Ab en Rogier in the USA:
"We hebben een fijne vakantie gehad in de USA. Het weerzien met de familie was echt leuk. We hebben met de hele familie Hetty's verjaardag gevierd in een restaurant. Het weer was koud met veel sneeuw, maar we hadden ook een paar lentedagen hoor."

Ab with Hetty, Kelly and youngest twins

Ab close to Canne

Canne, Gef, Roger

Dean, Ab, Marilyn, Roger

pictural debut on the family site: Liz and Ben

Rabbi Israël

With a song 'Rabbi Iraël' (see below) we - me and my good friend Karin - introduced our telling a legend about the chassidic rabbi Rabbi Israël ben Eleasar, nicknamed the 'Ba'al Shem Tov (18th century), this on an interreligious meeting in Nymegen.

Met een lied leidden wij ons verhaal in, de chassidische egende 'De bruid in haar graf' over de Ba'al Shem Tov, ofwel Rabbi Israël ben Eleazar. En wij zijn ik en mijn goede vriendin Kaatje van Z. , die het verhaal vertelden aan de bezoekers van een Verhalendag, georganiseerd als interreligieuze ontmoetingsdag in Nijmegen.
Het verhaal is te lezen op mijn andere website, klik hier. En dit zijn de Wij in beeld:

Op de wegen met zijn wagen reed hij, Rabbi Israël.
Van alle kanten kwamen klanten bij hem met hun wee en wel.
Ze vroegen om zijn zegen en soms ook wel om regen,
ze vroegen om genezing van hun kommer en kwel:

Heel ons, red ons, steun ons, troost ons
Rabbi, Rabbi Israël

In dorpen en steden, lang geleden kwam hij, Rabbi Israël.
Arm of rijk, kuis of verdorven, men kon bij hem terecht heel wel.
Men kwam met hart en ziel, men kwam met lijf en leden
om heling en de Rabbi deed het wonder wel.

Heel ons, red ons, steun ons, troost ons
Rabbi, Rabbi Israël

Een hele wereld is verdwenen, de wereld van rabbi Israel.
Een nieuwe wereld ijlt maar verder, koortsig en springt haast uit zijn vel.
Hij verlangt naar een groot wonder , ‘t kan echt niet meer zonder
dus kom naar ons terug, Rabbi Israël

Heel ons, red ons, steun ons, troost ons
Rabbi, Rabbi Israël

Febr. 16 '07

Klimop

Had ik de kracht van een klimop
dan klom ik omhoog tot in de top.
Ik omarmde brutaal twijgen en takken
niet bewust van hun ongemakken.
Ik slingerde mezelf over paden en struiken
om daarna in de gulzige sloot te duiken.
Ik vocht steeds met mijn wortels terug
en rechtte dan fier mijn gewonde rug.

Irene van Zwol-Cassuto

geschreven in 2004 na een periode van rugklachten

Joseph Cassuto and Alan Berliner; David Cassuto mailed:

Ik ben gisteren met Carine naar Intimate Stranger geweest. Hij draait nu op IDFA t/m 3 december. Ik las net op je site dat je ook aandacht aan de film hebt besteed. Wat leuk dat zijn nicht Ellisa nu net contact met jou zocht. Hoe heeft ze jou gevonden? Ik had er vroeger wel van gehoord maar Carine had het plan opgevat om te gaan. Het was een boeiende film. Zijn grootvader, Joseph Cassuto deed me in een aantal opzichten erg aan mijn vader denken. Alan Berliner zelf was bij de voorstelling aanwezig. Hij leidde deze film en ook een korte film die daaraan vooraf ging zelf in. Er konden ook vragen worden gesteld. Na afloop van het geheel zijn we op hem afgestapt en hebben kennis gemaakt. Hij was opgtogen om twee Cassuto's in de zaal te hebben gehad. Hij zei dat zijn grootvader in de jaren zestig nog contact had met een Cassuto, hij dacht uit Nederland, die George heette. Nou ja, dat moet natuurlijk mijn vader zijn geweest. Hij vroeg mij om mijn email en hij zou op zoek gaan naar die correspondentie. Bij een gemiddelde eregast van de IDFA zou ik niet verwachten dat dat er ooit van komt maar gezien zijn grote interesse in de familiegeschiedenis en de precisie waarmee hij te werk is gegaan denk ik eigenlijk nog wel wat van hem te horen. Heb jij iets teruggevonden van deze briefwisseling?

