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     It started in Poland-Russia in the Jewish shtetel. Rose Farber is born on a small farm and as she grows up she does the things that farm children do. Her favorite  charge is  the milk cow or "kevenlah" that she milks and cares for. During that time she contacts a disease that creates a small hump on the back. She's tough and vivacious her red hair and green eyes sparkling as she work. In her teens she leave the farm, walks to Germany and takes a ship to America. 

    At the same time Jacob Farber does the same thing and meets here in Ellis Island. They fall in love and promise to meet in Chicago. They are processed, approved and rejoin in Chicago. They marry and Rose gives birth to Meyer ( Mike ) Farber my dad.  Jacob dies sometime earlier and I'm named for him. What I didn't know was Jacob was ashamed of my dad and had a vicious temper. My father dropped out of high school and volunteered. He chose the Army and was sent on a troopship to the Philippines. He rose to the rank of Quartermaster and managed a cafeteria in the base.

   Other Jewish soldiers invited home to their group. Once they discovered that he could barely read and write they tried to educate him he resisted and they roughed him up since they would be judged by his ignorance since they were Jews. The war ended and he came home to Chicago. He proposed to my mother, she demurred since it was sudden and a short courtship and she worried about what her parents would think. He was tall, handsome and insistent and finally she yielded and they married. The photos in the album display a  smiling couple. The other photos are of people I don't know but I found one of Rose and Jacob and neither look happy. They started a bakery on the South Side and tried to start a family. Nothing came of it no matter how many times they tried and how many doctors they consulted. This went on for ten long years. Finally they found a doctor who determined it was my father's problem and injected something into his buttocks. Rita became pregnant. She gave birth after seven and one-half months to a small hairy male child. I was taken from her and placed into an incubator. I don't know how long I was in it. Since there was no genetic testing they could only see that my foor was bent in and that I didn't cry or move much. 

    A specialist was consulted and a soft shoe with a hard sole and open toe was ordered.. It's purpose was to mold the foot to a normal configuration over time.  As time went on and I grew the shoe was replaced and eventually the treatment stopped. I had a curly head of blonde hair, a wide smile and "smiling eyes" As my parents worked in their bakery the baby carriage was out in front of the store so I got sunlight and fresh air. I was watched by my Black caregiver and I'd guess as the stream of people came into and out of the bakery they stopped to look at me, wish my parents MAZEL TOV on the birth of healthy beautiful child and probably made signs over me to protect me from the " Evil Eye". I didn't talk much or walk. My grandfather called me a "lump-lump" which upset my parents. They again took me to a specialist and he suggested waiting. Soon he said I'd understand the world and start to crawl arounf exploring. That happened and soon I was toddling and walking and getting into trouble. I touched a hot radiator and learned NOT to do that again. I fell into furniture and hit sharp corners and started to play with scissors, opening and closing them endlessly. They got me "Snippy Scissors" an electric toy that vibrated dull blades and could cut newspaper. Over time the cord frayed and I got a shock and stopped playing with it. 

    They took me outside to the park, met other young parents. I played with the swarm of children in the playground. We ran up and down the slide. the swings and the sandbox. I went there until I was ready for first grade. We still lived on Artesian so our local school was Clinton. When we moved to the 2 flat on Coyle I was sad and remembered kissing a wall at Clinton goodbye.

The 2 flat was our family's dream. A huge master bedroom, large front room, two other bedrooms for Bebbe Rose and Ellen and Allen and I. 

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