Mrs. Katz and Tush

Name: ______Date: ______Mrs. Katz and Tush By Patricia Polacco1. Larnel didn’t know Mrs. Katz very well, but 1. ______ almost every other day his mother stopped in to see her after work.2. “Since her husband died, she’s so alone,” his 2. ______ mother had told him.3. Mrs. Katz held tight to his mother’s hand the 3. ______ day they looked at an old photo album.4. “That’s my husband, Myron,” said Mrs. Katz. 4. ______5. “He came from Poland like me, a long time ago. 5. ______6. We had such a life, such a life!” Then her voice 6. ______ broke.7. “We had no children, and I’ll be all alone for 7. ______Hannukah and Passover.”8. Then she cried. 8. ______9. The next day Larnel stopped in to see her 9. ______ himself.10. “I’ve been thinking,” he said. “A cat had 10. ______ some kittens in the basement of our building.11. We found someone to take them all except this 11. ______ one. 12. She’s the runt. 12. ______13. Nobody wants her because she is so ugly. 13. ______14. She doesn’t even have a tail.” 14. ______15. “Ugly, you say,” Mrs. Katz said. 15. ______16. “My Myron was ugly, too, when he was little, but 16. ______ he grew up to be such a person!”17. Mrs. Katz looked at the little kitten. 17. ______18. “Scrawney little bubeleh…so small…no tail,” 18. ______ she said as she examined the kitten closely.19. “I don’t know,” she said doubtfully. 19. ______20. Then she saw the look on Larnel’s face. 20. ______21. “Larnel I’ll take her!” she announced. 21. ______22. “But only if you’ll come and help me with her. 22. ______23. I’ve never had a cat before 23. ______24. Larnel promised. 24. ______25. “A good Yiddish name I’ll give her,” said 25. ______Mrs. Katz. 26. “Let’s see, she has no tail—all you see is her 26. ______ tush. 27. That’s it! 27. ______28. We’ll call her Tush.” 28. ______29. Little Tush grew healthy and strong. 29. ______30. Mrs. Katz cooked for her, brushed for her, 30. ______31. knitted toys for her, and even read to her. 31. ______32. “Such a person,” she’d say as she watched Tush 32. ______ play.33. Mrs. Katz was in love. 33. ______34. Larnel kept his promise. 34. ______35. He visited Mrs. Katz and Tush every day after 35. ______ school.36. There was always a fresh-bake kugel and a tall 36. ______ glass of milk waiting for him. 37. But as much as he grew to love Tush, he also 37. ______ loved to listen to Mrs. Katz talk about the old country and the old country and the way times used to be.38. “I come from Warsaw. 38. ______39. That’s in Poland, you know. 39. ______40. I came here to work sewing dresses in the 40. ______ garment district for my cousin for my cousin Moyshe. 41. I didn’t speak one word of English!” 41. ______42. “Then how did you talk to people?” asked 42. ______Larnel.43. “I didn’t,” she answered. 43. ______44. “A lot, I cried in those days… 44. ______45. until I met Myron. He asked me to marry him 45. ______ after he tasted my kugel!”46. “I believe that?” Larnel said as he ate some. 46. ______47. “Myron and I used to vacation in the Catskills 47. ______—a borscht resort, you know, a place for Jews to stay.”48. “You mean Jews couldn’t stay anywhere they 48. ______ wanted to?” Larnel asked.49. Mrs. Katz didn’t answer. Instead she went to 49. ______ a trunk and pulled out some old clothes.50. “My grandma told me about places she 50. ______ couldn’t stay, either,” Larnel said softly.51. “Larnel, your people and mine are alike, you 51. ______ know. 52. Trouble, we’ve seen. 52. ______53. Happiness, too. 53. ______54. Great strength we’ve had. 54. ______55. You and I are alike, so much alike! 55. ______56. “Now where was I? 56. ______57. Oh yes, the Catskills! 57. ______58. We used to dress every Sunday and have a 58. ______ costume ball,” said Mrs. Katz.59. The she put a record on the record player. 59. ______60. It was old and scratched. 60. ______61. “You hear that, Larnel?” she said. 61. ______62. “That is what we used to dance to. 62. ______63. It’s a dance from my homeland. 63. ______64. Here, I’ll show you.” 64. ______65. They whirled around the room and laughed 65. ______ and giggled.66. As the weeks passed, Larnel spent more and 66. ______ more time with Mrs. Katz.67. “Since you are almost family to me, Larnel,” 67. ______ she said one day, “I want you should come with me to say kaddish for my Myron. 68. I know you’re not Jewish, but Myron would have 68. ______ liked you.69. You’re such a person, Larnel!” 69. ______70. “Hurry—Tush will be worried for us,” she 70. ______ said as they walked.71. When they got home, they called and called 71. ______ for Tush, but she didn’t come.72. They looked everywhere for her. 72. ______73. Suddenly Mrs. Katz gasped. 73. ______74. The window to the fire escape was open. 74. ______75. “Oh no!” she cried. 75. ______76. “I forgot to shut the window before I left! 76. ______77. Poor bubeleh! 77. ______78. She has never been outside!” 