Nathan Shapiro, Roberta Shapiro, and Anya Glandon

00:02 My name is Anya glandon. I'm 19 years old. It is January 12th 2011 for Birmingham, Alabama and I'm with my mother and grandfather. I'm Roberta Shapiro. I'm 57 years old. It's January 12th 2011 in Birmingham, Alabama, and I'm here with my daughter and my dad.

00:21 Amazing Shapiro. I'm 93 years old. I'm here with my daughter and granddaughter and in Birmingham, Alabama.

00:35 Dad, tell me what your childhood was. Like when you were growing up in Chicago is growing up. Well, I think I've told you this before I'll do it again.

00:48 My father died when I was 7 years old, my mother had four boys to race by herself, and it was difficult.

00:57 Am I kind of looked at it myself is something out of my life because my father was gone.

01:05 My mother had a big job taking care of for boys.

01:09 And she wasn't always the best of health, but she did a good job held us all together till we were old enough to go out on our own and we can take care of my mother and the being the youngest I was the last one to leave home. They all laughed cuz I could got went out in the outside world.

01:31 But we all hang together.

01:33 Long long time Charlie's close together

01:38 And I think we had a pretty happy childhood except for the fact that my father was gone.

01:46 There wasn't a lot of money your family owned dry goods store in the neighborhood sponsored and needed something a blouse or something like that. It was just a little neighborhood store and they were we were open 24 hours 7 anytime they need us and they are night. They knocked on the door.

02:11 We take care of what they needed and we were the only business on the Block is all residential and we lived in this house. We lived in the house in the front of the house was her business. So he just goes to one dog went from living quarters to our business partner.

02:31 That's how I was raised. When you were 13 years old you had a bar mitzvah and you collected. What was then and what 1930 in the depression quite a bit of money what happened to that money? And how much was it? It was a fortune to me. It was $130.

02:54 And I put it in the bank.

02:57 And I was a rich man on the family being the youngest I had more money to my older brothers.

03:04 And put the money in the bag.

03:07 Is there a little while?

03:10 And her mother got ill and she had to go to an Arizona for house.

03:17 And my brother didn't have any money and with that $130 I was for money man in the family.

03:24 So they came to me the three of them bounced down on me and said, I'm sorry, but your money is going to come out of the bank. We have to send Mom to Arizona for her help.

03:35 Well, I was younger like that. Well, he's big brothers of mind taking advantage of me and taking my money away didn't think the other aspect of it anyway.

03:47 We got the money. It out.

03:50 And put your mother to Arizona and right after we did that the banks went bankrupt at that time that a lot of banks going broke. And if I left that little bit of money in the bank Ida lost every penny of it anyway, so that kind of talk now very very significant story.

04:12 And the importance of money and it wasn't everything. There's other things going involved more important than money, and I thought that it taught me a lesson that I never forgot.

04:25 I know that you told me when you started to date and take girls out dad or maybe you didn't tell me everything or I didn't have enough money to take him out for something to eat. And then you come home with your older brothers. And what would you eat after a date? You had this very peculiar sandwich.

04:58 At home

05:01 Salami and salami and jelly

05:09 Minot don't sound good, right? That's right. What we thought it was great real garlicky for Mommy.

05:18 And that's what we'd eat late at night and we go to bed and sleep like an angel.

05:23 With that heavy food on it.

05:26 So you were pretty cheap date and then you met mom telling Dad how you met mom.

05:35 Yeah.

05:37 They had off.

05:40 Halloween party. Yeah, I don't remember that. We had a Halloween party and

05:47 Why do you looked around and it's a girl that dress like Daisy Mae?

05:52 Yesterday's he made she had a sack.

05:58 Scott blouse not a blouse

06:02 Like a short skirt real short skirt and look like Daisy Mae.

06:08 When did we met Daisy Meadows a character out of the news from the farm and she had a she wore a very short skirt, and she talked.

06:28 Real funny and she would Daisy Mae. Goes back a hundred years ago. Don't get go. That's the way it was and she was cute and that was Daisy Mae and I'm surprised somebody couldn't find that someplace in the archives because that's being forever Daisy Mae. Anyway, she was Daisy Mae.

