Rose Hoffman
Rose Hoffman was born in Brooklyn in 1911 into a poor but closely knit family of five girls. Her parents came from Poland, and her father, a learned and devoutly religious man, struggled to make a living before eventually establishing himself in the fur business in New York. Her mother, whom Rose idolized, ran the household and quietly saved money for her daughters. The family lived in four rooms on Floyd Street, with three sisters sharing one bed, but Rose remembered a childhood full of fun and family closeness. She attended public school in a largely Jewish neighborhood, worked part time from the age of fifteen, and graduated from high school.
At sixteen Rose met her future husband through a girlfriend, and the couple dated for more than three years before marrying at a hall called Hopkinson Manor in Brooklyn. He came from a more comfortable family in the upholstery business in New Jersey, and the couple settled there and later in Queens. They had two children, a daughter, Evelyn, and a son. Rose worked for some 38 years as a bookkeeper in the garment industry, learning the trade from her sister Lily, and became the family's mainstay, especially after her husband's health declined and he retired at 59. Through hard times, including a period living with her sister Lily, the family remained devoted to one another.
After retirement, Rose and her husband moved to Florida, where she enjoyed friends, shopping, and family until a difficult year brought the loss of her sister and her husband and a serious accident in which she was struck by a car. Left incapacitated and needing surgery, she came to Dallas at her daughter Evelyn's insistence to recover and live with her family. There she found kind doctors and a welcoming community, becoming a cheerful, friendly presence at the center, where a bus driver named Duncan nicknamed her Smiley. Though grateful for her daughter's warm and generous family, Rose spoke of one day returning to Florida to live independently again.
Full Transcript
I'm sitting here with my friend, my buddy, Rose Hoffman. Good morning, Rose. How are you? How are you? I'm fine. Rose, as you know, I've been recording everybody's lives. for someday when your grandchildren have grandchildren and they say, who is this Rose Hoffman? What is it all about? They'll be able to come into the center, sit down and listen to you. So like all others, I think we should start at the beginning. Rose, when, where and what year were you born? I was born in 1911. I was born in Brooklyn. So you are an American. So your story will be a little different than some of the stories that I've recorded of my people who were born in Europe and went through the shtetl.
So it'll be interesting to see. Okay, what kind of a family were you born into, Rose? Well, we were a closely knit family. We were five girls, and we came from a very poor family. Okay. Your father, what did he do that you were a poor family? He was a furrier in later years. When we were young, he was trying to make a living, but he couldn't. But then he learned to work in the fur business in New York, and he finally got on his feet, but he was a much older man already. What did he try to do when he was young that he couldn't make a living?
Do you remember the things he used to do? Well, first of all, he's a very learned man. And he used to go to Temple a lot, and he used to do a lot of things there. So he really should have been in Europe, and he would have been like the shul type of person who people would have supported. That's right. What about your mother with five children? Did she have time to work? She had a hands-on. No. She had no time to work. All right. Five girls. One after another, she had us. Are you the oldest, the youngest, the middle? No. I was in the middle.
All right. All right. What do you remember, then, of your... Can you describe your house, your apartment, if you were poor? Oh, sure, sure. What was it like? Well, my mother passed away at 45. What about when you were little? What do you remember about your house? Well, we, I was born on Floyd Street, and we had four rooms. Three sisters slept in one bed and the other two the youngest one when the youngest was born he was working already and we weren well In fact when I got married my husband paid for half the wedding and my mother had saved money for me and she gave me the other half.
All right, when you were little, all sleeping in this one little bed, what do you remember about being a little girl then? We had a lot of fun though. We had a lot of fun. We were very closely knit. So the poverty has its good factors. That's right. What about, did you have any aunties, uncles, cousins? Yes, yes, yes. But it wasn't a very big family. Did they live nearby? Yes, yes. Did you used to get together on family occasions? Not too much, not too much. Okay, what kind of a woman was your mother? Was she an observant woman? She was a beautiful woman, a wonderful woman.
She did whatever my father said. He was the boss of the house. and we were indisciplined with him did he have to discipline you guys much? of course we did five naughty little girls what do you remember of schooling when did you go to school? I went to public school did you go to kindergarten? I don't think so and graduated from high school ok now when you went to public school were you in an area that was like a completely Jewish area yes most of the kids were Jewish Yes. What did you do as a teenager then when you were growing up? What things socially did you do?
