MY LIFE IN PHOTOS - ANCESTORS
Morris Balbirer, my great-grandfather on my mother’s side. I know nothing about him. Only this photograph survives.
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My mom’s dad, Abe, in the center and his two brothers, Joe and Max.
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My grandparents on my mom’s side, Abe and Minnie.
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A closeup of my grandfather.
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A closeup of my grandmother.
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A loving portrait of Abe and Minnie.
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This is a photo of my mom’s family. My mom, Sondra (born Sonia) is on the left next to her Dad Abe. Minnie, her mom, is in the middle. Pearl is next to Minnie. She was the youngest child. Esther, the eldest, is seated on the right.
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This is David Rubin (originally Rubinsky) my dad’s father as a young and clearly dapper man.
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This is my dad as a young boy. I see a little bit of a resemblance to me.
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My dad’s family. My grandpa Dave and grandma Dora in the back row. My dad, the youngest, is on the left. His brother Harold (the eldest) and sister Clara (the middle child) beside him. Clara lived in Detroit and her family was very close to us. Harold lived in Cleveland. They were visiting family, although years later I got to know them all well.
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My dad’s family in their middle years. My grandpa David is on the left followed by Harold, my grandma Dora, Jimmy and Clara.
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David and Dora as I knew them.
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A gathering of my dad’s family. I don’t know everyone in it. In the center is my uncle Al Altman, a dentist and Clara’s husband, and then his youngest daughter Joanie beside him. My uncle Harold and his wife Dorothy are behind them. My mom is second from the right and my aunt Clara is next to her.
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A huge gathering of my dad’s family, too many to mention. My mom and dad are standing in the back on the left. Why women wore those hats, I’ll never know.
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From left to right, my dad and mom, aunt Dorothy and Uncle Harold.
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The Clara Altman family, cousin Burton, the eldest, grandpa Dave, Grandma Dora, Uncle Al, Aunt Clara, cousin Marjorie, the middle child. Joanie is not pictured.
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My dad, Jimmy, in the army.
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My mom, Sondra. Tony Randall once told me that my mom was the most beautiful woman he had ever met, and added that he had been in movies with Marilyn Monroe.
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My mom, probably around the time I was born. This is how I remember her.
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My dad and mom in later years. They were a beautiful couple. Our entire extended family centered around them. They were gracious hosts.
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My mom in a portrait I took days after learning that she had cancer. It is a defining image for me.
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Sondra, Ester, Pearl. Three truly inseparable sisters. Pearl and her family lived three house down from our house on Tracy. Her daughter were like my sisters. Esther lived about five miles away. Her children completed my family. When Pearl moved to LA and shortly after divorced, our family was shattered. It took years to put the pieces back.
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My grandparents sitting in our living room. My grandpa Abe is on the far right next to his second wife Lill. HIs first wife Minnie died at 50. My brother Gary is behind them. Then my grandma Dora, me, and my grandpa Dave. The woman on the far left is Lil’s sister Margaret. Her son, Stanley Chase, was the producer of “The Threepenny Opera” at the Theater Delys on Christopher Street in NY. (That was a big deal to me as a kid).
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The wedding photo of Blanche’s parents, Fanny and Arnold.
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Blanche’s mom Fanny looking shockingly like Blanche.
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Blanche’s dad Arnold. He was dashing. I wish I had known him at that age. I know we would have been friends.
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Arnold in his beach days.
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Arnold and Fann
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Fann, Arnold and Blanche, age 10. I love this image of Blanche. I married that girl.
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Arnold as I knew him.
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Arnold and Fann, Jimmy and Sondra meeting for the first time just before our wedding.
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Mohonk Mountain Lodge in New Paltz, NY, in a photo from Blanche’s family dated 1922. Blanche and I visited there before we were married and loved it. We vowed to take our children if we ever had any. We have now taken our children, grandchildren, parents and families there. A one hundred year history.
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