Sunday, September 6, 2020

Saks Family Memories

Joe's sister Judy (Auslander) Saks writes: 

Joe was very much my mentor, influencing me in matterspolitical musical and baseballical... A very good and just older brother: the incident when he bought himself an ice cream (saying that hs had lost MY dime!) struck me a uncharacteristically unjust, quite out of character...  Joe's politics were always to the left of mine, but at the same time, his tolerances were always broader-- he had and has friends very different from himself--- indeed Barbara's outlook differs greatly from Joe's--.   Good for him ! (and her!)  

We both went  to Music & Art High School , but Joe learned so much music, and still plays the clarinet.. He is very much a student.  Baseball is the sole area in which  I retained more interest than he; he taught me well.  Interesting to me, as perhaps to all siblings, is how different we all are.   Life, life,life, as our dear cousin David would say.  Wonderful that he will be 90, and a healthy 90 at that!  

Many more years, dear brother!  

Love, Judy

 

Judy's daughter, Eva Saks, writes:

1. I remember every visit with Uncle Joe from my childhood as a treat. (Please note that I live in a house with many dogs and we value nothing more than a treat. It is the highest accolade.) Uncle Joe was always the most charming and clever of men. One recollection, though, stands out. My family went to visit the Auslanders somewhere pastoral one summer -- was it Woods Hole? -- and dinner led to a rollicking political discussion. This evolved into a gigantic FIGHT, as my mom (Joe's sister Judy) and Uncle Joe disagreed about the Israel-Palestinian question. The fight became increasingly bitter that night until finally, near midnight, they were practically refusing to SPEAK with one another. My mom was particularly huffy. Then suddenly Joe had a thought and broke the ice: "Judy, if you and I, brother and sister, cannot speak about this subject, how can we ever expect the Israelis and Palestinians to resolve their differences?" This brought laughter to the entire room and gave us all hope for both the family and the Middle East. Now that I think of it, maybe it was JOE who became particularly huffy, and my MOM who had the ice-breaking line? LOL Such is family history!


2. To this day, my mother is second to none in her devotion to baseball. In fact, she has always dazzled me -- and many others -- with her command of baseball history, particularly baseball statistics. I never understood how she could possibly recall stats from her childhood! I finally asked her one day and she told me, as if this was the most natural thing in the world, "Oh, my brother Joe taught me mathematics with baseball statistics."  Perhaps this is really mom's story and not mine....but now it belongs to all of us.
 

 

 

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