I sat down across from him, glad that one of the few facts I knew about my father's relationship with his parents was that he used the Hebrew terms for mother and father with them.

David, or rather, Nathan, broke into rapid French.

"English, please," I said in my best approximation of my dad's voice. Reasonable Facsimile Dad had actually come in handy for once.

A server approached us, but I sent him away politely, saying we needed a moment.

"I haven't ...