12. How I Met Mim’s Phantom

It was a glorious Sunday morning in June, shortly after Mim’s parents made their surprise announcement and left Berkeley. Ephraim was working at Shaker Press, to make up for not working on Saturday. Shabbat was important to him, even though her rarely went to services. He stuck to some traditions and rejected others, which I guess made him like most of us American Jews.

Paul and Rachel, 1919

Baby Rachel was sleeping in her bassinet, in the nook off Mim’s bedroom. I’d joined Mim that morning, af...