California Dreaming

I've covered a lot of ground over the last week.  Since my last entry, I've traveled to San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Seal Beach, and San Diego, where I am currently spending my last few days in the Golden State.  On Sunday morning, the long trek east begins...

Dolores Park

San Francisco was simply spectacular. I got to spend time with many friends, enjoy great unseasonably warm and fog-free weather, and see three naked men @ Castro/17th (notable because I recall only seeing one naked man during my previous visits to that location). Let's see, what else...the price of a slice of pizza went up to $4.20 at Marcello's, the Mission is now the unequivocal center of all hip activities in the City, Sunday Streets warms the heart and feeds the soul, and Mid-Market will never become gentrified.

After a regrettably short visit with my sister and her hubby in Santa Cruz, I took my grandma to one of the classiest joints outside of Leisure World, Denny's, and then headed south to San Diego for some quality time with the parental units.  Since I arrived on Tuesday, we've been spending a lot of time outdoors enjoying all that SD has to offer...Balboa Park, The Bayshore Bikeway, Mexican-style lobster feed in Old Town, a gigantic flat screen Blu-ray entertainment center, and Mama's fried matzoh.

I've also been busy trying to get all my affairs in order, as all my mail is being forwarded here and this is really my last opportunity to address any outstanding issues with the sale of my home in Oakland, the rollover of my 401K, and anything else that may have popped up since I began traveling.  After a fresh oil change and a new air filter, my car is ready for the next leg, despite taking quite a beating on I-5 last week.  As I was entering the Los Angeles Basin, something that looked like a large mud flap flew off of the back of a semi in front of me and slammed into the front of my car.  I am interpreting this despicable act of malice towards my sweet, innocent Kia as a sign that I need to get out of Los Angeles!

Aunt Mary's "Manya" Death Certificate

I received Manya's death certificate in the mail today, indicating where in the 5 boroughs she is buried.  For those of you who I haven't told already, Manya is the "missing" aunt of my grandmother that is also the person who brought me into contact with my Ukrainian relatives who represent another branch of the Barishpolsky family tree that nobody of the last three generations knew anything about.  A Ukrainian cousin, Julia, who now lives in New York, contacted me about Manya several months ago because she needs to fulfill her grandmother's dying wish of visiting her grave.  Her grandmother was close with Manya before she left the old country, and they stayed in touch for several years.  However, after about 5 years, nobody heard from Manya again and didn't know why.

Through my love of genealogy and highly-developed investigatory skills, I connected the dots and found Manya's progeny in Yonkers.  It turns out that Manya died in 1919 at age 25 of the flu during a time when there was a major worldwide epidemic.  That is why my grandma didn't remember anything about her aunt Manya, and that is why relatives in Ukraine stopped hearing from her.  I will visit Manya's daughter and granddaughter in New York at the end of the month, and I am also hoping to accompany Julia to Manya's grave so that we can pay our respects together.