Memories of My Grandfather

Woodcut of my Grandpa Al. (artwork by author)

Grandpa Al loved to tell stories. One of his favorites was about his first job at age 16 working as staff assistant at a Brooklyn hospital. He emptied bed pans, delivered food carts and transported patients from room to room. One day he was asked to carry a recently deceased corpse from the basement morgue to the second floor autopsy room. As he lifted the heavy body up the stairs, rigor mortis set in causing the cadaver to release a bowel movement. Al dropped the corpse on the stairs and said, “If you can poop, you can walk.”

My maternal grandfather Al was a seminal figure in my life. Born in 1913 in Austria-Hungary, he was the youngest of 12 children. He came to America with his family at age two. He was raised in a poor Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn, the son of a Hasidic scholar who spent most days studying in a Yeshiva (a Jewish seminary). Al’s mom worked as a seamstress in a garment factory. Al was raised primarily by his older sisters. At age ten, he delivered food for his Uncle Sam who owned a grocery store.

Al made deliveries for his Uncle Sam’s grocery store in Brooklyn (early 1900's).

Al snuck into Ebbets Field as a teenager to watch his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers. His favorite player was Dazzy Vance who threw a 90 mph fastball. Al played stick ball on the streets and became…