Hillmans 27 1926 Wildwood

THE HILLMANNS OF BROOKLYN

CHAPTER 27

1926 WILDWOOD, NEW JERSEY

There were two similar trips in 1926, one to Wildwood, New Jersey and one to Big Moose Lake. I may have some of these pictures mislabeled as to location. I have never been to either place.

Marian Hillmann and Herman Hillmann, daughter and father. 

1926 was the Summer between Marian's Junior and Senior year and the Hillmanns did a substantial amount of traveling.

Role Reversal

A very tan Rose

Dressed for summer days by the lake.

  

Marian is 16 years old.

the notation on the back says "partly cloudy" 

Hillmanns albums come out on Tuesdays. Next week the Hillmanns are in Philadelphia to celebrate the Sequiscentennial.

The Ring, A Story About Stewardship and Angels

            I dropped out of high school at 17 years old.  I was living on my own at a young age.  I was a legal secretary, while I went to college, part-time.  It took me seven years to get a degree that way. I desperately wanted to be a lawyer.  I found myself, occasionally, hanging out at a bar where all the lawyers went. 

            One night I drank too much, and a lawyer drove me home.  I woke up in the morning and the first thing I remembered was I hadn’t come home in my own car.  I needed to call a cab.  It was a weekday.  Just then I heard knock, knock, knock at my door, and there stood Joel Stein, a lawyer, looking all spiffy in his suit.  “I thought you would like a ride back to your car.”  I thanked him.

            About a dozen years later I was a lawyer.  A woman hired me to represent her with some issues pertaining to her husband’s estate.  Her husband was Joel Stein. 

            The widow didn’t have much money.  I don’t recall there was much money in the estate.  I think she just had a couple issues.  She paid me, in part, with a ring.  It was Joel Stein’s mother’s wedding ring.  It had the couples’ initials inside, with a date, 1943.  Joel Stein must have been a few years younger than my Dad.  I wore the ring a lot.  I have very small fingers.  I oftentimes wear rings over larger rings to hold them in place. 

            About ten years later I started looking at that ring and the voice inside my head told me that ring wasn’t really mine.  Joel Stein had a daughter, not the daughter of the wife I represented.  I am an avid genealogist and a treasurer of heirlooms.  It struck me as ridiculous I had that ring. 

            I searched through Joel Stein’s file and came across the daughter’s address, in another state.  I wrote her a letter asking if she wanted the ring.  I never heard from her and the letter never came back.  A year or so later I sent a second letter, same result.

            Then I got on Facebook.  One day I searched for Stacy Stein Baker.  I found her, in the state where she was in the mid-1990s.  I sent her a message and asked if she was Joel Stein, the Fort Lauderdale lawyer’s, daughter.  I never got a reply.  I still wore that ring all the time.  I would look at it and think, “This isn’t really yours.  You’re safe-keeping it.”  I have quite a few family heirlooms.  I wear my grandmother’s wedding ring a lot.  My daughter is not into family history like I am.   I thought someday I will die and a family member will look at this ring and wonder who it belonged too.  Maybe they will make up a story.  I will be shouting down from heaven, “It’s Joel Stein’s mother’s wedding ring.” 

            On Sunday, October 16^th, 2016 I got a message from Stacy Stein Baker.  She said she was Joel Stein’s daughter.  How did I know her father?  I jumped up from my computer and told my boyfriend, “I just got a message I have been waiting for for years.”  He knew the story about the ring.  He asked if I was still going to give it to her.  I said yeah.  I would miss it because it had been with me for so long and I wear it all the time, but it’s not mine, nothing’s changed.  The ring really belongs to Stacy. 

            Stacy was ecstatic when I told her about the ring.  Yes, she wanted it.  She didn’t understand how that message I sent her from 2012 just popped up in her in-box.  I figure it went to spam.  I don’t know how it left spam.  She said she didn’t remember what the ring looked like.  I said like this

Stacy said that picture flooded her with memories of her grandmother in Fort Lauderdale.

           I was really busy this week, but I knew Stacy was waiting for the ring with baited breath, so I took it to the post office on Wednesday.  I told her it was guaranteed to be delivered by 3 PM Friday, that’s the best the US Postal Service will do, but they have insurance and I don’t think Fedex does.  I insured the ring and prayed I didn’t have to make a claim on the insurance, because that would ruin the whole thing.

            Work has been tough this week, but this afternoon up popped this picture

It sent chills through my body.  Stacy asked if she could pay me back for the postage.  No, that would kind of ruin the mitzvah, nickel and diming.  Seeing the ring on her finger makes me very happy.

            Stacy told me October 18^th, was the 23^rd anniversary of her father’s death.  She said this was the first time in a long time she felt close to him.  I really wonder about the timing and the message popping up in her FB.  The whole story is so crazy.  I am going to guess Stacy was not close to her step-mother.  I never met the step-mother until she came to my office to retain me.  She didn’t know I knew her husband.  This story is not about an evil step-mother, so please don’t pull that from it.  If the ring had not ended up with me it would have gone elsewhere.  This story is about ethereal serendipity.  It’s a miracle I ended up with the ring.  Me, who has an affinity for family history. I kept thinking Joel drove me home when I was drunk, and he came back for me the next morning to get me to my car.  The ring was not really mine, and now it’s right where it belongs.