07:01 I went to a party and a date was dated was dressed like Daisy Mae short skirt or like the first time I saw it.

07:16 So I was asking questions for the cardio lights going to call you about 8 people told her that well I call I think the next day she sounded very surprised naturally.

07:38 Then later on she told everybody told me you were going to call me and I guess that's how that's not it.

07:45 So you went out the first time and you weren't used to buy and dinner for your dates, but do you remember what mom ordered?

07:58 Yeah. Yeah. I said I got to get rid of that lady. She ordered a steak.

08:04 I couldn't afford a hamburger.

08:07 She ordered steak watch sweating. What I'm going to do. Now. What was it was? I got enough money.

08:14 But I got to watch out for her. She got expensive taste.

08:19 But I didn't work out too hard. I stuck around and after that we kind of got too close together and we were together for a long time. I needed for a number of years and you wanted to get married. How come you didn't know what else besides that I couldn't afford to and I was drafted into the army and I like to go for a year that that that they draft in the Army for 1 year, and I said I can do that standing on my ear and I was going through a four and a half years in the Army you got married before you went to the other day before I left to go to the store.

09:07 And we talked it over and decided we want to get I want to be married. She wanted to know before I went away.

09:15 And what did her mom think of it? She wouldn't talk to me.

09:20 But my my father-in-law forward after we got married we now so we got married mother and father-in-law wants to come have dinner with us. My mother want to wait and go my father-in-law.

09:32 And but that only lasted one day after that she came around. That's the way it's going to be might as well accept it. So we set the wedding nana and papa Gabriel.

09:56 Wait a minute and somebody else who is Gabe Shirley and Van.

10:02 Yeah, sure Liam been my best friends were there. That's right. That's correct. That's right, and then only came back.

10:11 I told him we were married and you know, I can't even remember Direction at this point but this time but you do

10:20 So you went to the Army?

10:32 Give me crossy overseas before I went to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri State side. And I was there quite a while.

10:44 And then they send me to where the Philippines and I was there quite a while longer.

10:51 3 years stream answer Philippines and Guam in the New Guinea

11:12 You never do a easy, press the whole time. You were overseas Never Never Scared all the time. And everybody said they weren't was a liar. You never know. What's going to happen from one second to the next.

11:28 And you live broadcast.

11:31 Just coming out of the woods and living there for us to look at me hold you live in the ground, and it was not easy. It was not easy.

11:42 Kankunis, we were all younger and couldn't endure endure it.

11:49 Did you lose a lot of friends lose a lot of friends in the war?

11:55 I don't lose a lot. I lost some I lost some very close friends. Yeah, unbelievable eating in the crossfire.

12:06 By accidents

12:08 Or somebody wanted to be someplace because it had to be someplace for whatever reason and he didn't care about the consequences when they died and think things like that happen it as far as War if it if you're in the hole and Tony nicely it dies. You don't take anything about it. Just move on and go to the Foxhole and keep going. That's all.

12:32 Don't get I guess you don't get too friendly with anybody.

12:36 They said I'm rare occasions on rare occasions.

12:46 Yeah, there was there was.

12:53 Tre Trattoria cross, but there was a reason

12:57 I can't remember how you probably remember. You told me a story. I never forgot about a friend of yours made it all the way through the war with you and at the very close friend.

13:14 He was Catholic and the Irishman.

13:19 We were close and he would cry like a baby not about the war but his home life.

13:27 He think about his wife and all of that stuff. He stopped crying anyway.

13:33 We were in a spot and it was really rough.

13:39 Come. He decided he wanted to stay where we were at. He was going to move. I told him don't move. It's dangerous to shoot not their ground beef and I'll make it on me, but he never made that he started out walking around standing up and then the diamond next thing. I know you're gone. I could see it from where I'm sitting in the front row.

14:01 Things like that happen things like that happen.

14:07 Philippines are you also told me a story about at the after the war was over you were going back to the port where you were going to ship out to go home and you were crossing a bridge on a river or oh, yeah. Yeah, we have that one friend on the bridge you had to go through the river yet. I walk through the river to get to the other side of the other bank.

