WENDY My daughter, Wendy, and I have always had a special relationship. First of all we are two females in a family in which we are outnum- bered two to one. Growing up Wendy had to take care of herself and learn how to handle her physically rowdy brothers. Usually she could do it on her own but if things got out of hand she could always run to me or her father for help. She could shift from tomboy to princess in a flash.
Danny Shooster and Max Leuchter
“Wendy was popular with the boys. Our neighbors’ son, Jonathon, would climb the wall between our houses to see her. But Max won out and we are all happy about that.”
teenagers have to be reminded that they are not the only ones that can be diffi- cult. Apparently it worked because after looking through all the dresses and finding nothing we liked I decided to look in the swimwear section. I found a beautiful white dress with a white matte jersey that went over a white bathing suit. It was a knockout on her. That reminds me of her boyfriend at the time, Carlos. He was crazy about Wendy to the point that he wanted to convert to Judaism if it was necessary.
Wendy and I have come a long way from the days when she was a real Smart Alec and would express her opinion whether it was appropriate or not. She was very fresh and difficult to control. But Wendy has a magnet- ic personality – she attracts people to her and the more they get to know her, the better they like her. I mentioned earlier how so many of her friends showed up at three in the morning to see her off when we moved from Cherry Hill to Florida. After we got to Florida Wendy had to make some serious adjustments at school. The times were not easy for a minority white girl in a predominantly black high school. Wendy had to learn how to face down threats and take care of herself. And she did. Once she established that she wasn’t going to be bullied she began to make friends as easily as she did in Cherry Hill. I remember taking her to buy a prom dress. We were in Jordan Marsh and Wendy was being a teenaged pain. I reminded her that while I was happy to help her shop that she wasn’t doing me a favor to let me do it. Sometimes
But Carlos didn’t last past high school. Wendy was popular with the boys. Our neighbors’ son, Jonathon, would climb the wall between our houses to see her. But Max won out and we are all happy about that. Wendy met Max through her Aunt Ida’s son, Danny, who was a friend of Max. Wendy and Max also went to Temple University, where Max studied Law and Wendy studied Art. Wendy has always been very good at sewing, knitting and embroidery. She must have inherited the skills of her aunts and grandmothers. And she is a wonderful painter – I have mentioned her pointillist painting of Nana Dora that hangs in the foyer of my home. Wendy is what we call a bren. In Yiddish the word bren means someone full of ener- gy, full of “piss and vinegar,” someone who makes things happen. When she was in college Wendy opened a stand in a local flea market and sold sweaters. People who were my contem- poraries would ask her how she did it. Wendy couldn’t understand the question – you just did it. When she closed her shop to come home for the Christmas holidays she brought eleven
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