DOES YOUR 18 YEAR OLD NEED A LIVING WILL?

For the past two days on Facebook I have written about estate planning for young adults.  Today I’m talking about living wills.  As a lawyer I can tell you clients love living wills like they love living trusts.  I am not a whole-hearted proponent of either.

Living wills are an oxymoron.  My nickname for them is kill-me-now.  A living will is an advance directive that says I do not want life support.  They are readily available on line for free. 

The most famous living will case was Teri Schiavo.  She didn’t have a living will.  Her husband said she told him she did not want to be kept on life support.  Her parents wanted her on life support (tube feeding).  Once you’re married your spouse is your next of kin, not your parents. The life support was withdrawn.  Schiavo died. 

If you have a living will and the hospital knows it expect them to act on it.  If you have a health care power of attorney and your agent disregards the living will and asks the hospital to keep you alive your agent should expect to be sued by the hospital for ignoring your advance directive.    

I came to my ambivalence for living wills naturally.  When my brother was 26 he was hit by a car.  As a result of that accident he suffered massive injuries, the greatest of which is to his brain.  Death was oh-so-close when the doctors told my mother the only chance he had was if they put him in a pentobarbital coma.  This would slow his body down and give it a chance to heal.  My mother powerfully wanted my brother to live.  She wanted the pentobarbital.  Mom was next asked if my brother had a living will because if he did, no pentobarb.  My brother was a 26 year old manual laborer.  He had dyslexia and a tough time reading and writing.  He did not have a living will.

My brother got the pentobarbital coma.  They gave him a 3% chance of coming out of that coma neurologically responsive, as opposed to vegetative. They only gave him a 4% chance of coming out vegetative.  The other 93% was death.  My brother squeezed through the 3%.  My brother suffered terribly in his recovery and continues to suffer every day of his life.  Sometimes my brother complains about his situation and I ask, “Would you rather be dead?”  He always says no.

My daughter has only ever known my brother in his disabled state.  As she got older I told her that her uncle had not always been like that.  He used to be able to walk and talk, like you and I.  My daughter would ask questions and I would tell her stories. 

By the time my daughter was in the second grade she told me that she never wanted to be like her uncle.  If I was ever asked or given a choice, do not let her be like her uncle.  By the third time she gave me this speech I told her I got it, I don’t want to talk about it anymore.  It was a tough conversation the eight year old kept bringing up. 

After that dialogue I asked myself if I would like to be like my brother.  No.  I wouldn’t want my daughter to have to continuously arrange and monitor my care.  That is a burden I would not want to put on the people I love.

But I was with my mother when she requested that pentobarbital coma for her son.  I also listened to my daughter implore me not to ever allow her to be like my brother.  I understand both sides.  It is for this reason I am not quick to write up living wills for myself or my family members, though if the clients want one, they walk out with them.  I prefer allowing the designated agent in my health care power of attorney to make the best decision for me with the information they have at the time.

Hillmanns #26 1926 Marian's First Boyfriend

The Hillmanns of Brooklyn

Chapter 26

1926

Meet Marian's First Boyfriend

Marian with her first boyfriend, Billie Staab

In 1926 over 5 million people were unemployed in Europe.

Henry Ford announced the 40 hour work week (before that people worked more).

Route 66 was established

Look at those two Mama Bears

Rudolph Valentino died at age 31 of an infection, causing a frenzy. I wonder if Marian missed Valentino or if her mind was full of Billie

Marian wasn't too old, at 16, to enjoy playing in the Lazarus' back yard.

The first Kelley Blue Book ws published in 1926

Doubles

Coney Island

Rose and Marian. In May of 1926 Rose’s father, Henry, died at age 77. He is buried in historic Green-Wood Cemetery

Rose and Marian. Hillmanns albums come out on Tuesday. Next week we're traveling with the Hillmanns to Wildwood, New Jersey.

Hillmann's 25. 1926. Ice Skating

The Hillmanns of Brooklyn

Chapter 25

1926

Hit Single of 1926 was I’m Sitting on Top of the World

In 1926 the Hillmanns were living at the same street address in Brooklyn where Herman lived with his family when his father died in 1905. When Marian was born in 1909, Herman and Rose lived at a different Brooklyn address. We know in 1917 they lived in Essex County, New Jersey. Then in 1920 the census puts them back in Brooklyn, they could have been at the 1905 address, but we know for sure they lived at the 1905 address in 1926, which makes me wonder if that house belonged to Herman's mother all along?