What kind of a student were you? Well, that was fair. Let's put it that way. I didn't see the nice clothes the other kids wore, you know. And I was a little on the envious side, you know. But I went to high school. I was a good student, but not spectacular. Okay, what about socially? Well, I met a couple. Yeah, yeah. Not groups. I met girlfriends. Uh-huh. You didn't belong to an organization? No, no, nothing at all. But my oldest sister, he put through college. Okay, but you had girlfriends. Yes, yes. So what did you guys do for entertainment? Well, we went to dances. I was a very good dancer one time, so I met my husband.
Well, okay, let me back up. Do you remember your parents ever socializing? No, only with family sometimes. She was always busy. So living in New York, you never had the advantage of going to the plays or doing anything. What did you do for recreation then Like you had summers what did you do when you were little Well that worked No no when you were little when you were kids growing up We helped my mother and we idolized her then We really did We just idolized her. I must bring you a picture of her. I'd love to see her. She's gorgeous. So you never went to the beaches, or you never took a vacation?
Beaches we went to, beaches we went to. And vacations, oh, when I was young, I went to my cousin. He had a farm. and I stayed there all summer one summer and I said never again I was just going to say what do you remember about the farm you didn't like it? no, no oh the pigs, not the pigs the cows and it was terrible they lived for that farm did they make you do certain duties on the farm or you just not too much and then I was so happy to get home you have no idea when I was 15 I was working part time already what was your first job you were still at school yeah sure I worked in a sweater place right near the house what did you do there cutting the sleeves cutting the sleeves shaping them out and then they sewed them together I see and then they shaped them together do you remember what kind of a salary you got for that how much you got paid for that no I don't remember It's very little.
Okay. What did you do with the money you earned? Was it... I bought myself, and then I gave my mother some. You bought your own clothes and things with that? Sure. I didn't have too much, though. Okay. Interesting. Now, the friends that you kept, that you socialized with, they were girls. You didn't go with boys at that age? No. No. All right. Were they in the similar social economic situation that you were? Yes. Yes. Yes. It was a very poor neighborhood. So what did you girls do for entertainment? We entertained each other. Did you go to movies or things? Yeah, we went to movies. We used to go together.
We never went anywhere without each other. Either we went to dances or we went to the movies. Where were the dances? In the temple. A couple of times we went to the temple. Then where there were dance places, you know, we used to go. and not too much. Okay. Then you graduated from high school. Yeah And you went out to work I met my husband All right then let back up How did you meet him Where did you meet him My girlfriend We were both working part Where In the sweater place No no Part in Arnold Constable I got a job part in Arnold Constable As a sales girl?
Yeah. Working between school and there. And she was a full-time worker. And she says to me, how would you like to meet my future nephew? you. And she was going with this fellow, Eddie. So I was just fine. He was the first one I ever went with. I was 16. He was 17. And we went together for three years. You never went with anybody else. Aren't you something? He fell in love with me right away, and I was, I had my family. I was close, close to them. And we went for over three years. What things did you do then when you were dating. Was he a poor boy also?
No. No. No. He came from a very comfortable family. Okay. What did his family do? What did his father do? His father was in the upholstery business. They made money. Did he live far from you? New Jersey. New Jersey. Used to come from New Jersey. Oh my God. All the way from New Jersey. So, all right. He was 17. He was out of school then? He didn't graduate high school. All right. He was working. What was he doing? Helping his father. In the upholstery business. He did very well. Then after I met him, well, let's not go further. Okay. All right. So you dated for three years.
Over three years. And in this three-year period, he slept in from New Jersey every weekend. He slept at our house. Well, that's all right. A nice Jewish boy. There's nothing wrong with that. He was a good boy. And you worked. Did you stay at Arnold? What did you do then after you finished high school? I stayed on full time. And I was going with him already. And we were serious, and he bought me a gorgeous ring. Those, what do you call it, rings? Those dinner rings, those long ones. And he kept on buying and buying and buying. And he had quite a bit of money on his own.
