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Ramona Grigg's avatar

A lovely piece, Lev. And, yes, that title is a thing of beauty. Perfect all around.

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Lev Raphael's avatar

Thanks! I confess: I was delighted when it came to me.

Museums and art were very much on my mind during the pandemic when I'd read about a museum exhibition I wish I could go to. This was my first art-related foray, back in 2021: https://glreview.org/cold-marble-hot-memories/

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Ramona Grigg's avatar

Another truly beautiful piece.

"They never spoke much about surviving the Holocaust, and the hundreds of postcards filled that silence for me. Europe was art back then, not death and destruction, and I communed with those images as intently as someone deep in prayer. Sitting on the linoleum-covered floor in front of them, I could have been one of those guys in a science fiction movie opening a mysterious box whose unseen contents give off an unearthly and mesmerizing glow."

And of course you would get 'poring' right. ❤️

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Lev Raphael's avatar

Thank you. I was delighted that they put it online and in the published magazine. I felt like that piece really opened a door for me to go through and make more discoveries.

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Ramona Grigg's avatar

I love when those unexpected doors open!

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Abby S's avatar

Just read this and the essay and I found it so moving. No one understands pain like a fellow pain sufferer, no one who lives without pain can begin to understand what it is like living with pain. Thank for writing about a subject that doesn't get enough attention

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Lev Raphael's avatar

Thanks for reading.

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Debbie Fraker's avatar

I enjoyed both the post and the essay. Great title. Likeness to one’s mother can be comforting or scary or even both, but it’s usually there in some way.

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Lev Raphael's avatar

I was deeply moved when I was doing research for "My Germany" in Brussels and a group of her former students said I had her smile. Nobody had ever told me that and when I looked at photos afterwards, I realized they were right.

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Dec 6, 2023
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Lev Raphael's avatar

Thanks.

I did write about my mother extensively while she was still alive, though she couldn't read, but the essays I've published about her in the last two+ years have brought her very close again.

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