Grandma didn't go to college. At 16, though, she got a job at a candy store and loved it. She went on a date once with one of her customers. He raped her, and after her father found out, he made the man marry her. They were together one year. I can't even imagine...

After that she met a Latin American gentleman who used to take her and her entire family out dancing. She fell madly in love, married him, and shortly after the wedding he went back to South America to "take care of some things" and she never heard from him again.

In the '20s, she married my grandfather, a greaseball from Brooklyn who cut hair for a living. He was moody, but looked vaguely like Rudolph Valentino. Shortly after they were married, he began his philandering career. Nevertheless she wouldn't leave him because they had two sons together, who she doted on.

Son number one was my uncle Dutch, and son number two is my father. At the age of 13 Dutch was hit by a car, and was unconscious for four days. When he woke up, he "was never the same." He started running with a tough crowd, and by the time he was 17, he was a bona fide criminal, robbing stores and banks. He has been in and out of jail his entire adult life, never free for more than a few months at a time.

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