I was born on April 24, l9l6 at 625 Tinton Avenue, Bronx, New York in the apartment, with a doctor present as well as my sister, Sally, who was 4-l/2 years old watching everything. I also had a brother, Hy, who was 2-l/2 years old. My brother, Harold, was born June l8, l920.

My mother and father were a wonderful couple. My mother was dedicated to her children and husband. She worked very hard bringing up four children, Sally, Hyman, Jean and Harold, but as we grew older we helped her. She was very kind and made meals for all of us even though there was very little money coming in. My father was the greatest. He had a wonderful attitude about life and happiness - always smiling and very good natured. He was a carpenter and painter. There was nothing he couldn't do. He was a self-educated man through his stamps and coin collection.

In l922 my father decided he would like his family to live in the country, so he had built a two-family house at 3606 East Tremont Avenue, Bronx, New York. When we moved in November of l922, we had no electricity, but kerosene lamps, a water well and coal stove in the basement. I remember helping my father shovel coal in the stove (at least tried helping). In order to get to our house from the City, you had to take two trolley cars and walk six blocks.

There was no synagogue, so we had Hebrew lessons in our front porch. About three years later, my father helped build the first synagogue. There were only about 25 Jewish families in Throggs Neck at that time and there was a lot of anti-Semitism.

I went to Public School 72 and I had to walk about ten blocks each way. We had a very strict principal by the name of Miss Carpenter who screamed at the three Jewish students when they stayed home on the Jewish holidays. Because I was left-handed naturally, she would take a ruler and hit my left hand while I was writing all the time.

My parents, Morris Belkin and Anna Arensberg, were very good people and always very kind. There was never any arguments among us. We were taught to respect each other's feelings . We had a happy childhood, playing word games and singing songs around our piano. My sister and I played together, my father played the accordion, my brother Hy played the violin and my brother, Harold played the mandolin. The word "hell" and "damn" were never uttered in the house.

My mother, Anna Arensberg Belkin, had two sisters: Rose Arensberg Crystal, the oldest, and Celia Arensberg Barkus, and one brother, name unknown. Rose was married to Schroll (Jewish name) Crystal. They had l2 children, six did not survive and six survived - Their names were Jacob, Abraham, Samuel, Anne, Jean and Hyman. They all died in their 80s. Celia was married to Samuel Barkus. They have four children: Ruby, Philip, Frieda and Nettie. They are in their 70s and 80s. My uncle (I can't remember his name) married and had 3 children, Anne, Betty and a son (name unknown) who died as a young boy. My uncle also died young in his 40s. My grandfather died when I was 3 years old but I do remember him as a tall man and very handsome. My grandmother, Fannie, lived with each one of her daughters until she died. She did not speak English. She died in her late 70s.. My mother spoke English very well and was very proud that she graduated Public School in New York.

My father was born in Vicebsk, Russia and he had two brothers: Samuel and Aaron. Samuel had four children: Ruth, Sybil, Hyman and Jeanna.

There is quite a story about my father and I am quoting from my cousin Mannie's Family Tree as follows:

Morris Belkin was the eldest of three brothers. He was born in Vicebsk. He was a powerfully built young man and performed as a "strongman". He probably performed other circus jobs there as well. No one knew the third brother who was killed while serving in the Russian Army, just at the beginning of WWI. Morris had a pronounced scar on his neck. It seems that he was walking down a street in Vicebsk, when suddenly a Cossack on horseback rode up to him and delivered a saber blow to Morris' neck. He was stunned and bled profusely. Luckily, someone came out of a nearby house to help him and saw to it that he received life-saving medical attention. Vicebsk was not spared the pogroms which took place throughout Russia during the first decade of the 20th century. Morris would have been about 23 when he emigrated to America in l909. He and Anna Arensberg married in NYC in l9l0, and produced four children, Sally, Hyman, Jean and Harold. I recall visiting the Belkins in the late l930's and during the WWII years when they lived in Throggs Neck. During those years it appeared to me that they lived in the country and think that there were some operating farms out there at the time. I remember it was a friendly household. Morris made a living as a carpenter and house painter. I remember him as being good humored, with a strong face and stocky build and having a powerful grip when we shook hands. I remember Sally, Hy, Jean and Harold and continued to see them from time to time.

We were all very smart. Sally skipped public school once, Hy skipped twice , Harold skipped once and I skipped three times. Even though I was Jewish, I was chosen to attend Hunter High School, which was a great honor. However it was located at York Avenue and 68th Street in Manhattan and it would have taken me two hours each way to attend that school. Instead I attended James Monroe High School. I graduated in June l932 at age l6.

