This photo was taken in a shopping center in San Francisco (USA), when I visited my nieces, my older brother David's daughters. It was taken in 1989.
In the 1980s David's daughters and their families moved to the USA. I correspond with them, and they call me every now and then. Hari, Abram's son, lives in Tallinn. Iosif's children left Saaremaa. Lia lives in Foru village and Ivar lives in Talevere near Tartu. They live in villages. We also keep in touch. Hari often comes to see me, and Ivar and Lia frequently visit me. Ivar calls me every week. I spend my summers in Talevere village. My nephews and nieces like me a lot. Every year they drive me to the cemetery in Tartu. We leave on Saturday, spend a night in Tartu and then go to the cemetery in the morning. We clean up the graves and remember our dear ones.
When I was younger I liked traveling. I went on vacations and visited all distant parts of the USSR. I even took trips abroad. I bought these holiday packages from the trade unions at work. I visited Poland, Germany and Bulgaria. I received a small salary, but food and utility services were inexpensive in the USSR, so I didn't spend much.
When perestroika began in the USSR, I had a lot of trust in Gorbachev. Life was changing rapidly. The ban on religion was lifted, there were many new books published, and newspapers published a lot of new information. There were interesting TV programs. It was allowed to travel abroad and invite friends and relatives from abroad. I went to visit my nieces in the USA. The Jewish community of Estonia was established during perestroika. This was the first officially registered Jewish community in the USSR. This was a new development for us at the time, but now I wouldn't imagine my life without our community.
