We really had an Uncle Henry, but we didn’t meet him until we moved to California. In the Los Angeles area we discovered a whole branch of the Schwartz family that we didn’t know existed. Schwartz was my Mother’s name and these cousins were related to her. As we got to know them, we found we didn’t especially care for them – especially Uncle Henry.
Now there are four “girls” in our family. Three of us entered the Sisters of Mercy. The fourth is named Suzanne. It was her name I received when I became a sister. My sister Suzanne entered a religious community also, but it was the Sisters of Charity in Ohio.
As the original Suzanne boarded the train for her trip to Ohio, my Father was a bit apprehensive. He said, “Suzanne, if you ever want to come home, you just let me know. It may be that they censor your mail. In that case let’s use a code. Just write, ‘How is Uncle Henry?’ We’ll know we have to get there fast and get you out.” Well, we all laughed, but believe it or not, that is what happened. I don’t know why Suzanne thought she couldn’t just tell them she wanted to go but she didn’t. That “How is Uncle Henry” letter arrived at 7400 Hollywood Blvd. and my Dad took the next train to Ohio and brought Suzanne home with him. This was war time and air travel was out of the question.
Now I’ll skip ahead a few years to another of my siblings – Mary Louise.
Mary Louse needs not a little article but a whole book written about her. A more colorful character you couldn’t imagine. Mary Louise left the Sisters of Mercy for a period of time. In this interim there were some extraordinary happenings in her life! I’ll relate one of them.
Mary Louise loved to get new jobs. She was very capable and could do all sorts of things. Anyway, once when she was quite bored she was looking through the L.A. Times and found an ad. It was for a tutor to accompany a family to Hawaii for an extended time. Sounded good to M.L. so she applied. She received an answer to her inquiry right away and was invited to meet this family immediately at the airport for lunch.
All seemed to go well. The woman was impressed with M.L’s credentials and M.L. was impressed with the family. She instantly liked the little boy and thought she would enjoy teaching him. SO – off they went to Hawaii to quite a lavish residence. In fact, the life style of this family was opulent. The woman went into M.L’s closet and took her clothes out and replaced them with clothes of her own choice. M.L. didn’t like this, but she liked the woman and thought she could live with the substitute clothes the woman provided her.
Pretty soon M.L. began noticing two Hispanic maids. They seemed very unhappy and they seemed to be constantly working. M.L. was very kind to them and even though she couldn’t speak Spanish she sensed the women were trying to tell her something.
In the meantime M.L. was enjoying the little boy. He was a pleasure to teach and M.L., in addition to teaching him subjects appropriate for his age, began to tell him stories about God.
All seemed to go well but M.L. was uneasy about the two unhappy maids. Somehow they communicated to her that they were being ill- treated. They never had any time off and their living quarters were very poor. When M.L spoke to the woman about her concerns, the woman turned on her and M.L.’s life began to change. No longer was she the favored tutor of the little boy, the one who could do no wrong.
Well, at this time M.L. came to realize that the two young maids had been trafficked. She later found out that they were forced into the country in the trunk of a car. M.L. began to worry about her own safety too.
Here comes Uncle Henry! We received a letter from M.L. Not knowing if her mail was censored, M.L. wrote, “How is Uncle Henry?” Now WE began to worry BUT knowing M.L. we knew she was very resourceful and that she could take care of herself. Indeed, she did take care of herself and she left a message for the maids to get out of there fast!
Now moving ahead a bit – the woman was apprehended and brought to court. M.L. was summoned as a witness. She was worried about it and asked my sister Suzanne to come along. When it came time for M.L’s testimony she was so nervous and upset that she just cried and was unable to help the prosecutor very much.
The woman was jailed for a time and that is the last we heard about her UNTIL we noticed a mini-series on TV that began to sound very familiar. The series was entitled, “American Greed: Deadly Rich.” It was about a woman, Sante Kimes and her son, Kenny who were accused of murdering a woman in her New York apartment.
It seems that this duo, mother and son, asked to rent a spectacular apartment in a high rent district of N.Y. for $6,000 a month. The owner was a woman named Irene Silverman. Silverman noted the very strange behavior of mother and son. Among other things, they always covered their faces in front of the corridor TV camera. Silverman asked the couple to leave but instead, they murdered her, taking all her possessions. Friends noted Irene’s absence and began to get suspicious. They contacted the police.
As I read an account of this couple on line, I was horrified to see the evil that they perpetrated. They were responsible for considerable theft and several murders. Look it up online! Sante and Kenneth Kimes.
I later read an article about a reporter visiting the prison where Kenny was incarcerated. At one point Kenny got the woman’s ballpoint pen away from her and attempted to take her hostage.
Despite everything M.L. learned about Kenny, she insisted he was a lovely little boy and was just “turned” by his evil mother. As for Sante, the Mother, M.L. was always worried that she would get out of prison and come after her with snakes. She had discovered that M.L. was terrified of snakes. In the articles on Google, I found that Sante died in prison at age 79. Kenny must still be incarcerated.
So much for M.L’s lovely little boy. But thanks for the family code, “How is Uncle Henry?”
Toolan Tales 