my sister, Pearl, who would go. Frances snuck into the car and somehow hid there until we left Philadelphia. Along the way my dad let Marvin drive for a while. Apparently he wasn’t doing it right because I remember my dad yelling in his Old World accent, “Gott damn it, gif me da vheel.” We were somewhere along a mountain road in freezing cold weather when I noticed the silk belt to my dress was stuck in the car door. I opened
the door a little to free my belt while the car was moving and the wind pulled the door wide open. It was a very stupid thing to do; I could have easily been pulled out of the door and killed. My father screamed at me with that mixture of anger and fear and love that parents often feel. I will never forget it as long as I live. UNCLE MICKEL HAD A FARM My Uncle Mickel (Michael) Sefferen was one of the most colorful characters in our family. He and his wife, my Tante Sania, had a farm outside Philadelphia that they went to in the summer. They had eleven kids so the farm was a classic mess. No one picked up their clothes so they were all over the floor. When they pretended to clean
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