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Yudel and FernJust after my first birthday and without fanfare or ceremony, I was handed off to Yudel and Fern. The order for these exchanges had been determined by picking names from a hat. It was a nice hat, at that, the type men wore to work just before and after World War II.
Yudel and Fern owned a grocery store that did not bear a formal name on the outside, just a faded Coca-Cola logo. There was a hand-lettered sign in smudged ink covering most of the front window, declaring, “We Specialize in Everything.” On most days, including the winter, my cousins sat outside of the tiny store on old wooden soda crates, waiting for customers.
The grocery business is a tough business, especially when you do not sell much and the margins are thin. When they did make money, they secreted it a
