CAN YOU REMEMBER WHAT YOU DID 100 YEARS AGO?

Our cousin Juliet, 107, clearly recalls being with her mother at the polls the first time after suffrage when women had the right to vote. They traveled there as a family in a horse-drawn carriage. That was upstate New York, at the foothills of the Catskill Mountains.

In 1920, Juliet was the tender age of seven. She may very well be the only woman alive today who remembers the momentous event. One hundred years later, she contently watched the festivities as the first female Vice President of the United States took the oath of office.

Another momentous occasion recently occurred in Juliet’s life. On February 3, 2021, she got to wish her daughter a happy 80th birthday. Juliet’s daughter Ellen, our second cousin (her father and my father-in-law were first cousins), lives across the country. Due to the pandemic, an in-person visit with her mother at her house in Chatham, Massachusetts, was curtailed. They have full telephone conversations, however, and even discuss the politics of the day.

I called Juliet that day to ask her what it was like to have a daughter who is 80. She laughed and said she never expected to live so long to see her daughter turn 80. Continuing with our conversation, we discussed her thrill of living to see the first female candidate elected to the Office of Vice President. She expressed hopes of the inauguration of a female President but agreed that it was so wonderful to have a woman Vice President.

A quick google of Juliet Relis Bernstein will give you lots of reading material. Aside from being voted as Cape Cod’s Woman of the Year in 2019, another highlight of Juliet’s long life has been the honor of officiating at her grandson’s wedding in 2019.

When I posted about my call to Juliet and her reaction to her daughter turning 80 on a Facebook group that I belong to, People Who Went to Catskills Bungalow Colonies, I received several hundred replies. The most unexpected and consequential comment was from a woman nine years Juliet’s junior who grew up two miles from the boarding house owned by Juliet’s parents. She remembers Juliet’s family and wants to reconnect and “reminisce about ‘the old days,’ almost 100 years ago.”

After getting Juliet’s approval, I sent the woman her telephone number in a private message. I’d love to be a fly on the wall when they chat.

Momala Kamala waited a long time to achieve her position as Vice President of the United States but, Juliet waited a much longer time to see a woman inaugurated. Someone must introduce them. Now that would lead to quite a conversation. Maybe Vice President Harris will send Juliet an autographed picture of herself from Inauguration Day. Talk about quite a conversation starter.

Juliet, 107 - 2020 Grand Marshall of the Chatham, Massachusetts Virtual Fourth of July Parade

Posted on People Who Went to Catskills bungalows Facebook page

Wed., Feb. 3, 2021

“I just had a delightful conversation with our 107-year-young cousin in Chatham, MA (she was born and raised in the Catskills and went to Liberty High School). She lives in her own house on the Cape. I wanted to know what it was like to have an 80-year-old child. Her eldest of three, her daughter turned 80 today. Her mother said she never expected she would live so long to see an 80-year-old daughter. We went on to converse about many other subjects. I told her how much she has to offer and, she said, "well, I do."

Juliet Relis Bernstein was born July 2, 1913, and her family had a farm and small boarding house on Old White Lake Road between White Lake and Stevensville, now Swan Lake.

This is a post that will brighten everyone's day.”

Response from a woman in the Facebook group of People Who Went to Catskills Bungalow Colonies:

Harriet Shagrin Saffer commented:

“This article brought back so many memories for me. Juliet and I grew up as neighbors in Ferndale, just outside of Liberty NY. Although she is about 9 years older than I am, I remember her family well, including her parents and her brother Matthew. My parents, Joseph and Rachel Shagrin, had a farm (later a hotel) about 2 miles away from her parents’ boarding house. I would love to be able to reminisce about “the old days”, almost 100 years ago.”

On Friday, February 5, 2021, I read the above post and comment and spoke a bit more about Juliet on the World of Work radio show at www.wdvrfm.org. If you missed it, you should go to the radio studio archives to hear the excerpt. It broadcasted at the half-hour. If the show you are looking for has not been posted, check back regularly for archive updates at wdvrfm.org. Click “explore WDVR,” then click “explore WDVR’s talk shows.” Next, scroll down on the left to “The World of Work,” and click there. Finally, scroll down to “Past Guests and Interviews,” and click the arrow to the left of the show you wish to hear.

Harriet sent this picture of their one-room schoolhouse