Page 325 - WhyAsInY

WHat’s in a naMe?
Lord!), but how was Rabbi Halpern (still there!)? I allowed as I had been off at school for many years and wasn’t current. With that and some other banter, we left with an ominous “See you soon” immediately after “La Shanah Tovah [Happy New Year].”
My day was not yet at an end. After the parade back, I thought that we would settle in for an already late luncheon. But not yet. We were still waiting on somebody. I forget whom, but as an only child whose parents were not given to celebrating holidays by getting together with relatives whom they didn’t like, I could not believe that the army to whom I had just been introduced with much fanfare was not fully assembled. They soon were. I don’t recall if my parents had come over (although I believe that they must have), but I do recall that in atten- dance were, at least, Michael and his wife, Susan; Arthur and his wife, Adele; Uncle Murray Podell, Sylvia’s brother, and his wife, Aunt Mimi; Aunt Reba Singer, Sylvia’s sister; Uncle Jack Podell, Sylvia’s brother, and Aunt Sonya, his wife; Cousin Barbara, Aunt Reba’s daughter, and her husband, Bob Gelman, and children, Michael and Robin; Cousin Judy, also Aunt Reba’s daughter, and her husband, Hank Basch, and children, Nancy and Robbie; and, of course, Phyllis, Harvey, Sylvia, and Harry. During the meal, there were calls to or from Harry’s sister in New Jersey, Mae, who was married to Uncle Herman, who was Har- ry’s accounting partner; and Harry’s brother, Willie, who was in California and, mercifully, never showed up for anything and never had to be visited.
This was a lot to learn, but, if I failed to pick up on the details, there would be plenty of such gatherings and similar ones involving Harry’s side of the family (not just Aunt Mae and Uncle Herman but also their three married offspring—at that time, Roberta and Joe; Franny and Joe [sic]; Howard and Doris—and their seemingly innu- merable offspring, plus eventual grandchildren). No matter how many gatherings, large or small—and, once everyone had children, always large—the center of gravity would be Harry and Sylvia, and Arthur and Michael would invariably be Arthur and Michael (conservative, unfailingly practical, and consumed by talking about money and things
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