When I was in Fifth Grade High School, I met Lou (Louis Brodsky). We fell in love immediately. I was l4 and he was l6. He and I never went out with anyone else.

My first job was with a real estate office in Throggs Neck. There was an attorney working there also by the name of Sidney Rodwin. The office owned a l929 Nash car which they used to park at my house a couple of blocks away. My boyfriend, Lou, was given permission to drive the car on weekends. So we had a lot of fun driving. As a matter of fact he taught Hy and Harold how to drive. My parents would not allow me to see Lou - just every other Saturday - with instructions that I had to be home by 11 o'clock. He had to go home by two trolleys , rain , sleet or snow.

Incidentally, when I was a child I never owned a real doll, but made my own by sewing rags together and painting a face. I also never had any new clothes but had hand-me-downs from my sister, who got her clothes from our cousins, Jean and Anne Crystal. They were very rich and we were very poor. When I got my first job, I earned $l5.00 a week. I gave my mother $l2.00 and I kept $3.00. I was happy to be able to help out. Of course, my sister Sally did the same and so did my brothers. Hy went to night college and got his CPA degree. We were all very proud of him.

I have to say we were a really good looking family.

Lou and I were married on June 23, l935 in the height of the depression. We had a small wedding at Rabbi Binder's house on l69th Street and Grand Concourse. Our gifts totaled $60.00 in cash and we thought we were rich!

I was working for Mr. Rodwin at his office at 475 Fifth Avenue and Lou was working as an assistant salesman for Rose Bros. with a Mr. Barnett. He had to travel up and down New England and was away from me in the Spring and Fall for three months each.

We lived with my parents for three months after our wedding and then moved with Lou's parents for three months. We then got a 2-room apartment at 890 Bryant Avenue, in the Bronx which had a Murphy Bed in the living room. We moved to l725 Eastburn Avenue a few years later. There I became pregnant with Bobby (Robert Brodsky). We then moved to a 2-l/2 room apartment at 2l25 Cruger Avenue in Pelham Parkway, where we lived for 20 years. Bob was born June 4, l940 and Harvey was born May 24, l944. I worked for Sidney Rodwin 8 years until my 8th month with Bob.

World War II started December 7, l94l. Both my brothers Hy and Harold, and Lou's brothers, Moe and Harold were drafted into the Army. My brothers were transferred overseas, but Lou's brothers remained in the U.S, I used to write to each one every single day. Lou was not drafted because I was pregnant, but I lost that pregnancy at 4-l/2 months. I became pregnant with Harvey six months after that. Lou was supposed to be drafted after I gave birth, but did not have to go because he was a father over age 29. He had to work at a war factory to do his part in the war. It was really a tough time, getting along with food rations, etc., but we managed. After the war, Lou drove a taxicab for awhile and then bought his own cab. Things were a little better for us then.

Bob and Harvey were wonderful boys. Both were very good-looking and very athletic. Bob at age l2 played in the Little League and was chosen to appear at Dodger Stadium with the Happy Felton Show on TV. We had the first television set in the building and everyone of my friends in our building came down with their chairs to watch our l0" TV. We were so thrilled to see him tossing the ball back and forth with Pee Wee Reese.

Harvey was a great ball player too and played in the schoolyard (across the street from our house) every day after school. No one would ever pick a fight with him because they knew Bob would get after them. Harvey was very smart, was taught to collect stamps and coins from my father when he used to come over every Saturday. I can still see the two of them studying the stamp and coin collections my father gave to Harvey. Bob was more interested in sports than hobbies, although they had a great baseball and comic books collection.

Harvey was bar mitzvahed in May l957 and his reception was at Rosoff's in Manhattan at a twilight dinner. Everyone had a good time.

Lou's brother, Moe, married Sylvia Felcher on December 28, l94l. My brother, Hy, married Sylvia Greenfield on June 28, l94l. Lou's brother, Harold, married Lila Seltzer on January l0, l948. My brother, Harold, married Audrey Rosenthal on February 2nd, l952.

My mother died on October 3l, l950 at age 63 from colon cancer. Lou's mother died on April 6, l966 due to a heart attack. My father died one week later on April l3, l966 due to a massive stroke. And Lou's father died June 6, l972, due to prostrate cancer.

Lou's parents, Isadore and Rose (Green) were married in l9l3. Isadore was born in Kiev, Russia, and had two brothers, David and Aaron, and a sister (name unknown). Rose was born in Odessa, Russia, and had two brothers, Max and John Green, and a sister (name unknown). All are deceased. Lou's parents had a big influence on us. For over twenty years they came over every day to spend time with Bob and Harvey. They loved the boys very much.

