Hudel Scharf (Ida Weiner)

She was my paternal grandmother.

She lived on the first floor of the same apartment building with Aunt Min and Uncle Abe, Sheila and Muriel.

Uncle Max lived with them.

This was Washington Heights, and next door was the Bronx Memorial Hospital where I was born. My father was very supersititious and never walked on the same side of the sidewalk as the hospital.

Grandma Scharf as always cooking and all Passovers were held either in her apartment or in Aunt Minnie on the 3rd floor. We never could imagine how she got it all done for all those people in that kitchen. The potato nik was fantastic. So was the apple kugel.

In the bedroom was a huge box of eggs.

Refrigeration often meant putting things to cool on the window sill.

Grandma Scharf was very tiny as I knew her. She often came to our house on Sunday afternoon. She spoke Yiddish with my parents but the kids never learned.

Grandpa Scharf always had hard candy in his vest pocket to give to us.