You know, something's been nagging at me for a while, and since the cousin lurks here to read about herself, perhaps she can help.
Way back when cousin nadin was still a non-entity but working her way up to top DUmmiedom, I'd been intrigued by that she'd been part of the Judaic community in Mexico City. I was aware there was such a community there, although it's pretty tiny. These were for the most part Hebraic emigrants from eastern Europe who'd tried getting into the United States, and failed.
Then like Saul on the road to Damascus, one day it hit me.
Back when I was young, I was in an airport with one of my cousins; we'd spent Christmas with our grandmother in northeastern Pennsylvania, and were now flying back to college, for the second semester. For some reason, the flight was delayed, and we spent a long time sitting around, during which time we had a long conversation with a woman who was also waiting.
This woman, not young, eked grace and class and elegance out of every pore, obviously of good breeding.
She was from that miniscule Israelite community in Mexico City, and finding she had an enthusiastic audience of two 19-year-olds, she waxed long and interestingly about the Jewish people of Mexico City, especially that part about the Khelmer Maggids who'd gone there.
She was spell-binding, and we were sorry when after several hours our flight was finally announced.
At the time, I wrote down her name, but this was a very long time ago. It's probably in the family archives, but the archives are pretty massive, and it wasn't ever worth my while to try finding it.
Last spring, during a conversation with my now-older cousin, recollections of that experience came up, and he mentioned her name was "Doris Weiner."
I wonder if cousin nadin knows, or knows of, her; it's after all a very small clan down there.
