Sweet Family Memories

A consultation with an older couple brought me to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn in a soaking downpour. I chatted with James, 95 as his daughter-in-law roused his wife, 91 from a nap.

As circumstances would have it I learned that James, like my mother, grew up in Rockville Center, Long Island. With James, I traveled through my mother's childhood as he described the small homes with front porches, leafy streets, and diverse families living side by side. Best of all, he, like my mother's family, was a frequent customer at George's Bakery—a Rockville Center fixture. My grandfather never paid us a visit without a box of their famous chocolate-covered leaf cookies. Boy was my rainy day uplifted by a charming storyteller and the evoking of long-forgotten sweet family memories.