“Is the Garden of Eden so small that it can only fit in your Mama and Papa, your brother Schneur, and the cheder melamed?”
“Felix declared, rather theatrically, that thus passes an upside-down year,” Ernst comments. He flexes his fingers. He is tired from the concert, but buoyed by the evening. New Year’s eve.
Hannah smiles. “I know. He is quite proud of himself. Wolf loved it. 1881. Turn the number around, whether back to front or upside down, and the numbers stay the same.”
“But it has been an upside-down year for our family, has it not?”
They are sitting in the dressing rooms of the concert hall. Soon, Ernst will retie his bowtie, smooth his palm over his hair, and join the rest of the orchestra for a post-concert toast, a New Year’s Eve tradition. Another tradition: Hannah attends the concert, claps proudly during the standing ovation, and then goes backstage to congratulate her husband.
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