Mishpocha

From time to time I check my Facebook account.

This time there was a message from Steven Barer. I reread it . Of course my son is Steven Barer but the photo was someone else.

I read once more. This Steven Barer is the son of Don Barer.

I first met Don in Palm Springs. I was buying a pair of pants in a men's store. I handed the clerk
my VISA card. He stared at it and muttered this can't be right.

I asked him what the matter was and he replied that my last name was the same as his.

As we talked, I informed him that I had met his father, Ben. Ben was a contemporary of my father, in fact a cousin. He had emigrated from Europe and had some anecdotes about my grandparents' life there life there.

My Aunt Sophie told me that when the family landed at Ellis Island they took a ferry to New Jersey to visit Ben Barer's family. One of the daughters took the young Sophie to a hairdresser and clothing shopping to convert her into an American flapper