[ about Joseph Cassuto and the docu by Alan Berliner, seen in the Amsterdam documentary festival by David and Carine, who spoke with the maker - a far family member - present there:

INTIMATE STRANGER (USA, 1991)



You've probably never heard of Joseph Cassuto, but by the end of this film you may think that he was the most elusive, fascinating and baffling man to have ever lived. Cassuto is filmmaker Alan Berliner's maternal grandfather, a Palestinian Jew who was a cotton buyer for the Japanese in Egypt prior to World War II. With Hitler's armies just miles away from Alexandria, Cassuto's family is split in half. They reunite in New York after the war, but Cassuto is restless there. He moves to Japan to spend eleven months of the year, virtually abandoning his wife and children in the U.S. while he pursues his business interests and a life-long love affair with Japanese culture. Seventeen years after his death, his grandson has constructed a poetic and emotional jigsaw puzzle out of the voluminous memorabilia of his grandfather's life story. What emerges is a curious legacy -- admiration and love from Cassuto's Japanese business associates; resentment from his family. Depending on who you ask, Cassuto was either a romantic adventurer or a shirker of family responsibility; a man at the center of historic events or a nobody.

"INTIMATE STRANGER," says Berliner, "walks the fine line between sorting the dirty family laundry and polishing the precious family jewel." Family members try to make sense of it all in this witty, candid and cinematically inventive documentary biography. ]

Rob answered David:

Een curieus heerschap moet het zijn geweest, die Joseph Cassuto, met zijn hang naar de Jappen..
Zou de docu graag willen zien, maar naar A'dam gaan dit weekend is me wat too much. Issie ook op dvd, weet jij dat?
Brieven van Joseph aan je vader heb ik niet. Kan me ook niet herinneren, dat je vader - die mij van tijd tot tijd wel eens bijpraatte over de vele contacten met Cassuto's over de hele wereld - Joseph heeft genoemd.
ik plaats een deel van je mail op- de family page.
Hou me op de hoogte van je contacten met Alan B.!

30 11 06

Lyme disease

Lieve Rob, I have a final diagnosis of what has happened to me over the last two months and why I fell so ill. It turns out that I have had an exposure to Lyme disease. What that means is that sometime maybe this summer I was bitten by an infected deer tick and it cause me to have the virus it transmits in my blood stream. This left me with swelling in my left elbow and muscle weakness in my tongue. It may also have been the source of the severe pain in my head that landed me in the hospital last month. I am going to go on antibiotics for 30 days and then I should be better. I feel ok now.
How are things with you? I can't believe we are fast approaching the Christmas season. Our stores in the mall are already decorated. I hate that. lol! You can put my health news on the website. Tot volgende keer. Veel liefs, Canne

Nov 4 06

Nettie Flesch's 80th birthday

Canne: the Cassutto and Flesch families getting together last month. I was with Marilyn in New Jersey on the occasion of Nettie Flesch's 80th birthday. She does look amazing doesn't she? Yoli and Tom were there too. I have more pictures on my camera of that day that need developing. Then Yoli's sister Udette came to visit us in Maryland and we all went out to dinner. She is sitting on her boyfriend's lap. We were some friends of hers that she knew in Maryland and they all met us at the restaurant by Hetty's.

