The Legacy of the Bench
Family History Our family history is written in flour and sweat. My grandfather left the Army as a trained baker and bought Cramer's Bakery, which became one of the city's most beloved storefronts. Two of his three sons, my father James and my uncle George, inherited the trade, pouring their lives into the rigorous demands of the wholesale ovens. As a child, I lived for my father's attention. I was his shadow, his sidekick. While other kids played in the neighborhood, I thrived in the high-stress, fast-moving environment of the bakery complex. I would stand completely mesmerized next to our twenty-foot wooden workbench, watching my father labor: lifting heavy fifty-pound bags, measuring out fluids, sifting flour, and folding dough with an effortless rhythm. I wanted so desperately to be part of his world that I would do whatever it took to blend into the bakery environment. When the nights ran too long, I would locate a massive, fifty-pound sack of flour in the back storag...