Dear William (and Daniel, Catherine, Michael & Baby Girl Y) (and your parents), (and any future descendants and their parents),

Let me tell you about how I came to the United States — I was born in Argentina, on January 9, 1949. In the 1950s, I lived with my Parents, my Brother Tom, and three Sisters, Olenka, Hanka & Elzunia, in a rented house in Ramos Mejia, a suburb of Buenos Aires, in Argentina, South America.

Ramos Mejia, a suburb of Buenos Aires, Argentina

My Dad came to the United States first, in November 1958, to find a job and a place for us to live. At first, he resided with Wojcio [Uncle] Bolek (one of my Mother’s three brothers) and his family, on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, N.Y.C. Once my Dad got a job (you already know that my Dad’s first job in the United States was with the prestigious engineering consulting firm of Ammann & Whitney, in N.Y.C.), my Dad found an apartment in Forest Hills, Queens (William — Queens is one of the five boroughs that make up New York City — Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and the Bronx).

When my Mom got word that my Dad had a job and a place to live, she packed-up all our belongings, shipped some of them by boat, and purchased airplane tickets for us to travel to New York.

Trip from Buenos Aires to New York

On Monday, June 1, 1959, the first leg of our journey was from Buenos Aires to Santiago, Chile. In those days, we were allowed to go into the pilot’s cockpit, and I was the first to spot the Andes Mountains. While I went back to tell my Mom all about it, Olenka got to sit on the pilot’s lap. I am not sure what Tom, Hanka and Elzunia were doing, but I presume that Hanka and Elzunia were with my Mom all the time, as they were only four and three years old (at that time, I was ten, Tom was eight, and Olenka was six years old). [William — years later I found out that my Mom was suffering from a terrible migraine headache during that trip; and my sisters were taken care of by two young men who were returning to the U.S. after serving in the Argentine Army.]

We landed on an airfield (I think that it was a grass field, as I remember walking in the grass), and I think (I am not sure about that) that we had to change airplanes.

Spitfire

I do remember having to walk past several GIANT single-engine airplanes with red noses and white teeth that looked very angry and mean. My Mom told me that they were military airplanes (I think that they were Spitfires), and not to worry, as we were leaving soon.

I next remember being in Panama at two in the middle of the night – I was very impressed, as I had never been up at that time of night. We walked around the tarmac as the plane was refueled, and we took off at around 3 am or so.

We landed in Miami around 10 am on Tuesday, June 2, 1959. When we left Buenos Aires, it was winter (William – the seasons are in reverse in South America; when it is Summer here, it is Winter there; when it is Spring here, it is Fall there; etc. [William — do you remember what “etc.” means?]), so we were all wearing our winter coats — that was hot. I had to guard my Brother and Sisters while my Mom went to make arrangements to get us to another airport, where we would take another airplane to New York. I remember all these people walking around in shorts, with these weird colorful shirts – I had never seen anything like it before.

We then took a black limousine from the airport where we had landed to another airport. Now that was a long car; I could have played soccer in it!

In the afternoon, we were supposed to land at Kennedy International Airport (at that time, it was called New York International Airport; however, most people still called it Idlewild airport, its original name). But, because of bad weather, we were diverted to Newark Airport.

My Dad, Wojcio Bolek and Pan [Mr.] Veltze had been waiting for us at Kennedy Airport — then they had to drive (in two cars) from Kennedy Airport to Newark Airport through Manhattan (the Verrazano Bridge did not exist yet) to pick us up.

My Dad was a relatively short person — Wojcio Bolek and Pan Veltze were GIANTS! I am not sure which car I was in, but I do remember we got a short tour of Manhattan on our way to Forest Hills — I remember driving on Fifth Avenue in the rain, and seeing the N.Y. Main Public Library.

I will tell you more some other time.

William, when you grow up, remember to be kind to little kids — I still remember the kindness of that airplane pilot who showed me the Andes before anyone else.

Love,

Dziadziuś Paweł.

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