14:32 And I we are one eye one friend are very close to from here from a flat country.

14:41 Iowa courts

14:47 And we are one-sided and we supposed to cross the river and go to the other side and we tracked finding a place where we could do it where it wouldn't be too dangerous and I couldn't find any and he kept looking and looking he couldn't find what he walked into it and he was swept Downstream by the storage of the water and they never found them couldn't wait to get on the other side and I kept telling him wait wait, but I'll find a way to get over there. No, I'm going so he playing

15:22 So anyway, I see things like that happen all the time. The other thing about being in the Army. I was a sergeant.

15:31 With 10 men under me and I always told him I said when you were given an order you have to carry it out and if you want to volunteer for extra Duty, that's perfectly all right, but you're on your own after I looked through the war.

15:49 That's why I think I left a little while. So you did what you had to go. I gave the orders call follow the orders live the artist.

15:59 In the afterlife by I never volunteered for a day afternoon when I was told to do so, I'm not matter how dangerous it was I had to do it. I did it try to sell my 10 men to do it. I went with him and we did it and that's where we went through the war. So I'm weight loss so I didn't.

16:20 Uncle Ben your mom brother your brother not the oldest but the next time he was in the Navy

16:31 And you told me a story a long time ago about what happened right before they dropped the bomb in Japan. What it what is Uncle Ben? Oh, yeah, and he was in the Navy.

16:49 And we got together my brother made contact with my outfit so they haven't seen me in. I don't know how many years was. He was in the Navy hours the Army he was given permission to run me down to find me.

17:05 And he kept talking.

17:07 Are flights out of the area that but male shuttle flights. They were running back and forth and they don't let him fly back and forth or Wheeler Way in one way or another and we were together at one day when they drop the atomic bomb.

17:25 We were together.

17:27 And all I know is I thought I was in a football game in the middle of them stadium with a hundred thousand people screaming.

17:37 It's over it's over it's over and we were together my brother and I and I remember that so vividly actually that was the end. I mean that you settled down. I had to do to get out of there and look for throne home. You would have gone on probably but we were so we were sent the ship off to Japan and I knew if I touch the shorts in Japan that video of me I knew it I felt it.

18:11 And we were just that close to gone.

18:14 And when I dropped the bomb that whole thing turned around. When did you also realize what a I mean, nobody knew what the bomb was nobody knew and it took a while for it to sink.

18:27 And after I don't get to see photographs or pictures, I don't know but we saw those horrific.

18:35 Plumes in the air from the bomb and we sell your dreadlocks at the beginning of the end and it was and it was.

18:47 Then we just settled down and took one day at a time being very careful to avoid the enemy to stay away from the enemy.

18:57 Until we could ship out of there and go home.

19:02 Cuz we got to go we had to go outside and we had to go run Duty Patrol the areas that bad hair is and just hope to God that everything turned out you get back from their patrols and everything Bri it hard to know that you were hurting other people that the people on the other side had family to sign up for the truth never thought about trying to survive. All you want to do is survive. You say the man over there is trying to kill me.

19:35 I can't let that happen.

19:37 Survival of the fittest. That's all I don't know why I survived it. Are you somebody was working out for me?

19:51 And I got to tell you I was going to hear. Oh I did what I had to do. I had told my man to do what they had to do and we did it and that was it.

20:01 When you think about your life so far, it sounds like losing your dad in the war were probably the worst things that happened.

20:14 Up till now OSHA require question. What are some of the things that have been the bastard and have made you happiest what are some of the things that are the best in the things that I've made you happiest?

20:29 Well when you come home and you start a new life and Life Goes On.

20:36 And yeah.

20:37 Everything's normal. Get back to normal. You worry about making a living working provided for your family.

20:45 PennDOT graduate graduate graduate it all works into place

20:51 And I checked.

21:03 Now, I just know where did Mom meet you did she fly to did she meet you in Chicago or did she come to me to?

21:14 You came home to the West Coast.

21:25 We got together pretty quickly.

