Both my father's and mother's family were named Levine, although the name was not original to either family. My mother, Ethel, was born in Grodno, Poland to Sheyna Chia and Nathan Leavitt, their first child. When they landed in New York, Grandpa's oldest brother told him he had to change his name. Why? Because "everybody who comes to America changes his name." And so Sheyna Chia and Nathan Leavitt became Jenny and Nathan Levine. My mother was only 5 at the time so she stayed Ethel.

My father, Samuel, was the third son of Basha and Ruven Itzruch Lovaun. My grandfather emigrated from Riga, Latvia to Saskatchewan, Canada. He was a cantor fluent in many languages, of which English was the newest at the time. When asked by Canadian Immigration Authorities how to spell his name, he became frustrated and told them it "it's your language; YOU spell it." And so Ruven Itzruch Lovaun became Ruben Isaac Levine.

After settling in Saskatchewan, my grandfather sent for his wife, quite a character in her own right, to travel without a word of English, (although also fluent in other languages), from Riga, Latvia over the great Atlantic and across the Canadian wilds with four small boys between the ages of 2 and 11.

I do not know the exact details of how Mother's family wound up in Freehold. I know they started out in NYC. I believe that her father was helping somebody buy fresh produce to bring from Freehold to NYC. He was so impressed with the difference between the countryside and the city that he finally convinced my grandmother that that was where they should live. By this time, they were all three fairly well versed in English, which stood them in good stead since they were the first Jewish family to settle in Freehold at the time.

When my mother was about 15, just prior to Rosh Hoshana, her girlfriend came very excitedly to her and said the Rabbi that they hired (actually he was the cantor) had four eligible sons and therefore every Jewish girl for miles around was being groomed by her mother so that she would present a good appearance. My mother could not have been less impressed. But she went, so I was told many years later, and they were on the steps of the synagogue, my mother and two of her girlfriends when everybody got all excited because here came four handsome young men, the third oldest of which was Samuel who, with his blond hair and blue-green eyes and fair skin, made quite an impression on my mother.. and she on him. They made a spectacular couple since she was just as dark as he was light. Anyway, in those days, nice girls did not just go out on a date with a young man. He came to my grandfather to ask permission to call upon his daughter and it was not until the second or third time that he asked if he could take her to a movie BUT they had to be home by 10:00. And God help him if he didn't HAVE her home by 10:00! So, at 16 she became engaged. She was 17, not quite 18, when they married and I came along when she was not quite 19. This, then, was Miracle number one: Mamma was born in Poland, my father in Latvia. Wasn't it great that they managed things so I could be born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, United States of America on April 26, 1924?

By the way, I'm told that theirs was the wedding of the year and they settled in the big city of Perth Amboy. By this time, my father's family had grown to 8, two more boys and then the two girls. My grandfather had a job waiting for him in Africa and grandmother refused to go. She said she was tired of traveling around, that he could go, she was staying. In order to make a living she became the first butcher, female variety, that this area ever knew. But that's another story.