“You used to be the same way.” I walk with them into Mona’s backyard.

“All Ezra’s food went to the future.” Mona laughs, squeezing one of his well-defined arms. “And was just waiting for him to catch up when he got to high school.”

“Very funny,” Ezra says. “And do me a favor? Tell Noah it was the vitamins that made me grow so much bigger. It’s the only way I can get him to take them.”

“He’s hilarious.” Fondness is apparent in Mona’s tone as we approach a table laden with too many dishes for me to even process.

Noah walks up and takes his place in front of his father in line. As we wait our turn, there’s such an ease between the two of them. It’s apparent Noah respects his father’s authority, but they also seem to be friends. A lot of eight-year-olds would be squirmy with affection from their dads by now, but Noah leans into Ezra often, even grabbing his hand sometimes when he’s making a point.

“I’m going to Jewish camp this summer,” Noah tells me, his voice and face vibrant with excitement.

“Your dad used to go to camp in New York sometimes when we were growing up,” I tell him, spearing a hot dog but skipping the bun. I’m hoping the homeopathic regimen will get my weight back to normal, but there’s no need to tempt the goddess of cellulite with lots of carbs. My stomach has been surprisingly placid today. I hope the worst is over and I don’t have to ruin Mona’s bathroom. I keep envisioning that scene when Ben Stiller overflows the toilet in Along Came Polly. It could be that bad. Worse.

“I know.” Noah frowns at the fruit Ezra dishes onto his plate, but doesn’t voice the objection on his face. “I’m going to the same camp. Bubbe says it’s a family tradition.”

Ezra said something similar when he’d go up to New York for a few weeks each summer to the camp his bubbe preferred. He loved that woman so much. When I glance at him, his eyes are shadowed and his full mouth settles into a sober line. Some things you never quite get over, and somehow, I suspect Bubbe passing is one of those things for Ezra. I give his hand a compassionate squeeze.

“She was something else,” I whisper to him while we wait for the steak.

“What?” He looks down at our hands and back up to my face. “Who?”

“Oh.” I pull away hastily. “Sorry. I thought you might be thinking of your gran.”

He stares at me for several seconds, and then his mouth tips at one corner. “Yeah, I was, actually. How’d you know that?”