HERE WITH SISTERS SANDY AND GEORGETTE.SixTHE FUNNIEST GIRL IN NEW YORK1971-73 “Wendy, you make me want to blechhh,” Lola said to her in exasperation one day. “You know what blechhh is?”Wendy knew exactly what “blechhh” was, especially after Lola put her hand to her mouth and pretended to retch.“Why don’t you do something?” Lola snapped.Wendy decided to make a play for maternal sympathy.“Mother, I’m not feeling well, I’ve been feeling sad lately.”A futile gesture.Lola turned to Wendy, ready to pounce. “What have you got to be sad about? Did your husband die? Did your son get sick?”Up until that moment, Wendy had no idea that Lola had had a first husband, much less one who’d died.In the torrent that followed, she forgot to ask her mother who that husband was—or knew better than to delve into family secrets, or was afraid to pursue a line of questioning whose answers might be too disturbing.“No one has put into their children what I put into you, and this is the thank-you I get?”
