Since we started talking about great-grandparents, I want to share a story about my other Jewish great-grandmother, Grandma Rosa.
On that side of the family, nobody was fancy. Nobody had their own airplane or a pot to piss in. Grandma Rosa never even fully figured out the phone. She treated it like a postcard.
I’d call her and say, “Hi Grandma!”
And she’d respond with, “Hello my beautiful flower! We are fine. Grandpa’s leg is acting up a bit but we still go for walks. The weather is lovely, so we can spend time outside. We had zrazy for breakfast today. They turned out very nice. I’ll make you some the next time you come over. Give my best to mom and dad. I love you and miss you, tons of kisses from your Grandma Rosa.”
Then she’d hang up.
When we went over to her place, it was very similar. She’d talk at us very cheerfully while stuffing us with food and ignoring all our attempts to respond, and then would say, “Oh, you have to leave already? It was so great seeing you. Come back soon. Bye!”
Now that I’m telling this story I’m realizing how similar this is to my own strategies of sociability.
Clarissa's Blog 
“We had zrazy for breakfast today”
What are zrazy in Ukraine? In Poland they’re thin slices of meat (usually beef) wrapped around a filling (usually vegetables like pickles and mushrooms) and braised for a long time…. way too heavy for breakfast.
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Gosh, wow, I had no idea. Zrazy are like latkes. But darker. I have no idea what makes them dark.
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To my People Israel. Daily for years, Jews have witnessed the filth of antisemitism raise its ugly head. We fight a Regime Change War to permanently remove Hamas as the Ruling Government of the Gaza Palestinian State.
The state: that the vision of Prime Minister Sharon established in 2005. Today our nation conducts our national strategic interests as a ‘great nation’; we fight a regime change war to remove Hamas as the government of the Israeli established Gaza Palestinian State.
Antisemites scream and fight & denounce that Israel should transform our tiny nation of the Middle East unto a ‘great power’ in the community of World nation states. This war compares to a Bar Mitzva celebration of joy.
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Clarissa:
I have several old friends in faraway places who call me periodically and display exactly the same one-directional phone conversation as your Grandma Rosa. They say, “Hello, how are you doing?,” and then without waiting for my response, start a non-stop monologue reeling off all the recent events in their life, pausing when changing subjects only long enough for me to interject very short phrases like, “Really?,” “Good work,” “Interesting,” etc. When their spiel is finally winding down, I interrupt them, and give them a short, concise update of my own life (which they seem genuinely eager to hear.) And then one of us ends the call with a cheery cliche’ (if the news has been optimistic overall) or a hopeful one (if the news has been mostly a downer.)
I tolerate the calls because these people are very old friends that I’ve loved for decades, and it’s always been important to me to stay in touch with old friends who help to make one’s life worthwhile.
Sorry if this off-beat commentary is a bit corny compared to my usual grumpy old man posts.:-)
DREIDEL
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