"Goodbye, Teddy," Anna said to her Teddy bear. "Today's Thanksgiving, and I'm going to Grandpa's and Bubbe's for dinner."

Anna looked forward to the visit, because she knew Aunt Sharon would be there. Aunt Sharon was a lot of fun. She could always think of interesting things to do.

"Are you ready to go, Anna?" Patty called from the hallway.

"Yes!" Anna bounded from the room and joined her parents at the door.

It was only a short drive to Grandpa and Bubbe's house. Grandpa met them at the door and gave Anna a kiss on the cheek. The delicious aroma of baking turkey and dressing filled the air. Anna knew there would also be sweet potato kugel with candied pecans. Just the thought of it made her mouth water.

"Hi, Anna!" called Aunt Sharon, who was helping Bubbe with dinner preparations.

"Aunt Sharon!" Anna ran to her aunt and wrapped her arms around her, burying her face in Aunt Sharon's apron. "What are we gonna do today?"

"First, we're gonna eat all this delicious food your Bubbe and I are preparing."

"What about after that?"

Aunt Sharon winked. "Wait and see!"

Anna skipped into the living room, where her father had just joined her grandfather in watching the Thanksgiving Day parade. Ginger Rogers stood on a float, waving to bystanders. She wore a pleated white skirt with polka dots.

"How's school going, Anna?" asked Grandpa.

"It's going great!" said Anna. "I made the honor roll."

"You did? Smart girl!"

"Uh huh. An' my friend Mary Lou just got a new baby sister, an' my new friend April has a puppy named Buddy, an' - "

"Time to eat, chatterbox," Patty called from the kitchen.

Anna and the others all found places around the table.

"Will you say the blessing, Sharon?" asked Bubbe.

Aunt Sharon bowed her head and closed her eyes, and everyone else did the same.

"Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam ha-motz-i lechem min ha'ar-etz. Blessed are you oh Lord, King of the universe, who makes us holy and brings forth bread from the earth."

Everyone began to eat.

"How come you're Jewish and Grandpa isn't, Bubbe?" asked Anna.

Bubbe looked startled. "Why, that's just the way it is."

"Your Bubbe and me were gettin' on up in age when we met, and both of us were set in our ways and didn't want to change," Grandpa explained.

"Oh," said Anna.

"Did you know your baby brother is named for your great, great grandfather?" asked Bubbe. "His name was Simon Kramnik, and he came to the United States in 1884, when he was twenty-four years old. He was one of the few survivors of a pogrom that swept through his entire village."

"What's a - that word you said?" asked Anna as she reached for a roll.

"Pogrom," Bubbe repeated. "It was where bands of Cossacks would invade Jewish villages and kill as many people as they could."

"What are - what was that other word?"

"Cossacks. The Tsar's men. The Tsar was the ruler of Russia, just like the Queen is the ruler of England. Some important people in Russia were killed, and the Jews got blamed for it. That was why the pogroms happened."

"But did the Jews really kill those people?"

"They did not, but they were blamed for it."

"That's not fair!"

"A lot of things in life aren't fair, Anna."

"That's why it's such a good thing we live in the United States, where that kind of thing doesn't happen," said Aunt Sharon. "Did you know I was in the drama club when I was in high school? We put on lots of plays. I'll show you the pictures after dinner."

"Hurray!" shouted Anna, instantly forgetting about Cossacks and pogroms.

After the dishes had been washed, dried, and put away, Aunt Sharon fetched one of her high school yearbooks and sat down on the sofa with it. Anna joined her right away. Aunt Sharon turned to a page about halfway through the book.

"Here I am as Juliet in a play called 'Romeo and Juliet.' Romeo is my boyfriend, and I'm saying goodnight to him."

She jumped to her feet and assumed a melodramatic pose.

"Goodnight, goodnight! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say goodnight till it be morrow."

"That sounds like a poem," Anna observed.

"That's because it rhymes. That's how people in England used to talk about four hundred years ago."

"Will you teach me how to do it?"

"Sure!"

Anna repeated the line after Aunt Sharon over and over again until she'd memorized it.

As the family was leaving to return home, she repeated it once more.

"Goodnight, goodnight, Aunt Sharon! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say goodnight till it be morrow."

Aunt Sharon laughed and tousled her niece's hair.