Oct 11 06

Jahrzeit George Cassuto: 21 September 21 1996 = 8 Tishri 5757 = September 30 2006 = 8 Tishri 5767

we gedachten op zondag en vele familieleden kwamen bij elkaar op de begraafplaats Gan Hasjalom in Hoofddorp. Omstreeks half twaalf zeiden we Kaddish. Hanneke had een aantal geschreven reacties op George's overlijden bij elkaar gezocht en deze lazen we voor aan het graf; de reacties destijds maakten duidelijk hoe George bij zijn leven geliefd was, gewaardeerd om zijn hulp aam anderen en zijn bijzondere visie op Jezus en Jodendom.

We commemorized him on Sunday en many familymembers gathered on the Reform Jewish cemetary of Gan Hashalom near Amsterdam. About half past eleven we said Kaddish. Hanneke had
collected some written responses to George's death and those we recited standing round the grave; the responses made it clear how loved George was and how people appreciated his helping others and his special views on Jesus and Judaism.

Michiel, Ab, David, Kim, Hanneke

Karel, Carine, Marian, Baboe, Irene

afterwards we had a family reunion and drank coffee in a Hoofddorp restaurant and ordered George's favorite snack: een echte Hollandse kroket (croquette)

the photo is hazy, taken by a waiter, but taste the atmosphere...

Rob

October 1 2006

a painful episod

This book was for sale on internet (tip from Hetty):

CASSUTTO, MR. IS. H. Handleiding tot de studie van het adatrecht van Nederlandsch-Indië.
Haarlem, De Erven F. Bohn N.V., 1936. Or. cloth, 362+2p.¶ With bibliography and several indexes. Binding with some small imperfections; pencil-underlinings; for the rest a good copy.
EUR 22.50 = appr. US$ 27.90
Offered by: Antiquariaat Secundus - Book number: 14086

I knew about this book. It is a book about Indonesian custom ("adat") law, written by Prof. mr. Isaäc Cassuto, Opa, great-grandfather, great-uncle and forebear of most Cassuto's visiting this site.
I believe it is his latest book, published when he was a professor at Utrecht University in Indonesian law.
A story is tied up to it.
Around it a scandal developed, a bit tucked away in the family history.
It must have been a most painfull happening, taking place among other antisemitic incidents foreshadowing much more devastating events. The year was 1936.

A few months ago Karel discovered a passage in a book of a Dutch Historian (Cees Fasseur) in which Opa was depicted as a plagiarist. Also the article of a prof. Ter Haar (a colleague in Batavia), in which he accused Opa of plagiarism in this above mentioned book Adatrecht was found by Karel. I have a fotocopy of it.

Thorough study has to reveal what is true about this, but I suspect a certain carelesness in source acknowledgement in the Cassutto book has been used by his (antisemitic) ennemies to compromise him and bring him down.
In retrospect one realizes in what snake pit Opa had found himself: Utrecht University was at the time a N.S.B. (Dutch branch of the Nazi's) bastion, there was a fierce and false competition between Leiden and Utrecht in the field of Indonesian law. Moreover one of his best friends, the one who brought him from Indonesia to Utrecht, prof. Westra, also turned against him. Later Westra was the N.S.B. mayor of The Hague. Opa must have felt betrayed on all sides.

I have some books of Opa, but not this one. As it played such a pivotal role in the family history of that pre war period so I will buy it.

Rob Aug. 21 '06

David answered:

Lieve allemaal,

In fact I have two copies in pretty good condition! They are among a number of other books and juridical magazines including articles by Opa Ies. From these it is clear Opa Ies was involved in the Adat-recht for a long time. I have heard another sad story about his professional life. At a certain time, I think it was after the war he was working on a manuscript for a comprehensive handbook on Handelsrecht, Trade law or Business law. As he was almost finished the Leiden professor Van Oven published his famous book on Handelrecht. It covered the same areas so opa Ies saw no point in continuing his efforts. Do you know this story Rob?
Groet,
David Aug. 22

Bas and Leonore visit old Cassuto home in Bandung

Bas and Leonore in Indonesia where they made a wonderful trip across Java to Bali, during which Bas asked Leonore to officially marry him. Here they are looking to a bright future.

