Writers Tricks of the Trade Issue 1 Volume 8 | Page 23

Life Stories
CAN WE COME IN AND
LAUGH, TOO?
Rosetta Schwartz wrote her memoir at age 85
in 1994. It was published in 2006 and thousands of
copies have been downloaded. Imagine what it was
like growing up in a poor, but fun-loving family as
the youngest of ten children at the turn of the last
century. Here are some excerpts from a wealth of
memories filled with humor, love and sometimes
sadness.
When I came into the world in 1909, I was named Rose Schwartz. I was the
youngest of a family of ten and never had a middle name. I guess my mother and
father had so many kids by then, they got tired of naming them. I had seven older
brothers and two sisters. From the oldest to the youngest they were: Jean, Joe,
Meyer, Sam, Sol, Al, Charlie, Edna, Philip, and me, Rose. My name became Rosetta
after I started kindergarten and I was never Rose again. but that’s another story and
I’ll get to it later. I have a lot of things to tell you first.
My mother and father were born in the sthetl (town) of Friedrichstadt, Latvia
and immigrated to the United States after they got married. As I understand it, my
mother came from a rabbinical family, and she kept a strictly Kosher home. They
set up housekeeping in Chicago, Illinois where all of their children were born.
My father, Eli Milton. was a tall man—over six feet tall, which was unusual in
those days because people were smaller for the most part. My mother, Mathilda.
was under five feet tall, so when they stood next to each other they were sort of
like a Mutt and Jeff team— if you don’t know about those comic characters, one
was short and plump, the other tall and slim, just like my parents.
Our household was strictly Orthodox Jewish, which included several traditions. I
learned to read Hebrew at a very young age and my father would settle back in his
favorite chair while I read the Hebrew newspaper to him. Now that I’m old, I can’t
read a word of Hebrew. I can’t explain why that is, but as an adult I definitely didn’t
get involved in religion much.
Maybe that’s why I’ve forgotten Hebrew, but I can still speak Yiddish. When I
do go to temple, it is either Conservative or Reform and I usually only go on the
Jewish High Holidays. After my sister Jean and my brothers got married, my sister
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