I suggested Mom make a cheesecake for Cate’s 57th birthday. Cate used to ask for cheesecake on her birthday. I remember this mostly because one year, for some reason, it didn’t get cooked enough. This made the cheesecake mushy in the center, which wasn’t the end of the world to me. I didn’t know much about cheesecake. However, I remember Mom’s disappointment. She was so disappointed in herself! I do that to myself, too. Then my children tell me, “Mama, it’s okay. It’s okay.”

Unlike the cheesecake of the distant past, the cheesecake of 2024 was perfect.

Here, Mom mixes the perfect cheesecake batter.

Dad keeps her company to the best of his ability.

We called Cate on the phone and ate half the cake on the 9th, as we had to leave on the 10th.

(We ate the rest, just the four of us, in the car the next day, and while the cheesecake was definitely better, it was a bit much.)

For spring break, we visit my parents in Syracuse. It is a good time to visit, as it is about half a year away from a summer visit. It is better than midwinter, as there is less chance of a snow storm while I drive. Between our visits to Syracuse, my family can visit us in Quebec. Then we can see each other four times per year, which might not actually be enough, but traveling is not easy.

Iris and Mom pick fix up a Kenmore for a friend of mine.

I

Pogo Stick

My mom’s had it in her garage since we were little.

Before that, it was in someone else’s garage.

It goes—

SPRINK-SPRANK-SPRINK-SPRANK!

SPRINK-SPRANK-SPRINK-SPRANK!

SPRINK-SPRANK-SPRINK-SPRANK

SPRINK-SPRANK-SPRINK-SPRANK!

Akiva wants me to let you know that his record number of hops is 84 in a row.

II

SUPERMAN

said Ma, as she pointed to the sky!

Then the kids ran

mad circles in the grass,

mirroring the superhero’s gyre

as he flew above the yard.

When at last the man of steel

tumbled from the sky—

the world as we imagined it was over.

Dad’s recumbent bike is for sale.

I take photos for sales purposes.

This is where I learned to ride my bike!

I.

Morning

Gramps (a.k.a. Dad) & Akiva unpack a box full of boxes of World War II tanks.

Not knowing that it is an unusual thing to ask my father, Akiva insists that he play.

My father does his best.

After much deliberation, Akiva picks out two tanks to take home with us.

II.

Afternoon

Akiva takes out Dad’s old skateboard.

They go up the hill.

Everyone with wheels comes down more quickly than everyone without wheels.

Mom took eleven boxes of toy vehicles out of the attic.

She brought one box down to the living room.

The glue on the box has deteriorated over several decades. Mom repairs it with glue, tape, and metal rivets.

But I don’t know if we will ever open this box again.

There are so many boxes. There is so little time.

Later, Mom takes a sewing machine from the basement.

She and Iris work on it together, fixing it up.

There are so many sewing machines. There is so little time.

Dad reads a history book to Akiva, one superhero at a time.

Akiva is fascinated by superheroes.

Later, he will want me to make up superhero stories for him like I used to make up monster stories.

But superheroes are complex.

It is the end of monster stories, but I never do make up too many superhero stories.

While I document the action, Dan makes pizza.

They cut the slices real big at the house in Syracuse, but my hands were too full of pizza to document that part.

Mom picked up a Sears Kenmore 148.15600 (Model 1560) sewing machine.

It was built in Japan by Soryu between 1976-1978. She fixed it up just fine.

Later, in Dan’s room, Iris works on a book with her uncle.

They discuss the storyline. Iris writes and illustrates.

They may not finish it.

Meanwhile, in the same room, Akiva works on a book with his uncle.

They share the work of drawing the pictures. Dan draws the robot, the monster, and some of the foregrounds.

Akiva draws the dragon and parts of the backgrounds. He also inks the drawings.

The book might not have an end.

After a three and a half decades of waiting, it takes five boxes of tracks and one box full of slot cars to make a small loop with two working cars. Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! Akiva watches as they circumscribe the oval again and again. Dan has great patience.

Downstairs, Iris watches Gramma open boxes of jewels. Jewels and jewel boxes; precious stones and silver and gold; red coral and ivory. The excitement of exploring each box holds greater value than any of the contents.