They made a pilgrimiga to this house in Bandung, where Leonores father Ab and Opa Max Cassuto stayed from 1949 till 1951 along with Ab's sister Irene and brother Rob

And here the house in 1950. The original adress was Houtmanplein 4, but then already is was renamed in Bahasa Indonesia into Lapangan Ciudjung (Tjioedjoeng[= a river] plein ).
Note little Ab looking to mother Puck. Apparently the forefront was made later on into an entrance to what is now the office of a brokers firm. The house looks bigger because of the lower viewpoint of the photo, but it is nicely in tune withe the tendency of memory to remember the things and dwellings of youth bigger then they later to the adult remebering visitors appear to be!

Beautiful picture made by Bas or Leonore of a peasant behind the plow and the 'karbouwen', Indonesian cows. The picture reminds of the famous dutch poem of Werumeus Buning: "en de boer hij ploegde voort" = the farmer keeps on ploughing, expressing the eternal continuity of basic human labour despite war and disaster.

August 7 2006

Henry

Lieve Rob,

Last weekend, the Sisters Carolyn and Marilyn went to see Oom Henri who is in very poor health. He is at the Long Island Jewish Hospital. He is suffering from terminal pancreatic cancer and has pneumonia. He is not expected to survive the cancer so he will be transferrred to a nursing home soon.
I will be visiting him this weekend and staying with cousin Albert Rodrigues in Long Is. NY.
we are praying for strength for the family. They are our (the American Cassutto kids) only living direct family members here in the US.
I scanned some fotos from Elly and Ernest's 1949 photo album and thought you would like to see some of them.
Veel liefs,

Hetty

Below more about Uncle Henry by Hetty:

Here then, is the Visit with Uncle Henry update:

First of all, he looked much worse than I anticipated but I could not shrink back in horror because he was well aware of my visit and the other people that were there. As you know from what Lynne and Canne described two weeks ago, there is hardly anything recognizable of him and he has shrunken away to practically skeletal condition. The fact that he can't wear his dentures makes it that much worse and he only opens one eye, almost Popeye-like (minus the biceps).
Anyway, Albert and Renee told me that he had been asking for me so when I came in he brightened up some. I greeted him in Dutch and attempted to hug him but he said "leave me alone". I think it was probably too painful for him to make physical contact. When I wanted to hold his hand, I asked permission first and he said 'no' so I didn't. He still has the drain in.
I sang "tulips from Amsterdam" for him and he started singing it in Dutch but I only had the English words. Auntie Renie started crying.
When I asked him "other than being in here, how are you feeling" he said "Eh, so so." He also sang "Ik hou van Holland" with me, and another time started singing it spontaneously. He also sang some of "Zoek de zon op". He tried to sing "Amsterdam" but I did not have the words to that one so it faded out.
I brought the old fotos from 1949 with me, the ones with he and Mom and Dad in NYC when they were visiting. Al taped the photos to his bedside so he can see them. When Al and Renee left for awhile, I got to ask him questions about his past, and he answered all of them! At that point he said he 'wanted to go to bed' (was tired) .

We stayed quiet for awhile.
Then I got my pocket Psalms and new Testament out and told him how much we love him and are praying for him (in Dutch) and I read him Psalm 23 and Psalm 100. Then I sang "tel uw zegeningen" to him.
At that point Al and Renee came back and he sang another round of Dutch songs and we said goodnight.
I said "Wel te ruste and slaap lekker." I also sang "Ik ga slapen, ik ben moe" to him.
The next day we came back earlier and brought lunch (bagels, etc) with Lea and her friend, Melinda.
Renee was already there and the nurse was feeding Henry mushy food. He did attempt to eat some of it.
I had written down some Dutch expressions and asked him, "what is it when you burp in Dutch" and he said "een boer" so i did the one about the boer. Al said he thought his father was very happy to see me and that I made him much more animated than he had been before. From his physical condition, I would have to say he can't possibly last much longer.
Let us pray for him and the family that he will not suffer and God will let him leave this world with dignity.
Love, Hetty

