How sweet it is to be a grandfather

When I was a kid, grandfathering was in the air. My classmates would tell stories about their smart grandfathers. On the radio I’d hear the novelty song, “I’m My Own Grandpa.” I wondered, what’s the big deal with grandfathers? I never really had one.

My paternal grandfather, Julius Ucko, died before I was born. (His wife, my grandmother Alice, perished in the Holocaust.) My other grandfather, Fred Hauser, was largely invisible or unavailable. When I was 5 or 6, my mother and I took the...