“Now, come on! You can do it"

DL: What did you learn about the family history while you were growing up? Who talked about it?

EE: Oh, my mother talked about it a lot.

DL: Do you remember any of the things she said?

EE: She talked about her mom and dad, and about her mother, Rosa. She came from Germany when she was very young, and didn’t really get any schooling here, couldn’t write English and couldn’t speak English. She always felt sorry for her mother. But Rosa got along fine. When she married Mike Holm, he taught her English and also taught her how to write, so they were fine that way.

DL: You must speak German, then.

EE: I can understand German, and also, if I have to, I can speak German, but when I was young, in order to communicate with my grandparents, I did speak German. Grandma always said, “Now, come on! You can do it,” she’d say, and I did- I was able to talk German.