Rob Mailed:

Thanks, Hetty, for your story about uncle Henry.
A touching recount and so typical that in the the last stage of life the language of your childhood comes back and the songs of your youth. Very good of you to sing those songs,

I remember Uncle George mentioned he sang in her last days Jewish songs and prayers in Hebrew with Oma Lien, which she to his astonishment still knew by heart.
I wish Henry to get in peace with himself before the great depart.
liefs van Rob

P.S. some questions pop up: Do you want your story on the family site? if so let me know.
Are there things Henry told about his past apt to be shared with the family?
Is he a Christian or still practicing Judaism or plain secular and could he appreciate the New Testament coming up?

Hetty answered

Yes, the Knolleland Swing!! I didn't think aboutit in ages and suddenly I see before my mind's eye
Ernest behind the piano and doing his Knolleland Swing act, with this typical entertainers face, with smile and his rather small hands dancing over the keyboard..., it was always a big succes.
Rob



And here he is! Thanks Hetty.

american cassutto flowering

Canne sent 2 pics

Theatre at the Salisbury University: The students did a theme of songs and one acts from plays if the 80's. Above the curtain call. They were celebrating the 80th anniversary of Salisbury University. It was a wonderful time with dinner first and then the show. Ben and Liz came Saturday night. We all enjoyed the good food and the wonderfully talented students.

Canne with daughter

Elisabeth (Elly) Rodrigues - Cassutto,

April 23 1931, Amsterdam - † May 5 1984, Baltimore

more about Elly and husband Ernest H. Cassutto

Hetty Mails:

April 23rd, 2006 would have been the 75th birthday of our mother and your tante, Elly Rodrigues Cassutto. Today would have been a very big occasion, had Mom been here to celebrate it. As Jim and I were driving back from spending time with Kelly and the babies, Jim and I both said at the same moment, "I cannot picture mom ever being old".
And, that is true. Mom will forever be frozen in time, in our collective memories as always in her prime.
At this time in our lives, she would be playing with her greatgrandchildren in a new house that for her would only have been a few minutes away from where she and Dad last lived. But God's plan did not allow this to be. Instead, He spared her further pain and suffering and she did not have to be burdened with the grief of watching Dad wither away. She is watching over us all from her place in Heaven, happy in the knowledge that her loved ones are all doing well, watching her grandchildren be productive and thriving in their school, young adulthood or married lives.
Not a day goes by where I don't miss Mom tremendously.
How I wish I could share my new experiences as an Oma with her. I asked Kelly the other day if, now that she is a mother, does she think about her Oma and Opa and wish they were here, and she said, "of course". The circle of life continues, but we still miss the loved ones who are no longer with us to participate in it with those of us who remain behind to carry on. For my cousins in Holland, who likewise miss your own parents - our beloved aunt and uncle - this feeling of loss is one we have in common. That hole in our hearts will never be completely filled.

Love,

Hetty

† Gilbert

Dear Family and everyone who knew Gilbert;

Very sadly, my Gilbert passed away today; he was my faithful friend and the cat who loved me, as I did him.

