Buried, Forgotten, Remembered
I grew up attending elegant symphonies, wearing my nicest Spanish dress with the black lace, meeting the orchestra members after the show. I awkwardly shake their hands and admire how black their dresses are compared to my faded Spanish lace. They’re playing my great-great-grandfathers music—a famous composer from Switzerland. As a Jew, he fled his country during the war and came to the United States. Agate Beach, Oregon in fact. I was raised not too far from where my great-great-grandfather wrote some of his most prolific pieces. I spent my most formative years in a house filled with photos taken by my great-aunt, a close friend of Frida Kahlo who took many of the most personal snapshots of Kahlo in existence. Another great-aunt, who my mother was named after, was one of the founders of the Lute Society of America in the 70’s. During a violin class, it is noted she told Albert Einstein off for not being able to count to the rhythm properly.