If Grandma Goldman ever smiled, she must have done it in the bathroom with the door locked. She had been the undisputed head of her own family, ruling with an iron hand and a mouth full of rocks.

My parents professed to believe in God, but I rarely heard his name mentioned unattached to 'damn' or 'sakes' or 'willing.

If it hadn't been for Grandma, we'd have had no ethnic tone at all.

my mother insisted that I had to try things on to make sure they were becoming. Becoming what, I always asked.

I have a terrible memory; I never forget a thing.

If Grandma Goldman ever smiled, she must have done it in the bathroom with the door locked. She had been the undisputed head of her own family, ruling with an iron hand and a mouth full of rocks.