About 10 or so years ago, Kelly decided I needed to have my "own" cat so we went to the Humane Society in Reisterstown to pick one out. When we saw Gilbert, he was in his cage with his name already on it. As we said "hello" to him, I called him and he meowed back to me. I opened the cage and picked him up, and he clung to my shoulder. He was the cat that "spoke" to me and we bonded right then and there. A few days later I took him home where he could meet Worf and become friends.
Gilbert would 'mush' on lay on me when I watched TV on the sofa. He would walk along the edge of my dining room chair and sit with me there when I ate dinner. Sometimes he would climb on my shoulder and stay there. If I made a kissy noise, he would lick my nose and kiss me back. His favorite thing to do would be to play with the stream of water in the sink. He would always follow someone to the bathroom and jump on, and wait for the water to be turned on so he could get a drink. If I called him, he would meow back and come to me. If I shook the can of treats and said "treats!" he would come run and get his treat. I was sure Gilbert could "talk".. he said "mama" and "water" (right, Kelly?)

In the past two years, Gilbert did start to show he was not completely well. He had some colitis and IBS and had his 'issues' with the litter box, but he was still my cat and I took care of him. The last few weeks, I found out he had early stage kidney disease and I had to start thinking what would I do if he got too sick.
A few weeks ago, he started hiding under the bed in the computer room and did not want to come out.
Then, the last few days, he seemed like his old self again, though with obvious signs of aging and diminished eyesight.
I had to go away to Las Vegas for a few days this week to join Jim, Jack and Terry for some fun while they were there for the convention; I decided it was best to board Gilbert for the 3 days I would be gone. Worf was OK to be here alone. When I went to pick Gilbert up from the 24 Hour Vet in Reisterstown, he was fine.
He meowed in his carrier on the way home, which was two minutes away. I called his name and told him we would be home soon.
When I opened the car door, Gilbert was laying in the carrier, not moving. I shook him, called him and petted him, but he was already gone. I rushed him back to the vet and they tried to revive him, to no avail. Apparently he had a heart attack on the way home. Just like that, my Gilbert was gone. Maybe it was God's way of being merciful to both of us.
The vet said at least he waited for me to come back to let me see him before it was his time to go. She said it was quick and he did not suffer.
My Gilbert was about 16 years old. When Kelly and I picked him out from the Humane Society, he was already 5-7 years old and he surely would not have been easily adopted and probably would have been euthanised.

He was my cat. I loved him, and he loved me back.
When you think about adopting a pet, think of the older, adult cats who may never be picked. Go to your Humane Society or Animal Rescue and love an older cat. Gilbert lived at least 10 more years in a warm, loving home with us.
Here are a few of my favorite pictures of Gilbert. I know Worf will miss chasing him around, sitting on the sofa and under the Christmas tree with him.
I will miss my Gilbert very much.

Love, Hetty

a painting

My brother in law Karel van Zwol found this picture on the internet, on the site of the Jewish Historic Museum in Amsterdam. It is a graphic picture titled: "A difficult passage in the Talmud"
Three Jews ate studying the Talmud somewhere in a small village. Maybe the person on the right is the village rabbi. It is made sometime around 1880.

Karel knew I had a painting on the wall with a similar scene. Here it is:

I inherited it from my parents who in turn inherited the painting from the parents of my mother ('Opi and Omi') . The question is: what was made before and what after and are the makers the same person (Piere Emile Tilly) or not. My painting is in a rather bad condition and obviously an amateur has meddled with it. Rob

April 18

twee heel verschillende foto's

Ik begin met deze foto van goede vriend B. met daarop in de diepe kleuren van zonsondergang de brug over de Waal.
Vind je toch wel goed, B. ?
Hoe straaljagersporen toch artistiek bijdragen aan deze bijkans sensuele impressie van de brug, die zich hier van een heel andere kant laat zien als de nauwe doorgang waar je twee keer per dag in de file staat.

Licht

Na lange meditatie is het mij gelukt het licht niet alleen te zien maar ook daadwerkelijk te concentreren tot een lichtpunt. maart 30 2006

Rob April 8 2006

Proud oma with twins

The latest news is that we have found a house about 15-20 minutes from us for Kelly and Mike and the babies to move in to. It is a nice big house. We are in the process of remodelling it with the colors they chose, and installing the new appliances for them.

