Page 22 - WhyAsInY

Why (as in yaverbaum)
arrived at Doctor’s for a similar reason. In Mrs. Astor’s case, however, I’m pretty sure that it was not to get this story started.
As you should have already concluded, Doctor’s was the hospital of choice for New York’s very finest families. My family, about which much more later, chose Doctor’s as well. Apparently, after a good deal of care- ful investigation, my mother, who, as we shall see, was a world-class shopper, chose Doctor’s Hospital notwithstanding the fact that it was a full nineteen miles from her home (as much as one hour and forty min- utes by—heaven forbid!—taxi). She also chose her obstetrician, a doctor who, naturally, satisfied two key criteria: First and, I presume, foremost, Dr. Kurzrach had privileges at Doctor’s; second, and it goes without say- ing but was, in any event, said repeatedly over the next seven decades, he was the “top man in New York.” So, over the next two days, Dr. Kurz- rach tried and tried and tried and tried to enhance his reputation, all to no avail and, in any case, certainly not to my mother’s satisfaction. (But he didn’t get the blame; as we shall see, my mother’s judgment fell on someone entirely more deserving.)
In any event, the problem, for which I only recently learned the medical term, was shoulder dystocia. I shall spare you the details (on this my memory is, in any event, hazy), but suffice it to say that after more than fifty hours of what was clearly a very difficult and unduly protracted labor, your author was born with a broken clavicle, and his mom was none too happy either, except, of course, until she regained her strength sufficiently to be served on fine china and to get to know me better.
Adding insult to injury, your author left Doctor’s Hospital (accom- panied by his mother) bearing the name Harvey. Why Harvey? Because it is the tradition in Jewish families to name a child after a revered deceased ancestor. My mother’s beloved father, Harry Caplan, had died when my mother was only nineteen years of age. My father’s father, Harry Yaverbaum, had died when my father, Arnold Yaverbaum, was attending medical school in Geneva, Switzerland. So both Harrys qual- ified, and my name was therefore bound to start with the initial H.
But my father’s sister Celia had already honored Harry Yaverbaum •4•