I thought I'd attach a few more pictures of Shadow and Whistler, who love each other as much as they can, in their neutered states, and tell you a little more about my family.
My great-uncle on my mother's side, Isaac Rosenberg, has always been an object of interest for my family, particularly me and my cousins from South Africa. The Rosenbergs came over from Lithuania after some virulent pogroms, and settled in the East End of London. As I have learned from scholarly studies about Rosenberg's early life and history, my great-grandfather on that side too was something of a n'er do well... probably I take after him. He and my great-grandmother hated each other, and after he reached England, he took off to be a peddler and itinerant philosopher. There he leaves the picture, so far as I know.
The Rosenbergs attracted disaster as a magnet does metal filings. My grandmother had one accident after another, being run over once by one of two early cars in Capetown. Her brother disappeared after he became too chummy with the Jewish mob in Chicago. Her sister was blown off a bridge into a cement mixer and smothered, a gothic Mary Poppins, on a windy London day. Isaac died at age 26 in a trench somewhere, scribbling poems, two of which are commonly anthologized among England's WWI poets. He was also an artist.
I would crop these photos, but I don't have a utility on my computer to do that, at least not one I can get to work.
3 comments:
Robbie,
You know, all of South African Jews seem connected in some way "your uncle's sister's cousin's neighbor was my brother's niece's daughter's husband" - I hear it all the time. I wonder if my mom and dad know your family??? Who knows - maybe we are connected or related???
Melanie
Melanie,
I commented above, in another post. Where is your family from? What are their names?
That ought to be a novel instead of a post! And a mere dune buggy killed Frank O'Hara! The Rosenberg saga is wondrous, Robbi--what good material they gave you.
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