I doubted Yocheved even knew that fresh flowers went against the takanos deal. I never shared the nitty-gritty takanos details with her. I avoided takanos conversation with her in general
“Say Shevyyyy.”
The children giggled. The photographer snapped. I squeezed Shevy’s hand.
“Can we get all the lovely aunts over for a shot?” the photographer sang.
My sisters and sisters-in-law lined up around Shevy, Fraidy warning Blimie not to tiptoe — “If you tiptoe, I tiptoe, so there” — and Blimie frantically begging Gila to switch spots. “I can’t stand next to Yocheved. Too bad she isn’t tall enough, next time she should wear heels.”
The same scene played out at every family simchah, but we all laughed anyway. I couldn’t believe we’d made it to this point, rejoicing at Shevy’s vort.
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