To my devoted family and close friends -- for those who demonstrated: such great love and sympathy in those many moments of doubt and mixed feelings regarding the writing and publication of the story of my life.
It is no light matter for me to relate all of my youth, dimmed through the passage of the years.
Vivid, however, is my sublime happiness in the memories of my married years to my beloved Hershl. . . the boundless joy and pride in my three sons, my two daughters-in-law and in the good fortune of my beloved grandchildren My Song of Songs It is they who wish to immortalize their "Bubbeh. . . and it is for them that she has under-taken to write of her life . . . at this late age.
To my grandchildren their "Bubbeh" never grows old. . . and I will not haggle with them on this score. A large measure of gratitude is due them for this.
My utmost thanks are reserved for Yudel Cohen . . . the patient, diligent and devoted translator of this work, for his efforts to faithfully transmit my moments of despair and the joyousness of my feelings in the course of delineating my thoughts and the story of my life.
And to the dear Jeanette for her capable editing, and the unusual responsibility she assumed in the process of having the book printed and completing the book to the utmost gratification of myself and my family.
The "Bubbeh"
Chaye Rochel KIejman Andres