I Can't Believe I Ate That Whole Thing

So Deb and Norm made reservations for Valentine's Day -- at a place called Eating House. I had been there once before, for a birthday brunch for Norman -- but Wifey was out of town. The chef is a young guy who won the show "Chopped," and this place is his first restaurant in town -- he is also chef for a place we love in the Grove called Glass and Vine.

Wifey had spent the day with her Mom at the Palace -- along with her cousin Ephraim. Effie is a great fellow -- the grandson of Alter, my mother in law's late brother. Of many siblings and parents, my suegra and Alter are the only ones to survive the Holocaust.

Alter went to Israel, after the War, and met his wife, named like Wifey. They had two sons, and then decided to emigrate to the US -- bringing only the set of carpentry tools Uncle Alter prized. He entrusted them to an Arab freight forwarder, and when he arrived at Idlewild Airport, found the case filled with rocks. The experience taught Alter to invest in stuff that can't be stolen, and he started acquiring real estate. By the time he died, he owned an entire block in Borough Park, Brooklyn. I can't imagine it's worth very south of $20M.

Alter lived like a poor man, despite his wealth. My late father in law liked to tell a story of visiting -- the mattress in the extra room was lumpy. When Richard went to check, he found a huge wad of cash Alter had hidden. But Alter was very sweet -- and adored his sister, my mother in law. When the Ds were young, he sent each of the Ds a very generous cash gift. I tried to refuse -- we were already doing pretty well, but he wouldn't hear of it. I think I bought Apple stock with, I think, the $5K gift. It has done well for the Ds' portfolios...

Anyway -- his grandson Effie is a rarity -- a divorced man in the Orthodox world. He has two beautiful girls -- both live in Brooklyn with their mother -- and Effie came to Miami on business. He insisted on seeing his elderly great aunt -- he knew his grandfather would have appreciated it. Wifey enjoyed her visit -- the cousins grew up very differently -- Wifey very secular, and her cousins very religious.

So Wifey got fetched by Deb and Norman, and I drove from the office, and we sat at the restaurant. The courses started coming. It was delicious. It was a LOT of food. Typical of Miami, we were the oldest diners there. We enjoyed that.

Wifey and I drove home, listening to my preferred station, Underground Garage -- Steve Van Zandt's project on the radio. They were playing love songs, of course, and then a small magic thing happened. The DJ played Sam Cooke's "You Send Me," which was Wifey and my wedding song. I'm certain that, in the 33 years since our wedding -- it was the first time I heard it played on the radio. I circled our 'hood so we could sing along. It was lovely. Maybe it was a sign -- we ought to follow the advice of another great soul singer, Al Green: "Let's Stay Together."

It was a very well fed, and lovely Valentine's Day.