Little Roof Jumpers

Chapter 17 Jewish What Does That Mean

Mattie's folks lost their business and were moving to a smaller home two blocks away. The alley would be lonely without Mattie. As little girls do, we cried and hugged. I can remember Mattie's dad letting us in the back of the truck with their boxes and of course Mattie bouncing around. As soon as Mrs. Kennedy had Mattie's room set up the three of us slept in her big canopy bed, me in the middle as usual. Everything was going to be all right.

Mattie now lived across the street from the empty lot where we played ball and just a couple of houses down from where Karin Grun used to live. Karin's father built them a new house across from Mattie's big house and then Mattie moved a couple of houses down from Karin' old house.

I would try to engage Karin when Mattie and Catty weren't home or busy, I had met her, her mom and siblings when they would go from their old house to the new one while it was being built. To get there they had to walk right by my house. When I would see Karin's mother pulling her little brother in the wagon and the girls following, I would run down the hill to say "Hi". It took forever for Karin to warm up to me.

Her mom and oldest sister were really friendly and I was determined to be friends with Karin. We were ten I was about to find out how hard could it be to make friends. The next time I saw them walking back to their old house I rode my bike along side of them. Mrs. Grun then invited me into the back playroom for some Kool-Aid. There was an empty lot across the Street from Karin's house where we played baseball or football. None of the Grun kids came out to play. My curiosity was getting the best of me. What did these kids do for fun, I didn't see them riding bikes, I know they didn't play sports so what did they do?

When their house was finished we visited Karin a few times, I remember once when we were seven or eight we put on a play at her house. Her mom had so many different gowns and fun clothes for us to try on. We played in Karin's front yard with her in the evening, I don't remember her being able to run the neighborhood with us until we were ten or eleven, and Karin seemed to be more comfortable when it was just she and I.

Karin was in for a treat when she came to visit. I knew how to do entertain a friend or guest. One of our first adventures together was a secret bicycle mission to a then upscale shopping center. There were restaurants, a homemade candy shop, and a food specialty store named after a friend's family, The Eight Duck's. Gluck's, a children's boutique, Ayres, a high fashion department store every girl wanted to shop in and Smith's, a fashionable shoe store and a candle making shop too. We were able to make groovy cone shaped candles that were three different colors that day.

The freedom of exploring all the shops together without our parents was spectacular. We did get in one little bit of trouble. I bought a begonia for my mother and we were goofing off and knocked over a display of plants. We then went to Arty's, a famous, pizza and nightclub joint. That is where I learned how serious a person of Jewish faith is when it comes to pork. When ordering the pizza I wanted pepperoni and Karin wanted cheese. So I said, "why don't we get half cheese and half pepperoni?" Karin began telling me eating pork was against the Jewish faith and tried explaining it and what Kosher meant. We were only twelve and she was so serious and intense when she spoke about her faith, we had cheese. I respected her dedication to her faith. When I went to visit Karin at her home on Saturday's Karin and her little brother were usually practicing their Hebrew under their mom's supervision.

Karin's parents spoke about their religion often while I was visiting. It could be about what part of the counter was Kosher or they would say something in Hebrew for their children to answer in kind. If Karin wanted to do something her parents didn't approve of I remember Mr. or Mrs. Grun asking why she wanted to do whatever they thought non sense. This amazed me I had never been asked why or for my opinion on anything from my parents. Karin was one of my most self confident friends.