many months where that was all we
ate.
The butcher sold bones, too.
We called them “soup bones,” but
they were actually labeled “dog
bones” in the store; people would
cook them for their dogs as a treat.
Whenever times were really tough
we’d fall back on dog bones. My
mom would boil them for soup.
We’d suck the marrow out of them.
Sucking marrow out of bones is a
skill poor people learn early. I’ll
never forget the first time I went to
a fancy restaurant as a grown man
and someone told me, “You have to
try the bone marrow. It’s such a