PERCY DAVIDOFF
November 1948
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USA Visit Approx 1964
Ashley?s Barmitzvah 1963 
Linksfield
Vacation
London Family
USA Visits
Later Years
Dad
Ashley Davidoff
He was 6 years old in his native Lithuania
? a shy boyish smile in a family photograph
? And I noticed his boots-
? With both feet sitting squarely on the ground
? that was my father
And then they came?
So the family fled eastward?
And then westward?
A father and a brother died in the heat of a Russian idea and its winter
Again they came
So the family packed up and fled
A new country, a new hope
Going to school with other boys
A shy smile in the school football team
Hard times for the family
A sales job at pitiful pay during pitiful times
Walking many miles to save pennies?
To make pennies
It all helped
Eldest brother by this time was succeeding with a partner who turned out to be rogue
And so now it was brothers in business starting at a low
At first shoemaking was slow- and cumbersome of course
But time and dedication and the needs of a new family with three sons made good for many years
And all the sons went into a profession
Just a small black nodule on the calf of his leg
No ? not very good
The large glands contained the same foreboding
?Shoe business for sale?? ?Sold?
A fever ? doctors said it may be OK ? but on the other hand it may not
And then it descended
We cried we cried a lot
I walked along with five others
Two in front
Three to my side
And my mother and brothers were all there
And I remembered his boots?.
And I hope to stand square on the ground, ?and
With warmth and goodness
I hope to walk in his footsteps