That's nice. Because his mother believed in putting away for the children. So tell me something. It's interesting. Now, here you were going with a fairly well-to-do young man. How did your family react? How did your sisters react to this? They liked him. I got married before my second assistant. Okay, so your mother liked him and- Everybody left me. So then you decided to get married. Where were you married from? In Brooklyn. In Brooklyn. Do you remember the place? The hall? Hopkinson Manor. Hopkinson Manor. In Eastern York. Okay. Did you get, have a ceremony in a shul and then go to the hall? No, I had it all in the hall.
And was it unorthodox? Yes. Okay. So you had a nice wedding. All right, let's proceed from there. After the wedding, where did you live? Where did you two live? Well, as I said, he paid for half the wedding, and my mother and my mother-in-law. No, my mother-in-law paid for half, and my husband paid for half, and my mother gave me all the money that she had saved from it. My father didn't know that. How did she save the money? The money that you earned from work and you gave her? Whatever I gave her. Not all of it, just I gave her some. Right, she put away.
She put away from it. She never used it. She says, now I couldn't even buy linens. I didn't have money. I gave me the money and went out and bought money. Do you remember how much it was? A couple of hundred. Just a couple of hundred. Yes. Six, seven hundred dollars. But that's a Yiddish a mommy. Oh, yes. She was so, I'm telling you. What do you remember about her? Was she religious? Do you remember a Yontif? Oh, yes. Oh, yes. What was a Yontif like in your house? She cooked, she baked. Labedic. Labedic. Then my older sister got married and she came with him.
she was about seven years older than me. And he came and he loved my mother and father. He really did. And my husband too. The only thing he said he couldn't stand my mother making was the cabbage soup with raisins. He couldn't stand the raisins. I don't like raisins in cabbage soup to you. He couldn't stand them. Well, where were your parents from? Poland. Ah, so I should like raisins in cabbage soup, but I don't. Okay. All right, so where did you live when you got married? In New Jersey, in Versailles. Oh, I know, okay. And that's where his business was? Yeah, his business was in Basaic, then my father moved to Patterson, so he stayed with him.
All right, and how soon after you were married? Did you work after you were married? Six months in New York. And you commuted. How did you get in? You had to get in by bus? Train. Train. Okay, and you were still working at Arnold Constable then? Yeah Then I went into work No then no I was working in the garment industry I working 38 years in the government industry When you first got married you were working there No later on Oh when I got married no wait a minute I also a bit of when I got married I got a job in Passake I got a job in Passake and, no, it was New York, I'm sorry.
I got married. I worked for six months in New York. And then I became pregnant. I was a Pishka and he was a Pishka. You were a Pishka and he was a Pishka? Well, no, you were 19. Yeah. And he was 21. 20. She was a year older than me. Oh. Okay, so, well, listen, okay. And you had? We had two children. Okay. What came first? The girl, that one. Okay. That one, kind of, her was 49. Okay, so you had your daughter. And my son is 45. And then you had your son. In between your daughter and your son, did you work at all, or you stayed home and had both children?
No, I had both children, and then I went to work. I had a brother work. I mean, there wasn't, I mean, he wasn't making enough. You were still in the upholstery business? Yes, yes. And then, we stayed in New Jersey, well I had problems with my in-laws and I had them all surrounding me and whatever I did they knew so I walked out of my husband with the kids of course with the kids he came and I went to my sister Lily she was the oldest one and that night he came he says I'm not staying here without my children in life he stayed with my sister my sister says stay with me I have my own home there's plenty of room here I want you to save enough money for a house papa will give you money that's when he was working for a business too and uh and we went how old were you then do you remember I was around 30.
Okay. I'm 30. And I went to my sister and we stayed there, the whole bunch of us. He left his father's business, he left everything. To be with you. Of course, and the kids. So then he got a job in New York as a salesman uncle the one who the aunt that introduced me to my husband married her husband and she my aunt and my girlfriend And her husband got him in the union, the 65 security plan in New York. And he became a member and went to work as a salesman. They got him a job there. and he went out of town and he wasn't the type to be away from us and he wrote me letters to this day I'm sorry I didn't kick him he says to my wife, the mother of my children blah blah blah blah and I never knew what was in him and he stayed there for three years with my older sister I didn't pay her a penny oh my family had just jumped isn't that something you saved up We bought a house on East 37th between Quentin and R.
