I climbed the gangplank, about four stories high, with my suitcase, and as I got close to the deck, a dockworker pushed the gangplank away. With all my might, I threw the suitcase on deck and jumped on the ship.
A Chinese fellow and I played shuffleboard and Ping-Pong. We couldn’ t talk to each other, but we understood each other. It was before I made new friends, before I met your mother. The Nazi government allowed emigres to leave with ten U. S. dollars, and I spent three in Antwerp, one aboard ship. Aunt Elsie came to the docks in Hoboken and took me to the Bronx. I came to America on August 29, 1939, with six dollars and my life.
Janet R. Kirchheimer is the author of How to Spot One of Us and co-author of Seduction: Out of Eden. She is the producer of the award-winning film, AFTER: Poetry Destroys Silence.
20