Marian's close friend, Helen. The next Hillmanns album is coming out next Tuesday where we'll meet Marian's first serious boyfriend, Billie Staab

Weight Loss 2016 Week 12 Building Muscle

I took off weight this week, several pounds.  I won last week and this week's weigh outs.  I don’t weigh anything near what I want to weigh, but success breeds success. I have passed a couple hurdles and they are building blocks to more success.  Hooray.

I did something really different this week.  I’m off the elliptical machine and into heavy physical labor for my body.  I have been working on landscaping.  I love it because you can see the fruits of your labor pretty quickly, which is not often the case in the practice of law.  That’s also why I like house cleaning, my house, not yours.

This week I spread some sod and mulch in my yard.  I also spread bags of marble chips.  They are heavy, for me.  I pick them up at Home Depot, load them on a long flat cart, load them into my car, haul them to the side yard and then spread them.  At Home Depot there are a lot of really friendly guys who want to help me haul the rock.  I got there bright and early this morning, which was lovely because no one else was in the garden department.  Of course, that meant there were employees walking around when some really polite, helpful guy, named Mundo (he means the World to his mother), asked how many bags of rock I wanted.  He would put them on my cart AND haul them to my car for me.  I told Mundo that was so nice of him, but this is my work out and I need to do it.  He was gracious about that too.

I noticed muscular people seem to be able to eat more freely.  I recognize I could be lifting weights at the gym, but I can think of lots of house projects to do that require heavy work, so long as I can put the time to it. 

At the beginning of the week I was hauling 6 bags of rock a day.  On Saturday I upped it to 10.  I was hurtin’.  I didn’t haul any rock Sunday.  But today I bought 11 bags, and it wasn’t as hard as Saturday.  Right now I am working on the west end of my south side yard.  I project two weeks ‘til completion.

I also learned how to repair pvc pipe this week, and did it myself.  How cool is that?  Very.

I have also started a new eating plan that is working.  It is so profoundly out of keeping with any plan I have ever tried that I’m not going to tell you about it until I see it works consistently over time, maybe next week, maybe next month, fingers crossed.  It’s a plan I devised on my own. 

May I deliver good news next Monday.

Hillmanns 24. 1925. Stony Creek

THE HILLMANNS OF BROOKLYN

CHAPTER 24

1925

We join the Hillmanns in 1925. Marian is a 15 year old at Erasmus High. This year's Summer vacation is at Stony Creek, Connecticutt where the Hillmanns participate in an antique form of paddleboarding.

Winter wear, Marian is 15. Sing along to the top tunes of 1925 Dinah, Sweet Georgia Brown, Yes, Sir That’s My Baby.

Herman's mother, Emma Sackmann Hillmann Schmidt. Nellie Tayloe Ross becomes the first female governor (Wyoming) in the United States. Fifteen days later, Ma Ferguson becomes first female governor of Texas.

The New Yorker magazine publishes its first issue.

All decked out for a polo match at Governor's Island.

Marian tells us this is their first beach party. She must be referring to her Kenmore Gang because if you've been following the series we all know she has been to many a Hillmann beach party.

This pack of boys hitchiked to Washington DC. I hope it wasn't for the Ku Klux Klan rally. In 1925 the KKK demonstrated their popularity by holding a parade in Washington DC; as many as 40,000 male and female members of the Klan marched down Pennsylvania Avenue. In 1925, an estimated 5,000,000 members belonged to the Klan, making it the largest fraternal organization in the United States.

In 1925 Child Labor Laws were condemned over concerns of child idleness

Marian is on the right. She is with her cousins, Ruth and Dot, the daughters of Herman's sister. Ruth and Dot were raised by Herman's mother, Emma, because their parents divorced and abandoned them. I just got this original picture. Herman wrote on the back "partly cloudy 11-25-25 ft foc. stood about 10 ft away"

This year's vacation was at Stony Creek.

In 1925 the first motel (motorist's hotel ) opened in San Luis Obispo, California 

Meanwhile, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, Mount Rushmore was dedicated 

"The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published in 1925

Paddle boarding en masse

It clearly is stony in Stony Creek

Popular Films: Ben Hur and Phantom of the Opera, starring Lon Chaney

On the other side of the world, The Great Sphinx of Giza was unearthed at the start of a complete excavation.

1925 Births: Margaret Thatcher, Richard Burton, Johnny Carson, Tony Curtis, Paul Newman, Barbara Bush, Art Buchwald, Bill Styron, Lenny Bruce, Angela Lansbury, Dominick Dunne, Dick Van Dyke

Rose's mother, Henrietta Steffen Siegele joined the Hillmanns on vacation. I'm glad she was up and healthy and able to enjoy Summer vacation with her family. She died in late December. She was 71 and is buried in historic Green-Wood Cemetery.

Herman and Marian 

I think the dark haired woman is a Hillmann cousin, and I think we've seen her before in earlier pictures. Take a good look at this picture, then look at the next one, from the First Hillmanns album, picture approximately 1889 and tell me what you think. 

The next album is 1926 and we're playing with a bunch of high school kids.