Diminishing Elder Andreses

Cousin: Dena Andres Fried
Sister: Julie Andres Schwait
September, 2011

The eldest member of the Andres clan died yesterday, Dena Andres Fried, aged 98. My father, Reubin, 88, inherits the mantle of eldest from her. I did not know Dena or her three children particularly well, but we did see them on our semi-annual summer visits to Dallas when I was growing up. There would be large gatherings of relatives with much eating and a genuine sense of family. I always ate too much and ended up feeling sick, but my memories are primarily happy ones.

Dena was one of 10 first-generation-American cousins, the children of the four Andrusier brothers who emmigrated from Odessa (the one in the Ukraine) to Texas before WWI. Their father followed and died in post WWII Dallas without ever learning English; they all spoke Yiddish.

There are only two left, Reubin, and the youngest of the 10, Dolly, a mere slip of a girl at 75. I've got this nice recent picture of Dena looking pretty pleased with things at a recent family gathering in Dallas, which I did not attend. Brother, Tom, is responsible for the photo.

I blog because I am

It is necessary for me to blog. I have resisted the urge long enough. I have no pressing subject on which to blog, but blog I must. In fact, I write this for myself in the hopes that the act of writing will reveal the reason for writing. 

Today's blog is about family and falls on Labor Day, a good time to begin. Katharine and I are home with Hoover (Corgi) and no children. The three boys are away at school, and though this is not the first time we have been home without children in nearly 22 years, it will be our longest stretch without their daily distractions so far. This "opportunity" to look inward, to reflect on one's own lack of productivity, is as much my reason for starting this blog as any. 

Perhaps it is the need for discipline, a vague hope that writing regularly about anything will lead to more purposeful writing. And then assuming that I enjoy writing, that writing brings some sense of accomplishment and self-satisfaction (in a good way), I hope that some writing will lead to more and better reasons to write. Somehow, this will all be magically revealed to me as I wander from reflection to reflection.

Here's to hope!