We stayed there a few years. Evelyn got married from there. And we stayed there. Where did we go from there? Oh, we went to, we sold the house. It was getting too much for him already. But you were working all this time. Oh, I was working continuously. Oh, sure. You worked for 37? Eight, 38 years. As a bookkeeper in the garment industry. Where did you learn the bookkeeping? I mean, where... Well, I was always good in math. And my sister Lily was working as a bookkeeper, too. She said, come on, work with me, and I'll show you the ropes, and whatever you don't know, you'll pick up yourself.
And I did. And towards the end, I was making over $300 a week. Isn't that wonderful? And he worked as a He was a salesman. Yeah, and then when he got sick he had to give it up. And he was working, then the union put him in the, in a sweater place where he worked in a, where they sample the sweaters, you know, and they sell them there. He was an excellent salesman. And he worked there for quite a few years until he got sick He had to retire at 59 Well in these days 59 retirement is pretty acceptable but in those days it wasn So you were the one who went out to work and he stayed home Well, he got a pension and he retired.
And he stayed there in Queens. We stayed about 25 years. Not in the house, though? You had sold the house? No, I had sold the house. That's when we started accumulating money. We sold the house, and right after that, I gave my father back the $2,500, and we stayed there in Queens, and I was making good money. What about, let's backtrack a little to your children. As they were growing up, what kind of a, did they go to a, did you belong to a synagogue? Did they go to a Hebrew school? Well, Evelyn didn't go. We belonged to the center there, in the Whitestone Community Center.
But I couldn't be very active. I had two jobs, working and taking care of him in the house. When Evelyn was home, she used to help me with the cooking. She was a big help. Well, let me ask you, so the kids grew up there. Did they go to college? Evelyn went. She didn't graduate though. graduate though. She met him. She also got married young. How old was she? She was twenty. She had a child right after. Like her mother, repeat performance. She's got four children. And you only had two. Two. Okay. What does Evelyn's husband, what was he doing? Well, he, when they got married, they would do it.
We had a help one. That's how bad off they were. He graduated college. He was the highest one in city college. Isn't that wonderful? He's a very smart man. And what is he in now? He graduated. He took a business administration, and he learned the furniture business. Now he's the sales representative over all the salesmen. In fact, he's having a show now. Isn't that nice? What firm is he with? Hickory Hill and Crestline. Very good. And what about your son? Well, he's not doing too well. I have to help him. He never went to college? He was a very sick boy. He was born with a, he was born with a cord around his neck and we were having problems with him.
And then he got, he had a convulsion, set him back a little. So he's, he's had He's holding his own, but he's not as small as that. He's a very smart girl. He never married then, your son? He did get married. He's got three children. Oh, that's nice. Go hard. Yeah, but they're struggling. Where do they live? In New Jersey. So now he just got out of the hospital and can't work for a month and a half. So he seems his life has been full of one sort of mishap after another. That's too bad. That's right. How old are his children? One is 17, one is 14, and one is 10.
He's got young children. So they live in New Jersey. Okay. Did you ever, you and your husband, it sounds like you worked hard all your lives, you didn't have time to be involved in Jewish organizations or political organizations? No. Did you ever get a chance to take vacations with the family? Vacations we did. Did you go on your vacations? Well, when they were small, we went to my mother-in-law there. Okay, you were in the Kochelanes. Yeah. And I didn't know anybody. I didn't know anybody. He used to come weekend. You didn't know anybody? That's when we lived in New Jersey. That's when we lived in New Jersey.
Right. And then when we got to Queens, we started to go. Where did you go? We went to Florida. Oh, that's nice. With the children. Oh, we went everywhere. With the children. Mm-hmm. Then we went, then when the children didn't want to come anymore with us, we used to go along. We went to Canada. We went to Montreal. We went down south, and then when Evelyn moved down south, she lived next door to me in Queens. That's nice. Oh, yeah. We got along beautifully. Well, obviously, you still get along beautifully. Yeah, yeah. And they were really, they really topped those kids. All right. So, Evelyn and her husband obviously moved down here because of his No, they moved to New Orleans, and they kept on going down south.
You know, one was born in New Orleans, one was born in Kansas City. No, Memphis. So his business, he kept moving around. Now she doesn't want to move anymore. Well, I don't blame her. I'm almost in that situation. I move a lot, too. Okay, so then your husband retired, and you retired from working also. Not then. I worked. I kept on working. He had to retire. You worked until when? until I was 66 and I had Okay and then you retired and what did you do after that We went to Florida You moved to Florida The first year it was fine I refurnished my whole home Okay you bought a home and then you sold your apartment or I sold the apartment.
It was a co-op. Yeah. And we went to Florida. We got into a three room apartment, a beautiful apartment. I refurnished the whole house. Okay, what things did you do in Florida that first year? Did you know people when you moved down there? I had my aunt and uncle. That's my girlfriend. Oh, that's right. And I have a great aunt living in Florida. I made a lot of friends. I make friends very easily. And I really liked it. What things did you do as retired? My sister. Lily? Yeah, Lily. The one who was so good to you. Does she still live there in Florida? She died all in one year.
That's why I couldn't stay in Florida. So while you were there, though, while you were all there and you were all there together, what things did you do now as retired citizens? What did you do there? Well, we did a lot of shopping. We used to go to the malls. We used to go to movies. They had a lot of malls there. And the man, what did they do? He came with me. He was with me all the time until he couldn't go anymore. Okay. And I just slept and shopped and slept and shopped. We really enjoyed it. We stayed out. Okay. The first year he was wonderful.
That's really nice. And then you were down there how many years? Three years. Three years. And then, unfortunately, the tide turned. My sister passed away. My husband passed away, and I was run over. Only one year. Well, you had told me how you were run over by the car, and you were... I was self-intelated. I didn't know where the car was coming or going. And you were very, you were incapacitated for quite some time. I was. Oh, you would have seen me when my daughter came. I was shaking. You've come a long way, though. Oh, yeah. You were in a wheelchair. You had surgeries. I walked it twice.
And when did you then come to live with your daughter in Dallas? When she came for the funeral. She saw me in a wheelchair. I had a nurse there. And she says to me, you're not going to stay here. You can't take care of yourself. And she says to me, you come back to the house. I didn't want to go. My son says, look, she didn't come to me, but he hasn't got that much room. So I decided to go back. The minute I got back there I had an infection from the first operation and it was terrible I couldn go to the doctor so I had to take the nurse The nurse took the tests over to him and didn help me So then when they took me in the wheelchair, she says to me, Mother, you're going to the doctor.
I don't care how you get up there. You have to go to get a checkup. So I went to Dr. Cochran. and he was a urologist. And he cleared it up in a few weeks. And then I went to the orthopedic surgeon. This was all here in Dallas? Yeah. And he says to me, look, you can sit, you can use a walker the rest of your life, and you can walk the operator now. He says, it is up to you. So I says to him, no, I don't want to walk like that. I want to be operated on. And thank God it was successful, and now you are?
It wasn't. I may have a problem with another one. It's killing me. Killing me the pain. But I don't say anything to my daughter. I don't say anything to anybody. So you've been living with your daughter, what, three years? No, I'm living with her a year and a half. A year and a half. A year and a half. In fact, I was paying rent in Florida, because I didn't know whether I wanted to go there or not. But now you've given up your... Excuse me, I gave up the apartment. And I may go back there, though, eventually, not now, because I feel I'm ready to be alone.
I wasn't before. But you've had a good association with your daughter, doesn't it, and your daughter says? Oh, yes. She'll be heartbroken when she hears it. But I feel this way. When the kids come in with their friends, you know, the boy has his den. He gave up the bed for me, the bedroom. I have my own bedroom in there. Slept on a couch for six months. And so we got the den and everything set up for him. And when he brings his friends, you know how poor friends are. I don't have to tell you. And it's so noisy. And everyone keeps on asking me, were they quiet?
I said, yes, they were fine. And then the girl has friends, you know. Oh, of course. And look at it. It's hot. And then when I have to go shop, everyone goes to work. Now she's home. It was a pleasure yesterday. She took me out for lunch. and we went for a haircut, and we were talking. She said, Mother, I love going with you. I said, I love going with you, too. But I want her to work She feels much better when she working but I didn want her to work there And I even told my oldest granddaughter that I may go back there You wouldn't want to find a place.
