br
metro
Come & Enjoy the Fun atdET's...
Knowing When from page 16
Monday, May 12014 at 7:30 p.m.
in the beautiful Planterra Conservatory
7315 Drake Road, Farmington Hills
Tilo-yli keatro witk
Ex tll
bersrertsrl.
rise Entertainment
S pebal Guest Actors, Sur rise
and a hilarious "Old Jews Telling Jokes" Preview
01411V., Live, 9( SciteAt-Auutiorks,
A Private Yacht for a week in the Caribbean
A Behind the Scenes Tour by Les, Ashley or Seth of "Hardcore Pawn"
-Jewelry and gift certificates from your favorite vendors
+ great items in every price range
-
OUR ONLINE AUCTION IS OPEN NOW AT
WWWJETTHEATRE.ORG
To Order Tickets Call 248.788.2900
SUPPORTER $100 (1 Ticket), SPONSOR $250 (2 Tickets),
PATRON $500 (2 Tickets), BENEFACTOR $1,000 (4 Tickets)
Can't make it? Your gift of any amount will be appreciated!
Mail to JET at 6600 West Maple Rd., West Bloomfield, MI 48322
JET, a professional theatre company, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
1917170
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was much more to the story, as
Luxenberg learned during his
research.
Beth's sister, Annie Cohen, who
had severe physical and mental
health problems, was not institu-
tionalized as a toddler but at the
age of 21, when Beth was 23. Annie
went to the Wayne County General
Hospital in Westland, a psychiatric
hospital generally known as Eloise.
She lived in Eloise for 30 years
before she died in 1972 in a nursing
home.
Beth had spent most of her life
keeping Annie's existence a secret.
She never told her children or her
friends about her sister, and may
even have kept the secret from her
husband.
Luxenberg started to uncover the
truth after Beth died in 1999. While
settling Beth's affairs, Luxenberg's
brother, Jeff, came across a solicita-
tion from Hebrew Memorial Park
offering to plant flowers on three
family graves: those of Beth's father
and mother and someone named
Annie whom he had never heard of.
Could this be the mysterious sister?
The book juxtaposes Annie's
story with the story of Luxenberg's
efforts to ferret out the specifics so
many years later. It also includes
detailed descriptions of the treat-
ment of mental illnesses in the first
half of the 20th century.
Families keep secrets for a vari-
ety of reasons, said Sedler, who is
asked to speak on the topic often by
local groups. Sometimes the secret
is just too painful to talk about.
Sometimes, as in the case of Annie
Cohen, it's because of something
viewed as shameful.
Beth's decision to hide the reality
of her sister was "totally under-
standable in the context of the
time:' Sedler said. Families were
ashamed to talk about relatives
with mental illness. Beth felt people
would judge her harshly because of
her sister's problems, and thought
it might diminish her romantic
opportunities.
When her sister was hospitalized,
she felt the best course was simply
not to acknowledge her existence.
She never visited Annie at Eloise.
Today things are different, Sedler
said.
"Every family is different, but
there is much more awareness and
many more support services for
people who have challenges:' she
said. "There's a different level of
acceptance today, and I think fami-
lies are far more likely to reach out
for help:' ❑