Martin Jacobson and Beth Keifetz

Martin Jacobson and Beth Keifetz

Interview transcript

Intro: 79-year-old Martin Jacobson tells his daughter Beth about his childhood after his brother died of Spinal Meningitis.

There was a lot tragedy early on. I had a brother who died at the age of 13, and I must have been about 6. It was the most devastating thing that could happen to a family, to lose a child.

Beth: And his name was?

Martin: Sydney. It threw a pall over the house forever. It was like, how can you be happy? Sydney is Sydney died.

Beth: And died of?

Martin: Spinal meningitis. I think it hit my parents very hard, but in different ways. My father was a very sweet, loving, not bombastic, quiet, guy. And I think his emotions were rather fragile. And when he lost his son, he went into what was then called a nervous breakdown. I could see something was wrong, I was only six, he wasn’t going to work and here he was playing games with the kids and I’d ask my mother why is my father not going to work and she’d give some excuse he’s not feeling well and I didn’t know enough,

In my mother’s case, she wouldn’t let go of me. It sounds ridiculous, but she’d insist on dressing me in the morning to go to school. Now I’d be sitting on a kitchen table, and she’d be putting my socks and shoes on, and I’d say Ma, let me do this.

Beth: And how old were you?

Martin: I was probably around 10, 12. I mean you don’t do that. You lose a lot of self-confidence from things like that. I guess she was afraid of losing me, but I never remember my mother putting her arms around me. Couldn’t kiss me, couldn’t put her arms around me. My father would, but she couldn’t.