At age 38 I had a total hysterectomy. I was very ill, 3 weeks in the hospital and 3 weeks in a convalescent home . I suffered from premenstrual flushes very badly and my surgeon suggested that I go back to work as I was allergic to the medicine. I applied for a job as a legal secretary and was immediately hired by Benjamin H. Schwartzman, Esq. At 9 Rockefeller Plaza. I worked for BHS for over l6 years and retired in l97l.

Lou and I went for a vacation to Florida and saw the Condo Sally and Jack bought, fell in love with it, and bought at Lauderdale West in Plantation. We closed title on March l, l974 and did not move down until October l7, l975.

Bob graduated high school and went to Long Island University for over a year when he met Joyce. They married and had 1 child, Debra. The marriage was annulled one year later. He quit college and went to work for his father and uncle who opened a martenizing dry cleaning store in Inwood, NY and at Stone Avenue in Brooklyn.

We moved from Pelham Parkway in February 1959. In the meantime, we had to take Harvey out of Columbus High School (and all his friends) and transfer him to Martin Van Buren High School. Which was very sad for him. We felt badly but was happy when he did make some new friends. That is how he met Roselle at age l5. They married January 30, l966 in the biggest snowstorm of the year.

We had moved from Windsor Park to Rego Park to a beautiful brand new apartment at 9725 Junction Blvd. Bob and Harvey lived with us. Bob met Jane Messer and they were married March l0, l963. They have four sons: Richard, Michael, Donald and Andrew. Richard was born September 2l, l964; Michael was born September l, l966; Donald was born August l4, l968 and Andrew was born February 24, l97l.

Harvey's draft board would not leave him alone, constantly asking him to come there and sending telegrams that they were going to draft him after he graduated from Baruch University with an accounting degree. They said they would not allow him to continue with graduate school but had to be drafted in the Army. Harvey decided that he would enlist after he graduated and chose the Air Force. After he was sworn in, the draft board could not touch him. He and Roselle left for Lackland Air Force Base in Texas where he went through officer training and graduated as a 2nd Lieutenant. He was then stationed at Selfridge Air Force Base, where Rhonda was born Feb. 2, l969.

Lou and I used to love to drive to Michigan to visit. When Rhonda was 6 months old Harvey was transferred to Guam. In order to have his wife and baby with him he had to enlist for two and a half years more. They had a wonderful dog, Skipper, who they could not take to Guam, so we took the dog and kept him two and a half years and loved him very much. I wrote to them in Guam every day during that time and occasionally received telephone calls through a Ham Operator, plus pictures and slides.

We had moved from Rego Park to Silver Towers in Kew Garden Hills and had a lovely apartment on the llth floor. After we had lived there for over a year, Jane came to me and asked if we could buy a two-family house in Bayside Village. We bought it and they moved into ten split-level rooms and we moved into six split level rooms on the second floor. We lived there until we bought in Florida. We split the mortgage payment in half every month, so both of us benefited. We bought and moved in the Bayside Village house in February l970.

Harvey, Roselle and Rhonda came home from Guam. He was honorably discharged from the Air Force as a Captain. I remember Bob painting a bed sheet with the words WELCOME HOME, CAPTAIN PEE WEE. That was his nickname when he was a kid. They lived with us until they found an apartment in New Jersey They had a tough time in Guam. He was an auditor in the Air Force and many times he would have to fly over Vietnam from base to base . It was pretty dangerous.

When we moved down to Florida in l975, Harvey, Roselle and Rhonda moved to our apartment and lived there until they found an apartment in Rosedale. In time he became a partner in Lil-Jay Drive-In Cleaners. When we moved to Florida we turned over the business to Bob and gave Harvey our shares. At one time, Lou and Harold had seven dry cleaning stores in Brooklyn and Queens.

Bob and Jane found a beautiful six bedroom house at 22 Colony Lane, Great Neck, New York. We sold the house in Bayside and they moved there in l978. Bob and Jane were divorced in l980 leaving the four children in Bob's custody. The boys grew up and are wonderful husbands and fathers.

Ricky eventually got his Masters and PhD in Child Psychology by going to night school to attain them.

Randi was born in Rosedale on September 27, l977. A few years later Harvey and Roselle bought a house in Great Neck, 4 Reed Court. It was also a beautiful house.

Lou and I used to love going to New York to be with our children and grandchildren. We always tried to help as much as we could. We were and are always proud of our family.