Bubby had a smudge of flour on her cheek and her soft gray hair was coming loose from her bun Rise and shine Miri she said cheerfully I’ve got your breakfast all ready When Bubby went back down the stairs Miriam knelt on the bed and pushed the curtains apart again The train tracks cut a path through the snow stretching from the bridge over the road at one end of the yard all the way to the woods at the other Letting the curtains fall back together she turned to the closet where Bubby had stored her clothes As she pulled on her dress and wool stockings stockings she kept an eye on the window wondering when the next train would come Bubby had set a bowl of oatmeal at the kitchen table Miriam looked around the room She had never seen such a big kitchen it was almost as big as her entire apartment back home She wondered if Bubby and Zayde were lonely eating at that big table every day all by themselves surrounded by empty chairs She thought back to her breakfast the day before with Mama Papa and Bubby at the cozy 2 Debby Waldman
table in their apartment in New York Mama had served her favorites warm chewy bialys soft cheese and smoked whitefish What do you think Mama and Papa are doing right this minute Miriam asked her grandmother grandmother as she stirred a spoonful of molasses into her oatmeal Bubby looked at the clock over the sink It was almost eight I imagine they’re getting ready to board the ship They’re setting sail today I wish I could go with them Miriam said wistfully She wiped her nose with the back of her hand Bubby pulled a handkerchief from her apron pocket and passed it to Miriam It’s not a journey for a young girl she said Gabriel and Rafael are babies Miriam said Why do they get to make the journey They have to Bubby reminded her It’s the only way for them to get to America Uncle Avram can bring them Miriam insisted He’s coming to America too So why do Mama and Papa have to go 3 Miriam’s Secret
She knew why Mama had told her so many times she couldn’t count Bubby gave the same answer Your uncle Avram can’t take care of two babies himself He needs your mama to help him and she can’t travel that far alone Miriam still didn’t understand It wasn’t as if Mama would get lost All she had to do was board a ship to Germany and from Germany travel by train to the Old Country Uncle Avram would meet her at the station in Borisov and together they would bring Gabriel and Rafael back to New York Papa couldn’t help with the babies so why did he even need to go Your mama has never been to Borisov Miriam Bubby reminded her She doesn’t speak Russian Papa had lived in Borisov until he’d moved to New York fourteen years earlier A cousin of a cousin of a cousin had found him a job operating a pushcart Cousin Mendel also had a pushcart he sold paper and pencils Papa sold buttons and thread which is how he had met Mama 4 Debby Waldman
Your mama needed pewter buttons Not silver Not gold Not tin They had to be pewter Papa told Miriam whenever she asked to hear the story which was often What did I know from pewter He knew from pewter Mama would say laughing He just pretended Miriam liked the idea of Papa being so in love with Mama that he purposely did not try too hard to find the special buttons to keep her coming back to the pushcart By the time I found those buttons your mama was as in love with me as I was with her Papa said proudly Now Papa and Mendel ran a dry-goods store together Mendel had brought the rest of his family to America Papa wanted to do the same but his parents Miriam’s other grandparents had died soon after he left Borisov within a few months of each other His brother Avram had never really wanted to leave the Old Country Uncle Avram only changed his mind when his wife Tante Chaya died of a fever two months after the babies 5 Miriam’s Secret