We hope to have the grandbabies close by around the first of May.

Then Jim and I can be Pop-pop (as he likes to be called,) and Oma from nearby and on call whenever they need us. The babies had their 6 months check up and immunizations. Ainsley starts physical therapy next week so she can be stronger and keep her motor development on track.

march 9 2005

George mailed: Hey All, Check out this story of Grace & Glorie Cassutto. Another reason we named them the way we did. Picture: l. Glorie, r. Grace
from the Frederick News Post

BRUNSWICK -- Some days that start out ordinary turn into anything but. For Teresa Cassutto and her three children, one day in late January brought a brush with tragedy, but revealed one family member to be a true lifesaver.
Grace, 12, Glorie, 8, and Gabe Cassutto, 10, had the day off from school. Ms. Cassutto was home with her children that day and preparing to take them shopping for school shoes.

The family van, however, was uncooperative that morning and would not start, Ms. Cassutto said. She and the kids went back inside their house. Grace, Glorie and Gabe went into the living room while their mother called the auto mechanic.
Ms. Cassutto said the children were watching television and playing and were each sucking on a Life Savers candy. She said they were trying to be helpful by entertaining each other, realizing their mother was stressed out because of the van.

Grace recalled playing with a remote control hamster toy, which she was running off the edge of a table to make her sister laugh. Suddenly, Glorie stopped laughing and was gripping her throat."I could hear all this ruckus in the living room," Ms. Cassutto said, referring to the children laughing. "Then I hear Gabe screaming his head off."Thinking they were just fooling around, she told them to settle down and headed for the living room. What she saw was not a joke.

Glorie was choking on her candy. Grace sprang into action, performing the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the Life Saver. She had learned the technique in a Safe Sitter class offered at Frederick Community College just months earlier.
"I can't actually remember what I was thinking," Grace said. "My mind was blank."

She later told her mother that she remembered an image from a pack of cards given to participants in the class. Grace grasped her sister and pushed in and up, just as she had practiced on little dolls in the class, she said.
Arriving on the scene, Ms. Cassutto said she was initially concerned that Grace was hurting Glorie. She had to hang up on the woman she was talking to at the towing company.

"Your mind doesn't grasp what you're seeing," she said.
The next thing Grace remembers is her sister spitting up on the carpet. She had dislodged the Life Saver.
Ms. Cassutto recalls Glorie saying, "I'm OK, I'm OK." In the panic and emotion of the situation, Grace had other worries.
"I thought mom was mad," Grace said.
When Ms. Cassutto realized what had happened, she went to her daughter, who told her, "I'm so sorry she threw up on the carpet."
Ms. Cassutto recalls telling her, "Honey, you just saved your sister!"
Grace said her mother "came up and smooshed me," and remembers feeling a bit confused at that moment.
Ms. Cassutto said she is proud of her daughter.

"There are adults that would panic in that situation," she said. "For a 12-year-old child É what presence to be able to do that."
Though Grace is not yet legally old enough to baby-sit, she had taken the Safe Sitter course as preparation. The Heimlich maneuver was taught as part of the class.

"I didn't think I'd ever have to use it, especially on my own sister," she said.
Ms. Cassutto said she tries not to think about what could have been.
"It could have been so bad, could have gone so many different ways," she said.

march 10 2005

A more extensive report of the treatment is to be read on my special Hepc diary

Rob febr. 24 2006

Ze komen weer/They come again! Canne mails:

"Lieve Rob, gisteren hebben wij onze billets gekocht! So we leave Baltimore on Saturday July 29th and leave August 9th. We will be celebrating lots of birthdays as Tina and I have named this our birthday bash Dutch vacation. She will have turned 19 the day before on the 28th and we will celebrate Irene's and David's birtday while we're in Holland. Can you put this news on the website? I'm sending you this picture of us from this past Christmas since it's the most recent. veel liefs, Canne"

And she added this picture of two beautiful women