This is my great-grandmother Zelda. She came to New York from Russia around 1918. Shorty after she made the Bronx her home, she met and married her distant cousin with whom she had her only child, Natalie (my grandma). Natalie died at only 39, leaving my mom and her siblings motherless much too young. That’s when Zelda became an (even more) important figure in my mother’s life, telling her stories about Natalie and always encouraging my mother despite the pain they all experienced by their loss.
From what I hear, Zelda rarely smiled and was very emotionally reserved. I have many photos of her like this one where, despite her serious expression, her eyes say so much. I love the confidence with which she looks directly into the camera, her beautiful white hair, her flawless skin, her simple, elegant style. I can stare at these photos for hours thinking about how my mother, my aunt, my sisters, my cousins and my daughters and I are all a continuation of Zelda’s story. ~shared by @nata_andresen