Once Upon a Time

             Where does a story begin?

             The fiction is that they do, and  end...      

                         --Rebecca Solnit

Ever try to tell a family story and realize what you thought was the beginning was only one strand? 

When I tell you how my mother used paper bags to create dress patterns, I find myself relating my grandmother's story.

My grandmother, like so many other immigrants, worked a sewing machine in a New York City sweatshop.

And to pick up another thread she joined the International World Garments Union. Which brings me to another thread.

My grandfather was one of the early Teamsters and I learned at an young  age to never cross a picket line.

Back to my mother's mother. My grandmother's father was a tailor in Poland. 

So where does it all begin?