Family Across Town From Author Aynah Askanas The What If Has Been Answered

In 1954, Estelle Rosenfeld was a striking woman in her mid-twenties, with long scarlet hair and big hazel eyes, when she met Matt Cohen. Tall, dark, and good-looking, he had just finished his third year of medical school at Tulane and was home in the Catskills for the summer. Recently divorced with a four-year-old son, Estelle was back living with her parents in New York’s Lower East Side and modeling clothes for the executives in charge of the Sears catalog. Sparks flew, and Matt and Estelle started a romance. Two years later, Matt graduated from medical school and moved to Minneapolis for his residency. In 1957, Estelle joined him, with dreams of marrying a doctor, but for her it marked the beginning of 35 years of anguish. In her debut memoir, A FAMILY ACROSS TOWN: My Father’s Double Life (She Writes Press; January 19, 2027), Aynah V. Askanas draws us into The Secret that defined her parents’ relationship and silently tormented everyone in her family. With remarkable honesty, clarity, and compassion, the author unravels the twisted threads of deception that marked her childhood and reflects on her journey to healing and forgiveness in adulthood. Growing up in Sun Valley, California, Aynah longed for more time with her father. As a pediatrician, Dad had a demanding job. He was typically home only three nights a week, frequently “called to the hospital for emergencies,” and routinely “required to work holidays.” As a little girl, she felt deeply for her Mom, who suffered from painful dermatitis and was often sad. She adored her big brothers, Rob and Steve, and her little sister, Dana. Aynah didn’t make friends easily, but Dad made her feel special for being smart. He gave her novels to read, from Great Expectations to Siddhartha. He sympathized with her insomnia and even brought her sleeping pills to help. Sometimes, Aynah was annoyed by Dad’s behavior, his social cluelessness and stinginess but particularly how he humiliated Rob and bullied Mom. Occasionally, she got the sense he was ashamed of them; he never invited his colleagues to their house and only once brought her to his hospital, where he neglected to introduce her as his daughter. It turns out, his colleagues already knew his family—the other family. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support .