Now We Recall Funny Things

By John

"I could tell that deep down these moments are a tight bond that only they could share. And I hope that I could get closer to that feeling when I listen back to this."

Regina: Do you remember too? Uh...

Alex: There was the couple with the cat.

John: The couple with the cat? A story I had never heard before. It's funny because while driving to go see Grandma Regina, my dad and I were talking and I asked him about all the stories he'd never shared. His response was that we never asked, and mine was that we never knew we needed to.

That was the divide. He had four children, so for each time we asked, a different fragment was shared with one. Unfortunately, it's growing increasingly rare that we are all together at the same time, and most days it feels like none of those pieces would ever be whole. That's why I wanted to record this. Hours of audio of two familial immigrants that made it to a better life. A time capsule of these stories in a jar that I could have with me forever.

They like to downplay each story, but from hearing them talk in unison about their shared experiences, I could tell that, deep down, these moments are a tight bond that only they could share. And I hope that I could get closer to that feeling when I listen back to this.

Regina: It was very funny. Big cat, they have cage for this cat.

Alex: A carrier. Yeah.

Regina: Carrier. And they train this cat. When they say—

Alex: "Enemies."

Regina: "Enemies!"

Alex: Cat would... [laughs]

Regina: Cat running through the everybody. He hide in his cage [laughs]. And funniest thing that they really goes to Germany, I think.

Alex: Right. They were going to Germany.

Regina: Cause they stayed in Germany, but they taught their cat "enemy!" [laughs] It was funny story.

Alex: Enemies.

Regina: Enemies.

Alex: Then they took people who were going to Israel. And they went separately on a different flight, and the rest were going to United States. Yeah. This couple left and there was another couple of old—

Regina: Of old, old woman.

Alex: Old couple. Russian couple going to Israel. [Laughs] and the rest were Jewish and going to the United States. They, they were going to their kids and their, daughter.

Regina: And a very unpleasant moment was in, uh, Italy.

John: They spent a lot of time reminiscing about their immigration from Russia to the United States. And while they had fun stories like the couple with the cat, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows.

Regina: And do you remember with the soldiers?

Alex: ...with the train. Yeah, they was in the train, and there was a warning that, uh, the Arab terrorists were going to blow up the train.

John: Oh my god.

Alex: It was the train of Jews. So they basically stopped, and not in Rome, but some little town in the middle of nowhere and told us, “You have to get out, come out, take all your luggage.” So people were running around and you come out, there are soldiers with machine guns all over.

Regina: All over, and they—

Alex: On the roads, on the streets.

Regina: Yeah, and they, uh, put this guns.... it looks like, at us.

Alex: Right, because they're looking down with their guns. And uh, people were throwing the luggage through the windows and screaming, and everybody is rushing because people were panicking. But we just unloaded. They put us on buses and took us to Rome.

Regina: Yeah.

Alex: So, but, but that was like a scene from World War II Movie.

Regina: But, but at the beginning, we thought that… so... we didn't know why.

Alex: Nobody knows what's happening. They just tell you, “Come out. Come out.” Nobody speaks.

Regina: Yeah. But when train pulled to the platform, it was... everywhere, soldiers with guns to the, watching, looking at the train. So it was immediately, everybody recall this war films...

Alex: World War II, right.

Regina: World War II films. And it was very unpleasant.

Alex: Where Jews were put on trains, right, and...

Regina: That we didn't know what it is. Finally, they explains that it is for us. For our...

Alex: Protection.

Regina: Safety, protection, and so. Funny things, though. You know, now, we recall this all like funny things, but while we travel, it wasn't fun [laughs].

John: I've been sitting here on my computer writing this part over and over again. The reflection, what I took away, how it relates to myself. But my head always seems to go from, “Family history is a real integral part of who someone is, and finding ground between the generational and historical divide is incredibly important” to, “My family had to sacrifice and suffer so much. My dad went through this when he was my age, and what the heck am I doing?”

I think the best thing I can take away from doing this interview is to internalize both of these aspects and use them to benefit my worldview going forward. Of course I need to make an effort to continue the hard work my family's done to get to where they are right now, and of course I need to reach back in time to grasp the realities of their age.

I can use both in my personal and family life as a motivating factor to guide me going forward. It's really interesting to see how history shapes us and our expectations for ourselves, and I wanna see if my outlook changes in the future. But I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

I'm John Gorelik. Thank you.