My sisters and I always looked forward to trips to see our grandparents. In the case of my father's family, that meant Meme and Pepe in Ludlow, Massachusetts. Meme was a grand housekeeper and avid gardener, with heady roses and prolific tomatoes always leaning over the fence. The bees buzzed heavy in her yard, looping overhead like acrobats on hidden strings. Pepe was a retired milkman, ready with a joke and rather fond of cigars.
