Page 232 - The Legacy of Abraham Rothstein - text

Letters

are for flat heads; better to be an egg head. Do not overexert yourself
with baseball. A little is good for physical exercise; too much is for
flat heads.
You are asking if I do some sculpturing. Well, I do it all the time I
have. I enclose one of my best in this envelope, and your rabbi will
explain to you what this represents. It is the best I ever made and
your mother robbed me of it. She likes it and I had to give it up.
Jordan is now in junior college, and Jerry graduates this winter and
will go to high school. I saw your picture you sent and you look
much like a high school boy. I suppose when you come home your
name will be John instead of Johnny, a grown-up respectable young
chap.
Hoping to hear from you,
I remain,
Grandfather Abe

March 11 [1955]
My dear grandson Jonathan,

Reading the letters that you send to your parents and the last
picture of yours make me think of you as a grown-up young man. To
be away from home, meeting people from different sections of the
country, one learns to behave and acquires better manners and self-
sufficiency.
May I suggest that you order from the post office some longer
postal cards, and make your letters longer and wider so I could read
them also. It seems to me that a fat big pencil might help to make
your lettering larger so that I might be able to read and also feel
them. As an artist myself, I would advise you to make your pictures
larger also to correspond with the letters, especially the noses should
be much larger and nostrils big enough to have the thumb able to
whirl around easily for a digging. It is a good idea to test your thumb
on yours; please, not when people are around. Hoping to hear some
times from you when the snow melts and the buds are appearing on
the trees,
I remain your grandfather,
Abraham
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