September 2014
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FOR RESIDENTS OF THE JEWISH HOME OF SAN FRANCISCO SEPTEMBER 2014 Painting by Claire Shor May the sound of the shofar (ram’s horn) welcome a new year of joy, good health, and peace for you and your loved ones. Erev Rosh Hashanah Wednesday, September 24 CONTENTS SEPTEMBER 2014 2 MEMORIES 12 FUN AND FUNNIES AT CARTOON Oma Hooremans’ household ART MUSEUM Rudy Hooremans 13 WIT & HUMOR 3 MEMORIES Seeing the funny (Jewish) side of life Ellen Marks-Hinkle 14 A SHORT STORY FROM SILVER AVENUE KICKED OUT or 4 USY ON WHEELS “PARK” AT THE THE HATE-FOX-TERRIERS THING 16 JEWISH HOME Bernice Hunold IN MEMORY 6 I’VE REACHED ROCK BOTTOM! 17 Francine Hament 18 COUNCIL OF RESIDENTS July & August meeting minutes 6 RECALLING ROBIN WILLIAMS Bernice Hunold 20 BRAVO! Employees of the month ARTS BEAT 7 ~ August & September FUN FASHION ON PARADE 8 22 RESIDENTS’ BIRTHDAYS 10 ENDURING DAME OF BROADWAY September celebrants Elaine Stritch, consummate performer AT HOME contents are for the benefit of residents SUBMIT TO AT HOME! of the Jewish Home. At Home is based on the E-mail submissions by the 15th: tradition of free expression; submissions made Ilana Glaun: [email protected] by residents should be viewed as not necessarily representing the opinion, position or policies of HANDWRITTEN SUBMISSIONS to staff or the Home. switchboard by the 15th, or ask recreation staff for assistance. EDITING without approval of the author is a staff editor: Ilana Glaun reserved right, due to space and time constraints. designer: Michael Wickler Only content written or submitted by those photographers: Daniel Hoebeke connected with the Home will be accepted. Gary Tanner Michael Wickler JEWISH HOME 1 SAN FRANCISCO RESIDENTS WRITE OMA HOOREMANS’ HOUSEHOLD Rudy Hooremans ADAPTED FROM MEMORIES I remember there used to be a freight train track By Rudy Hooremans all along the centre of Tante To’s old street. Several times a day a train, pulled by a steam locomotive, Every other week or so we would drop in at Oma would come chugging down the street. At every Hooremans’ house. They had moved from number intersection the train would slow to a crawl and the 58 to number 101 Piet Heinstraat. It was a much conductor would step off, walk over to the corner, roomier apartment. Downstairs was a potato store. wave his red flag to stop the traffic – pedestrians, The new apartment’s living room was on the second bicyclists, horse and wagons, and an occasional floor and had a large bay window with a bench truck – and the train, with its bell loudly clanging, seat, which gave a splendid view of the full length would slowly pass. of the street in both directions. The room behind it became the dining room and there was a day bed Adjacent to the living room of Oma’s new on which my cousin Leo slept. Behind this room was apartment was a small room, which became her what was known as the garden room (like in our bedroom. Her other daughter (Vader’s youngest own home), even though this was on the second sister), Tante Beppie (who never married), had her floor and there was no garden. It became the room bedroom in the rear on the third floor, while Oma’s of Tante To, Leo’s mother. sister, Betje, had the small room right above Oma. The kitchen was located on the second floor in the Tante To had been suffering from severe rear, next to the garden room, with the bathroom osteoarthritis for many years. Over time, her ankle, on the third floor. The third floor front room was knee, wrist and elbow joints had become almost rented out, which provided some additional income. completely immobile. She consulted lots of doctors who could not do anything for her. For a while a Right behind the entrance door on the ground floor “magnetist” came to the house several times per were the gas and electric meters. Oma had meters week. He moved his hands back and forth above into which you had to insert a quarter in order to her knees and other joints, supposedly drawing get gas and electricity. Quite often in the middle of out the arthritis. A real charlatan, like some of the the evening the lights would suddenly go off and others Tante fell prey to in her desperate attempts someone had to creep down the stairs to insert to rid her body of this curse. Tante’s arthritis and her another quarter. Mind you, one quarter at a time, need to make things a little easier for herself was lest we should use too