But you found yourself such a nice little niche here. I know. Aren't you happy here? I'm very happy here. I'm very happy here. But sometimes I feel like I want to be on my own already. Well, couldn't you get a place here? Like, let's say Mary is coming to the Tremont and something. You can get your own apartment. I don't want to buy any more furniture. Well, where is your furniture? I gave it to the kids. I gave most of it to me. Yeah, but then, Rose, if you go back to Florida, you're going to have to buy furniture there. I'm going into a furnished apartment.
They have furnished apartments. They have three rooms. They're beautiful. So can't you find a furnished apartment? No. I don't want you to go. I'm not going yet. I'm not going yet. I'm not going. I'm just thinking about it. I'm just thinking about it. And I will miss them. I really will. The kids have been wonderful. When I came here, I couldn't bathe. They had obeyed me. Every one of them took a turn of bating me. It's a pretty special family. Believe me. They will feel very hurt if you go away. I know. But she says to me, my daughter once, Look, Mother, this is a few months ago.
She says, Mother, I know how you feel. You want to be near Debbie. He's buried in Florida. And she says, I don't care if you go back to Florida, but I don't want to go back to New York. I said New York is out and you have a lot of friends in Florida oh yeah I have a niece there too we would hate to lose you from Dallas oh I'm not going to move you your smiling face from the center you know who calls me Smiley the one that takes me Wednesday oh the bus driver Duncan hello Smiley Rose you have a very easy manner you make friends very easily.
I do, I do. If I get along with her, I don't want to mention anything. Right, right. You really can get along with people. Yeah, yeah. I made a lot of friends in Florida. I can imagine. And they were very helpful to me. They really were. I certainly can imagine, because you certainly made a lot of friends here at the center. Yeah, I did. You know, I call them and they call me. In Florida? At home, at home. Oh, here? Oh, here I get mail from Florida. Who's the-Mr. Denenberg calls you, that I know. That I know. He says I was going to call you today.
I said, please don't. I can't see that. Okay. What's her name? Minnie calls me. Right. Jeannie calls me. Pearl calls me. We were supposed to go on a cruise. What happened to the cruise? She's got a valve. Don't repeat this. She's got a valve problem. All right. So you couldn't go. All right. So you've established friendships. I want to know something. I help myself. I don't care. You established friendships and you... You'll be able to go wherever you are. And then I, Lillian Mitychkin, the one that calls me. She moved out, too. You should go out and visit her maybe one day in the car.
You see, I don't have a car. Yeah. Oh, she said. See, when I want to go somewhere, it's very hard. Very, very hard. So I'm used to traveling. Is it easier? You're telling me that in Florida, the transportation is easier? Oh, it's terrific. Of course you are. I have malls all around me. I have friends all over. Dallas, unfortunately, transportation and the bus is really a problem. Yeah. Okay. Rose, is there anything in your life that we haven't talked about that you'd like to share, any special things that happened along the way that you had with your children or with your husband that you would like to have on tape so someday your grandchildren's children will listen and hear and...
Or have we... My daughter married a wonderful man. You couldn't find anyone with a little man, I'm telling you. He is so precious. That's very nice. I really mean it. That's very... And I'm very lucky. Well, um... Well, a lot of people say that she put him on his feet. Well, look, it's a nice thing. But they both have been wonderful tonight. That's good. Rose, if you had to give your grandchildren, someday when they come in and listen to this tape, advice on life. You've been through a lot, and you've come up smiling. Oh, I've had it pretty miserable with my husband through those sicknesses.
Oh, I'm sure. What advice would you give them? How should they lead their lives or what should they do with their lives or what kind of characteristics should they have Well they brought up so different than we heard of them The only thing is the advice I would give them is with the two oldest ones she got married very well, very nice, the oldest one. He graduated from college in Austin, and she went to Dallas. She didn't want to go out of town. And, uh, the advice, yeah. So the advice you're going to give them is? Is that with them, they're just wonderful. Just keep on?
Keep on being the way you are. Yeah. The way you are. The way they are. But, uh... You just, you just have to tell them to do the things you did in life. Work hard. But I don't want them to go through what I went through. Oh, of course. There's certain degrees. None of us... I was in such a trauma. When she became my daughter, she said, Mother, I never saw you like me. You don't want them to live through the bad times. But I think, Rose, that your grandchildren would be very fortunate if they have the toughness that you had. My daughter has, too.
