Letter from a reader

Received an email from a reader this week:

"Hello, Eve -
My name is Susan Pernick, and in some fashion I think we're cousins.  My grandmother Annie and Raizal Dubrow were sisters.  (Their maiden name was Soloveichik, which became Solowey.)  Lila, Minnie, George, Irwin and  Ruthie were my mother's first cousins.  We lived on East 18th between O and P, so the store on Kings Highway was only a couple of blocks away.


I only heard Benjamin called Barney. NeeNee (I've never known how to spell it) and I were friends.  Of course, I knew Sheila and Paul, but they were older.

Although I was very young, I remember hearing that George had been killed in a car crash in Florida.  I remember that my parents were very upset at the news.


My father, Max Goldenkranz, was the family's doctor.  He took care of Max and Minnie and their kids. He also became the doctor for a number of the employees at Dubrow's.


Max got my parents, my brother and me into the store to see JFK.  Although I was only 10, it's one of my strongest memories of my youth.


Ruthie dated a man named Seymour Gruber, who was a psychiatrist.  Before they were married, Barney and Raizal invited Seymour's (Sy's) family over to dinner.  Barney started to tell a story about Galicia, in Poland, and made clear that the people there were useless.  Sy's father started to protest that he was from Galicia when Barney, without breaking stride, said that there was one small shtetl there where the people were wonderful, and he asked what part of Galicia Mr. Gruber was from.  Mr. Gruber mentioned the name, and Barney said, "That's it!  That's the place!"  Ruthie and Sy had a long and wonderful marriage." 
 
I love hearing from long lost relatives via the blog!   Keep it coming.