I realized it all, but I considered it temporary, and I found plenty of comfort in writing long letters to my father--real, original letters this time, not copies of Reb' Isaiah's model--letters which my father treasured for years.
As an instance of what I mean by my own fashion of taking trouble to heart, I recall the day when our household effects were attached for a debt.

We had plenty of debts, but the stern creditor who set the law on us this time was none of ours.

The claim was against a family to whom my mother sublet two of our three rooms, furnished with her own things.

The police officers, who swooped down upon us without warning, as was their habit, asked no questions and paid no heed to explanations.

They affixed a seal to every lame chair and cracked pitcher in the place; aye, to every faded petticoat found hanging in the wardrobe.