Bubbe’s Zalts (Yiddish for the word salt)
On a scale of one to ten, my mother was a ten. Mama was my heart. My bubbe, however, was a ten and a half! My bubbe never spoke English, only Russian and Yiddish. I learned Yiddish and some Russian at a young age.
When I was a child I had childhood rheumatism, and the only comfort from the pain was soaking in a hot tub of water with Epson salts. Usually my mother would help me, but when she couldn’t, bubbe would. Bubbe always sensed that I was hurting, and she would ask me in Yiddish, “Maish, zaltz?” In other words, “You need to be in a tub of hot water and Epson Salts.” When she put me in the tub, the combination of the Epson salts and her love for me made it all better.
My black brothers and sisters have a neat little three word phrase that applies to bubbe. She was definitely “my main man (bubbe).”
