If you're interested, here is what I wrote about it:
As I thought about the theme
in the early months of the cycle, my mind fixed on my paternal grandfather,
Charles Kades (formerly Kadesevitz). He came to the United States from
Lithuania in 1906 and grew up in Crystal Lake, Ill. He never got over the shame
of his father’s refusal to assimilate. Charles himself spoke flawless English,
graduated from UW-Madison, owned a successful auto parts store in Beloit, Wis.,
fished, and golfed. He is one of the kindest, most sensitive men I have ever
known, and I was always touched by the stories he told of his childhood
poverty. He spoke of how embarrassed he was that his father signed things for
school with his signature in Yiddish because he refused to learn to write in
English. Even though he was a prosperous American by any standard, the shtetl had
made its mark on my grandfather.
The photo behind his head is
a photo of downtown Beloit in the 1950s. The embroidered shtetl is based on a
photo of the shtetl where Charles (then Chaskell) came from, Taureg, also known as Tavrik.
The Beloit Country Club did
not admit Jews until the mid-1970s. My grandfather joined immediately.
