Quotes from Edith Konecky

My parents professed to believe in God, but I rarely heard his name mentioned unattached to 'damn' or 'sakes' or 'willing.

I have a terrible memory; I never forget a thing.

He is not a pleasant person,' I said. 'I don't know what we need him for.' 'You'll just have to learn to get along with him,' my mother replied. We were speaking of her husband, the man she had chosen to father her children.

I suppose I ought to describe my father, but it isn't easy. Sometimes over the years he seemed one thing and sometimes another. He was a good-looking man, strong and ruddy. When I was little he seemed tall to me, but by the time I was thirteen he had become medium.

Children should be seen and not heard,' my mother contributed grimly, ganging up on me. That was the worst part, having her join the enemy. I knew it was her idea of diplomacy, and that it probably stemmed from cowardice, but to me it was simple betrayal, selling out her own child for the sake of peace.

If Grandma Goldman ever smiled, she must have done it in the bathroom with the door locked. She had been the undisputed head of her own family, ruling with an iron hand and a mouth full of rocks.