21:30 My mom is his wife my wife stay with her for a while while I was overseas.

21:48 What other things have been kind of the high points of your life the your greatest pleasures?

21:56 I'm looking one of them my grandchildren all of them three of them.

22:05 And my son-in-law Just For Pleasure nice guy.

22:10 You have to be a nice guy to put up with me.

22:13 Anyway all in all.

22:22 And it worked out beautiful beautiful and then I look at my age and when I look in the mirror.

22:30 I'm already out live my time.

22:33 Nobody knows when that is, but at my age you're pretty much ahead of the game.

22:41 That's that's how I feel about it by live every day.

22:45 Like it's a wonderful day to be alive and that's where I live.

22:51 You have you have a girlfriend?

22:56 Doing that the only one she knows about.

23:00 She might have a girlfriend. I have a friend who are very good friends.

23:07 Her family knows me and she knows my family.

23:12 And we get along well together except when we have an argument which not too often.

23:18 I'm happy to have baby. We got along real good. Everybody needs companionship. Everybody needs companionship and a very good friend, but good close friend. Absolutely. And I think that's what we are together.

23:34 There are times when I don't agree with her and she doesn't agree with me, but it doesn't last too long.

23:40 How did you meet her?

23:42 How did you meet her?

23:45 How do I make if I remember how she lives where you live? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah, she lives there.

24:01 I know.

24:04 When I lived there I had a wife and she lived when when I first met her she had a husband.

24:10 I write exactly right her husband died.

24:15 But we was eating dinner together at the four of us or maybe with other people too. But basically the forest we always Community dining together and then when Wally died we continue to get together and when we still to continue to get together with other people every night with Bill dinner, and we became close and our friendship and relationship discontinued.

24:45 Truly yours growing old together. You do something three times a day, which is what do you do after each meal or we go for a walk know what you talking about? Yeah. She lives in the same place where I live I go to breakfast so she back sometimes you don't go for breakfast or get up that out of your women don't get up early for breakfast and then but we always have dinner together every night, but after breakfast if you'll call me and tell me she's ready we go for a walk use the inside we can walk one end to the other in about 35 40 minute walk weather nice. We walked outside and we do that three times a day after breakfast after lunch and then after dinner,

25:32 Them sometimes after dinner. We watch television or do other things that to do.

25:37 Turn off. Me to go home go to bed.

25:40 It's about 9:00.

25:43 I didn't get my rest.

25:46 If you had to give Anya and her sister and her brother some advice for Life, what would it be make it happen?

26:00 And don't argue with

26:03 That's all she had sense enough to want to know what to look for. She only when the time is right, she'll know and I'll be I know I'll be all know.

26:15 He already knows.

26:17 Grandpa

26:19 Anyway, I got a guy have a great family. I'll tell you that I'm proud of you.

26:26 Is there anything I should have asked you? Is there anything you want to tell me?

26:36 I know that's like that's pretty much all I know is.

26:44 That's my life line right there my daughter.

26:49 Well, I think I've been pretty lucky to have a pretty fat. I never did Beecher.

27:09 I have I have your many favorite. Yes, I do.

27:13 One of the things that's most extraordinary about my father he had to drop out of high school when he was fifteen. So and he came from communities that were very closed and and how much in yes and their time and a lot of people of his generation grew up with a lot of prejudices and my father and my mother to never had an ounce of prejudice. They always did all kinds of people exactly like they wanted to be treated themselves. They taught me to be that way and they could be friends with every Anybody Everybody and everybody and they could have a conversation. My Dad could have a conversation with this table and

28:11 So when they lived in Chicago in this high-rise apartment building a couple moved in a very interesting couple that she had been a nun and he had been a priest and they had fallen in love and left their vacations and got married and they became friends with my parents. Hello Jewish people who are now very close friends with an ex now and then an ex-priest and the woman had some disabilities and died suddenly and John was born and very depressed and then he had a heart attack and so my dad kind of took John under his wing and said you need an exercise program.

