Yelling

No one would ever think my diminutive mother, Rose Drexler, could yell. She didn't weigh squat -- her highest weight was about the time of my wedding, and she weighed only 95 pounds at that time. I think her average weight was about 85 pounds throughout her adult life. As you can see, she was a tiny thing, and her bones were like a bird's -- delicate.

Anyway, mom was normally a soft-spoken person. She was kind, and everyone who knew her loved her.

But one day...

My brothers were acting up, being boys, and were not inclined to pay attention to my mother or anyone else but themselves. Well, all of a sudden we thought an atom bomb had exploded and we all took cover. Actually, it was my mother yelling at the boys to settle down, which because they were under the table (having taken cover with me and my sister in the same place) they did.

Dear, dear mother. What she put up with when we children were rambunctious.