To overcome it. Well, then perhaps they will have it because there's a Yiddish saying that My daughter is strict with it. It's wonderful. Right, the apple doesn't fall far. And if you're the bubba with the strength to have worked and put a sick husband on his feet and supported the family, and obviously your daughter has that strength, then that strength will be passed on to my grandchildren. It will be passed on to my son. It will be passed on to the grandchildren. And that will be nice. And your son has his ups and downs. Yeah, listen, he has spoiled them, though. He has spoiled them.
Well, listen, in our society, it's very hard not to spoil. You've got to be tough. It's just, there's just too much around. Rose, I've enjoyed the morning with you. I have, too. I really have. And thank you for recording your life. It's an hour already? Well, it's almost an hour. If you want to create more incidents in your life. Maybe I got that but there really isn much I mean I had good years with him I obviously But until he got sick it was just a bit of Well He didn't want to live. I know. People get into depressions. You see, the first operation he had, he had it with the...
in Houston. He had Dr. Cooley do that. Was it a heart? A valve. A aorta valve. Right. And my daughter lived there then. Well, those were the early pioneer days of cancer. She took care of him for three months while I was working. You were in New York, and isn't that wonderful? So that you really do have a family that's... That's right. Okay, you know what? I used to fly down all weekends. Tell me something, Rose. You mentioned at the beginning of our tape that your family was very close, and you did mention that you lived for three years with your sister Lily and not paid a penny.
Where are your other sisters and what kind of relationships do you have? My sister Lily died. All right. Yeah, I know. My sister Frida was killed by hitting a road driver. She was 26 years old. Oh, what a shame. Two years ago. Then I came. My fourth sister, my older sister died of cancer. My fourth sister died of cancer. I have a single sister She lives in Florida. She never got married. She says, I thought this and that. I feel sorry for her. I'm helping her too. How old is she, Rose? She's 13 months younger than me. So you've been like a guide to her.
When I lived there, it was half bad. But she was. Okay. So she, well, you know what? My mother told me once that some people in life never marry and live very full lives. Yeah, but she was bitter. Bitter person. Sometimes these things don't come along and you can understand. Well, then it's up to you with your smile and your nature to help her. Well, I'm going down near a lodge and I'm going to see what's going on. She lives down in Miami. Near where you were? No, I I lived in North Miami. She had to take a bus. Okay. And you lived in South Miami?
No I lived in North Miami She lived in Miami She lives in a real real mess I had a beautiful place got rid of all my furniture Well, Rose, I hope when the time comes that you feel that you want to be on your own again, that you make the right decision. Oh, yeah, well, I'm not ready yet, but I'm thinking of it, because I just want to be in my own land. I can understand that. I didn't want to stay alone, and I feel that I would like to take a crack at it for about a year and see. They have beautiful furnished apartments there.
Well, whatever you do. I'm not ready, though. I'm not ready. Believe me. push you out because I'll miss you very much. I hope to God you stay here. Oh well I'll be here until my husband says Pax B'chaim. Yeah well listen that's that's the whole story of Evelyn. That's the story of Evelyn refused to move after that. Well I'm very happy here but I. She's happy all over. I am too but I don't think that I would say no to my husband's career although the children are soon into college, and that's another stage. That's our whole modern society. My granddaughter came to me with a girlfriend.
They always brought girlfriends to me. We lived in Queens. Right. And she was there. She didn't want to go home. I said, what's the matter? I don't want to go home. I said, why? Because they're moving again. She started to go home. I called up my daughter and I told her. Yeah, it's difficult. I've seen this last move with my children but this is our society that we live in that's right that's right but your daughter's children are more fortunate than mine because they have their bubble with them and you you don't know you rose don't realize the richness that you're bringing into their lives oh sure i know that listen they're bringing it to me too right it's a two-way street and i think it's the same thing with howie's kids i i can't wait until i go there it's fortunate and I think you're a lucky family that you are so close.
I think so. I think so. And that you share so much. Okay, Rose, thank you for spending the time with me, and Dyke is in. You.