immediately contain his exuberance.
Throughout his public and Hebrew
school years, his energy and spirit do
not simmer down, frequently getting
him into hot water with those teachers
who expect children to be models of
decorum. At home and everywhere
else he gets into all sorts of mischief
and scrapes. With him it is always "it
fell, it broke, it fell apart:' In truth, he
had his father's curiosity — always
wanting to know "from whence the
feet grew:'
In junior high school, for a whole
term, he hides in the library during the
time in which I think he is at a
Spanish remedial class.
By the age of twelve, girls have
discovered this blond young man.
There are telephone calls from girls,
and letters, and one day, quite by ac-
cident, I discover that he has given his
I.D. bracelet to a spunky, black-haired
young lady. He is going steady! But
she is only one of many girls to come.
There are cars, cigarettes, liquor
and long hair. Then a mustache (a
barely discernible smudge of dirt on
his upper lip), Western boots, and a
room covered with beer posters.
There are laughs and tears over those
25 years, both his and mine.
At college, he fools around and
drinks, falls and breaks his leg, and
flunks out in his first year. Then he
pulls himself together and puts himself
through college by working. He has
always worked. Although he was usu-
ally the last to go looking for a job,
he was always the first to get one, a
tribute to both his charm and his luck.
He does us a favor and attends his
college graduation ceremony so that
we may have the pleasure of witness-
ing the event. In a green meadow sur-
rounded by flowers, he walks in the
processional, his cap and tassel askew,
a girl in front of him and two behind,
as always. I am so thrilled that I can
barely speak.
And he goes to work, getting a job
in a flash. More cars and girls and
beer.
One day, he brings home a new girl.
Others have come to the house
before, but this one is different — tall,
graceful, demure, with glistening black
hair. He looks expectantly at us and
so does she. She is examining us —
we are examining her. Her eyes

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The Jewish News 15