Story from Esther Birnbaum (Levine) via email, 2021-08-13:
Our Zaidy was a young man, working with the CN railway, and became bedridden, and Bubby (Sadye Cutler-Birnbaum) looked after him in a hospital bed in our Durocher street house of 9 rooms, and one cat to chase away the mice that hid in the shed that held the coal. That heated the house for us. It was before oil and electric heating, and I remember Leonie (Birnbaum-Caplan) putting out bread crumbs from our little room off the kitchen under the table, so that the mice would have something to eat at night. Our pussy cat was in the tiny room off the kitchen where the coal was stored, for heat and cooking, and we used to lie in bed and watch the mice eat the bread crumbs. The house was large, and had a terrific double parlour, and a huge, long kitchen, and bubby (Sadye Ctler-Birnbaum) used to cook verenekas, and borscht each week end for the Birnbaum family, who visited after closing the drug store. They called us the poor relatives, but my Bubby and Mom cooked every week end borscht with verenekas for them, and my Dad is the one who worked and paid for their education. I remember being in their car one visit when they said those famous words, and after that, Leonie and I would not go with them anymore. They were too hoity toity for us then. They felt too important to hang around us, but loved Bubby's cooking. And my Dad had 7 brothers and sisters. Zaidy Cutler was a decent quiet man, and we all lived together there for many years, until he died.....young. Everyone has a whacky story to tell about their families, so that is just one part now. Is it not a shame that we lost contact with their kids, as most of them moved to Toronto or to the States.