78. ______79. “We’ll find her.” Larnel tried to reassure her. 79. ______80. “She has been acting strange lately,” Mrs. 80. ______Latz said through her tears.81. “She has been trying to get out, but I was afraid 81. ______ that she would get hit by a car!”82. “I’ll find here, Mrs. Katz,” Larnel said. “I 82. ______ won’t let you down!”83. It was getting dark. 83. ______84. First Mrs. Katz and Larnel looked around their 84. ______ building.85. Then they went everywhere in the 85. ______ neighborhood.86. They left notes on doors, telephone poles, and 86. ______ fences.87. They asked everyone who lived nearby, but no 87. ______ one had seen little Tush.88. That night it stormed. 88. ______89. There was rain, awful, awful rain! 89. ______90. Mrs. Katz hardly slept as she thought about 90. ______ her little kattileh.91. “She’s such a person…such a person!” she 91. ______ whispered.92. Larnel worried most of the night, too. 92. ______93. What will Mrs. Katz do! he thought. 93. ______94. “Please, God, bring that little cat back to her,” 94. ______ he said softly into his pillow.95. A loud knock on the front door awoke Mrs. 95. ______Katz.96. It was Larnel’s father and two neighbors. 96. ______97. “Is this yours?” they asked. 97. ______98. “My bubeleh! Little kattileh!” Mrs. Katz 98. ______ exclaimed.99. We found her in the back alley, soaking wet 99. ______ and hungry,” Mr. Moore said.100. “Thank you, thank you!” Mrs. Katz said as 100. ______ she took Tush in her arms.101. After a while, Tush no longer had the least 101. ______ desire to go outside again.102.But she slept a lot, even when Larnel came over 102. ______to play with her.103. “It was at my aunt Havelah’s Passover 103. ______104. seder that I met Myron. 104. ______105. Did you know that?” 105. ______106. Mrs. Katz asked as she looked at Larnel. 106. ______107. “What good times they were, with lots and lots 107. ______ of family. 108. Now it’s just me,” she said softly. 108. ______109. “Could I have Passover dinner with you?” 109. ______ asked Larnel.110. “I thought you would never ask!” she 110. ______ exclaimed as she hugged him close.111. “Such a seder I’ll prepare for you!” 111. ______112. “Passover is a time for good food,” Mrs. 112. ______Katz shouted as they edged their way through the crowd in the deli.113. “Like your people, my people were slaves, 113. ______ too. 114. They lived in a country where they didn’t want 114. ______ to be. 115. They wanted freedom so much that they prayed 115. ______ to God to help them. 116. So he sent and angel—an angel that brought 116. ______ death and sadness to the houses of our captors. 117. But the angel did not visit the houses of 117. ______118. my people.” 118. ______119. “How did the angel know where the Jews 119. ______ lived?” Larnel asked.120. “They marked the doors. 120. ______121. Then the angel passed over. 121. ______122. Passed over, Larnel, that’s why we call this 122. ______ time of celebration Passover!”123. “So, Larnel, we have a big feast to 123. ______ celebrate, but we also remember those who had to suffer so we could be free,” Mrs. Katz said.124. “Part of the dinner is sad and part of it is 124. ______ happy!”125. As Larnel helped get out the linens and 125. ______ china, Mrs. Katz said, “You see this tablecloth, this was our wedding chuppa, our canopy.126. For all these years we have used it for holy 126. ______ days and celebrations.”127. “How come you have so many different 127. ______ dishes?” Larnel asked.128. “Because some Jews don’t eat dairy and 128. ______ meat off the same dishes,” she answered.129. When they sat down to seder together, 129. ______130. Mrs. Katz lit two candles and waved her hands 130. ______ over them.131. She read from her book, said prayers, then 131. ______ smiled and said, “Let the feast begin!”132. They drank red wine and water. 132. ______133. They ate bitter herbs, lamb, and chicken. 133. ______134. They also had gefilte fish and spicy chopped 134. ______ apples with potato pancakes.135. “This bread looks like a soda cracker!” 135. ______Larnel exclaimed.136. “We call it matzoh, dear. 136. ______137. We eat it at Passover. 137. ______138. It’s flat because there is no yeast in it, so it 138. ______ doesn’t rise.”139. “Larnel, I have hidden one piece of the 139. ______ matzoh here in the apartment. 140. If you can find it, I have a surprise for you!” 140. ______141. The surprise was a hand-knit sweater that 141. ______ she had made just for him!142. The next day Mrs. Katz yelled out her back 142. ______ window to Larnel’s apartment.143. “Come quick, already… 143. ______something wonderful!”144. “Larnel and his mom and dad rushed to her 144. ______ door.145. “The angel of death passed over, but the 145. ______ angel of life didn’t! 146. Matzel tov, Tush! Four babies—at last I am a 146. ______ bubeee!”147. As the years passed by, Mrs. Katz, Tush, 147. ______ and her descendants became part of Larnel’s family.148. There were graduations, weddings, new 148. ______ babies, and finally a kaddish.149. Larnel stood in front of the headstone. 149. ______150. He read from her book. 150. ______151. He placed a small rock on top of her 151. ______ headstone.152. Then he, his wife, and their children read 152. ______ the inscription together.153. MRS. KATZ, OUR BUBEE…SUCH A 153. ______PERSON.

Mrs. Katz and Tush

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