much electricity! Same thing the reason she (and Leo) had moved in with Oma. with the gas, forcing Tante Betje downstairs with the For many years they had been living in a third-floor quarter she first had to get from Oma, in order to be apartment on the Loosduinseweg. Tante To loved able to continue with the cooking. going to the movies, but the arthritis made it more and more difficult for her to go up and down the Tante Betje also suffered from arthritis. She had most stairs and into the streetcars. of the trouble in her fingers and toes. In the winter AT HOME 2 SEPTEMBER 2014 her fingers would get swollen and after a while the skin would crack. It was very painful. The only thing she could do for it was to smear on a glycerine gel, which was an extremely painful process and not much of a remedy. The lack of central heating was an important factor. Luckily her type of arthritis did not affect her joints the way it did Tante To’s. Moeder used to bake boterkoek, Jewish pound cake. Luscious! She used a pound of butter, a pound of flour, half a pound of sugar, one or two egg yolks, Ellen Marks-Hinkle a little salt and vanilla. After it was all kneaded together into a big ball and pressed into a baking tin, I got to lick the remaining dough out of the bowl. A real treat. Sometimes Moeder would bake MEMORIES the koek in two layers, with preserved ginger in between. All the family and friends loved this cake By Ellen Marks-Hinkle and usually asked for the recipe. Oh, the sweet smell of the eucalyptus trees in One day when we visited Oma, she hauled a cookie Golden Gate Park. tin out of the closet and proudly offered us pieces of the boterkoek she had baked. The euphoria of looking at the cherry blossom trees. “Just like yours, Dien,” she said to my mother. Making a daisy chain for a friend or a loved one. We each took a bite. I guess we must have looked A time when life and pleasures were simple and a little puzzled, because Oma inquired, “What’s the uncomplicated. matter?” “It’s hard!” we answered. “Can’t be,” Oma responded. “I followed the recipe exactly.” “What precisely did you use?” asked Moeder. “A pound of flour, half a pound of sugar, a pound of margarine, and two egg yolks.” “Margarine?” Moeder exclaimed, horrified, for especially in those days margarine was substantially inferior to butter. “It’s just the same as butter, except butter is much too expensive,” retorted Oma defiantly. The next time Oma made boterkoek, she used real butter, and it was equal to Moeder’s. JEWISH HOME 3 SAN FRANCISCO RESIDENTS WRITE KICKED OUT or THE HATE-FOX- Bernice Hunold Photo by Ray Hunold poor Homer apart. It would strain against its leash, TERRIERS THING snarling viciously, until we were able to get out By Bernice Hunold of its sight. Probably every one of you has an “it ain’t fair” story. Later on, of course, Homer was a giant German I’m going to tell you mine. shepherd and the fox terrier was still small. Small as it was though, it never changed its behavior. It For our first apartment in San Francisco, my still snarled viciously at Homer and pulled with all husband, Ray, and I got stuck paying double the its might to bite him. But now Homer wasn’t taking going rent. Do you wonder why? I’m going to tell it. Only all my strength and all my weight pulling you why. It was because we had only two weeks against Homer kept him from teaching that fox to find an apartment. Why only two weeks? I’ll tell terrier a painful lesson. you why. It was because of our German shepherd Homer’s hatred of a fox terrier. At the hotel in San Francisco there were a number of small scrappy dogs. Homer never deigned to That fox terrier lived in a San Francisco hotel notice these, not even when they nipped him, better left nameless, where we sublet a condo for which they sometimes did in an attempt to get his four months. It was a lovely modern studio, with attention. But as I mentioned, the fox terrier was carpeting we’ll never forget. It looked like suede another matter. When Homer saw it, he must have and the color was a heavenly aquamarine that remembered the one from Lincoln Towers. (Homer’s Homer looked gorgeous lying on. Even we looked unfinished business: he never got to bite back.) gorgeous lying on that carpet. Indeed, it had the same vicious snarl and lunging attempt at attack. When Homer saw that terrier, his But the fly in the ointment was this fox terrier. You rump went up and he meant business.