29:00 And you're going to ride your bike on the lakefront with me. So this little Jewish man my dad and his ex priest would go for long bike rides. He's trying to make John went got a bike. But if I can go aboard and the two of them, but a really nice bike and the two of them would go for these bike rides together and then John got cancer and he died and he left my father his bike in his will and it was a very prized possession on one day. My dad was riding along like front and a young kind of Thug came and knocked my dad off.

29:47 And my dad was 80 at the time and he said I'm taking your bike and my dad said you're not taking my bike.

30:01 And I have a cell phone in the policeman just went by and you're going to be sorry. If you take my bike in this young man ran off and left my father with the spike. But he had just gotten it into his head that this was this very special bike. But this very unusual friend had left him in his will and he was not going to let him take it. So I think just the whole part about this unusual friendship and this kind of quiet if someone stupid courage fighting back for this bike is just one of my favorite stories about by my dad.

30:47 Who's on the lakefront in Chicago should be able stomach day kind of a kind of a

30:54 Mid-morning, I guess when it happened so profane language and he didn't tell me about it. We were at a picnic and I saw him talking to my boss and I could see for my boss's face this kind of look of amazement and concern I walked over and I said Serafina, what did he just tell you nice at all? I promised I wouldn't help you out. So I finally pried this story out of these two guys.

31:29 Do you remember what John was like as Lyrica friends? I could you describe physically very very understanding of a lot of

31:45 Life and people

31:48 Well his profession normally would be a very very nice and I enjoyed his company and we spent a lot of time together riding up and down the bike go to the locksmith Michigan doing a lot of talking sitting on the benches along the way and resting and talk and some more delightful time. It really was and you know, it was handy permit handy for Emily right there by the lake didn't have to do any big deal to get there.

32:18 I spent a lot of time riding my bike around the lake comedian other people too, but that was a most outstanding. I thought it was unusual.

32:31 And I don't know life is pretty good at that time.

32:36 So 20 years from now if you're gone.

32:41 Yeah, where am I going?

32:45 Miami oh, yeah, that's a dirty joke.

32:55 What do you want to be remembered for?

33:03 Well, I think I live a very live very uninteresting life. I think the most important thing in my life with my family watching them grow up to be successful and learn diverse and we're still not true or we

33:27 Some more important than others that's important.

33:32 But basically family is the most important.

33:36 I try not to think too much about the long past.

33:41 It's there and it's all these they are right.

33:45 Tomorrow if it's important and when I can see it when I can see coming up in the near future or past not too far past and that's important to me.

34:01 In a we had a family club that just celebrated a hundred years of the meeting continuously and we had 350 relative to all over the world. Do you think that that was part of what shaped your attitude of my childhood was going to these meetings with my mother and dad?

34:31 That's been in existence for over a hundred years.

34:34 And it was a big event in our at that time he going back so far back.

34:42 Not too many people wealthy people that I knew.

34:46 Get my family out of my family and that was the way we got together. We've have meetings and once a year once a month during the winter 3-4 months out of the winter the family got together and brought dinner for everybody.

35:02 And that was on a Sunday night. So I remember

35:06 In the summertime we meet in park.

35:09 And have a picnic with the family and those are absolutely big events in my life. I mean, that's that's how you live if that's how you met your family and you know your fam and we all look for it tonight with always look for a guy.

35:26 And we are we watched ourselves grow up.

35:30 And I little ones grow up not older ones passed off into the dust. It's time when I

35:38 But that was our life. That was my life main thing.

35:48 I remember the first time I brought your mother to a meeting.

35:53 She didn't want to go.

35:56 Find me toilet in the garden.

35:59 That was nice.

36:01 Kind of like the first time I took Jerry to one and he was very confused by it cuz he was from a kind of a wasp bee family and they were pretty quiet and non demonstrative and after the family picnic with all these crazy rich people. He said to me I don't understand why you've been meeting you all these years because I think you like each other You're always screaming at each other and I just had to explain to him that we scream we all we hug. We kiss we fight we make up kissable Warren, you know, I think he's gotten used to it over time.

36:44 Are we all mellow down as we got older one way the other?

36:48 Anyway that it was a good life. It's still a good life. I really want to spend is.

36:55 That's it. I think we're good.