Bagels

Sonny's Bagels. Memories of South Orange. Sonny's is one of the few places in the village that still hold any memories for me. We went to visit my parents this past weekend prior to my mom's biopsy. It was a decent visit. In a way, it was the way I envisioned visits other families had with their parents. No yelling, screaming, guilt...well OK there was some of that but it was from my sister and directed at my nephew.

My mom was on her best behavior. I actually got to see two of my three surviving siblings and got along well with them. I finally see the merits of denial. Just let those things that typically irritate one percolate under the surface, and in a matter of hours, the family member to whom it concerns will just go away.

Now the thing with the nephew was funny. I cannot find anyone who actually saw the event, however the sound carried throughout the house. After we went to bed and were settling in for the night, a disturbance arose from the other side of the door. We distinctly heard my sister screaming to someone about "Having sex in my house!" followed by the sound of hands wailing upon someone. She yelled get up those stairs! We had to assume the recipient of the wailing was my eldest nephew because the voice was deeper then any of the other nephews could manage.

In my mind's eye, my sis was wailing motorboat style. Not exactly the preferred technique of the Shao-Lin temple but in some instances, effective. However against a 17 year old boy, useless. The only defense against the motorboat attack in this case would have been Rope-A-Dope.

I wish I could have given some guidance but in these situations, the best thing to do is to let them play out and laugh about it in a few years with all involved. I can't wait because that shit was funny.