Mollie you received both your English and Hebrew names from my maternal grandparents, the people I called Grandma and Pop-Pop – Mollie and Allen Price- Malka Alitza עליצה מלכה
In Hebrew Malka means queen and Alitza means joys and happiness, so very simply put Mollie, you represent the queen of our happiness and joy in this house.
Mollie Doctor was born in Montville CT in 1913. Mollie was an only child who was raised primarily by her father Josef after her mother Celia passed when Mollie was very young. She went to nursing school at Beth Israel in NYC and while there met Allen, an aspiring song writer.
Allen Price was born in a third floor walk up on the lower east side of Manhattan in 1907. He was raised by his parents Sadie and Hyman, and joined by Oscar and Vivian. Allan had a beautiful singing voice and would frequently sing to entertain the family.
They married in 1940 and had two daughters, Carol and Andrea.
For many years Mollie chaired the local March of Dimes (Mothers March on Polio) Campaign. Mollie worked as a school nurse and as a camp nurse over the summer. When the girls were grown up, she went back to work as a public health nurse and retired as the Director of Nursing for Jewish Child Services (JCS) in NYC. It was the JCS offices that housed the big giraffe that I remember and which became the animal your brother Jacob now collects.
Mollie loved to read and she instilled this love in her children and grandchildren. She often read poetry aloud, whether anyone around wanted to hear it or not. Hopefully you will love reading just as much as your name sake did. When not reading, she was doing crossword puzzles and insisted that you learn to spell correctly by doing the puzzles. These are some of the reasons why we blessed you with her name.
My recollection of my Grandma is that of strong woman, who loved children. This is very similar to your mother. Mollie spent her professional life helping children through nursing, and her personal life raising a family and ultimately spoiling her grandchildren, Lisa, Jeff and Aisha. She gave me the appearance of being the one who ran the house, and kept Allan in line, again just like your mother.
Allen made his living as a salesman, though he always loved music. He sang on key and could pick out a melody on the piano even though he could not read music. He was a “pied piper” to all the kids in their Sunnyside Queens neighborhood. As he was walking down the street he would whistle a certain tune. All the kids recognized it and came running to greet him. I hope that you have inherited the musical bug, because singing off key is not something to be proud of, though it has never stopped me.
More than music, Allen loved sports. He played 2-man handball every week with his contemporaries. When the doctors told him to slow down, he began playing doubles but with younger players. He also loved spectator sports. It was not unusual for him to have an earphone connected to the radio listening to one game and then switching between two other games on the TV. He was also not averse to yelling at the referees and umpires and as your mother will attest I have a tendency towards this as well.
To me, my Pop-Pop was a very special person, though I only knew him for the first 9 years of my life. Looking back on it, I am amazed at the influence he has had on me in those first few formative years. He helped mold me into the man I have become by instilling in me my love of competition and sports. He also trained me to use my mind, by teaching me the game of chess. I don’t think I would be where I am now, without him.
He was my hero, the person a little boy can look up and inspire to become. He was talented, athletic, warm, caring and giving. I think he relished having a grandson after having raised two daughters and I feel lucky and honored that I was that grandson. I wish I could have spent more time with him before he passed away. Mollie, since you were born, everyday I have thought about what he meant to me, and how I will now always have you to remind me of him.
Today, I consider myself very lucky to be able to give you a piece of my hero…his name, only because your mother shot down the name Thurman Munson.
Mollie and Allan along with my paternal grandmother, Bella, whom your cousin Katy is named, passed away in a tragic car accident in December 1978. They were all taken away from us too soon. The lesson of this to me is to enjoy the time we have together. Live life fully and always be happy. Work hard, but have fun.
We hope and pray that you have a long prosperous life and have the opportunity to love and be loved the way Mollie and Allan were.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment