![]() Milton was Celia's only beau who owned a car - a 1930 Ford Roadster with a rumble seat - he proceeded to wine and dine her. Little did she know that her salad days were about to come screeching to a halt. Until Milton Levitt spotted Celia on a date with his friend and felt compelled to literally sweep her off her feet. Since all of Celia and Dena's friends were interested in diet and health, they went on group hikes to Griffith and Hollenbeck parks and they continued going to more lectures. all day, wasn't too thrilled so Grandma would whip up his own meal of flesh. ![]() ![]() Of course Grandpa Charlie, tired and hungry from working as a scenic artist at Warner Bros. But their biggest heroine was nutritionist and best-selling author Davis, who convinced them to become vegetarians at ages 13 and 16.įradel didn't know what to make of her daughters, but since fruits and vegetables were less expensive than meat, she didn't complain too much. It wasn't very long before Celia and Dena were meeting holistic doctor Henry Bieler, scientist Linus Pauling, famed chiropractor Bernard Jensen and Paul Bragg, who opened the first health food store in America and popularized nutritional products such as his liquid amino acids, which mom still pours over just about everything. The lecturer was groundbreaking nutritionist Gayelord Hauser, who mentored movie stars such as Greta Garbo and Gloria Swanson (gorgeous into their 80s) about diet and lifestyle. She asked her baby sister if she wanted to go with her the next night she'd even offered their ushering services in exchange for free admission. Since they didn't have enough money to go to the movies, Brooklyn Avenue was their entertainment.Ĭelia was still in grammar school when Dena came home from a lecture, her cheeks flushed, raving about the amazing man she'd just heard. She and Dena loved getting dressed up, taking turns helping Fradel push the shopping cart, choosing kosher chickens and freshly baked challahs, waving to their friends, begging Fradel for an ice cream cone. Mom remembers the Breed Street Shul on Friday nights as a great social event, second only to Brooklyn Avenue on Thursday nights, when all the mamas shlepped their children shopping for Shabbos. Celia and her sister, Dena, were 5 and 8, respectively. ![]() She and Grandpa Charlie moved to Philadelphia from Vilna, Poland, in 1914, and stayed there for four years before moving west and settling in the predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Boyle Heights. She was a good kosher housewife who cooked typical Ashkenazi food, much the same as her mother and grandmother in Vilna had before her. And just once, a real sandwich in my lunch instead of a pita filled with veggies, sunflower seeds and hummus? Did my mother even care that I was the kid sitting alone on the bench while all the other lunches got traded? While Celia was busy telling me "I was what I ate" - thanks a lot, Adelle Davis - I spent most of my waking moments wishing I could have bagels and lox for breakfast on school days and delicatessen with sweet rolls on the weekends. We had to wait a full 20 minutes while mom patiently cooked our oatmeal, then topped it with blackstrap molasses, never sugar, raw butter, never margarine, plus unsulphured raisins and organic cheddar cheese. And the worst part, my breakfast bowl wasn't filled with blue and green marshmallows floating in a sea of snap, crackle and pop. It was a shot glass full of vitamins with some freshly squeezed juice. The last thing I got when I left for school wasn't a chocolate doughnut. If they only knew that at home our milk was raw, our eggs fertile our bread bulged with brown, grainy nuggets. I remember my embarrassed apologies, which I'd utter with a small giggle, when my friends at Melrose Avenue Elementary poked inside my lunchbox and found nary a chocolate chip cookie, potato chip or even a white bread, packaged cheese or bologna sandwich. What was I supposed to think when folks uttered expletives behind her back? "Health nut!" "Health food freak!" "Food faddist!" All I knew was that she wasn't like the other moms. When I was growing up I had no idea how enlightened Celia really was. And she's never been in the hospital a day since I've known her. She takes no prescription drugs, no hormones her memory is razor sharp.
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