NEW YORK — In Derby, Connecticut’s smallest city, with its mix of metropolitan bustle and quiet suburban charm, the Derby Mini Market on Anson Street is one of the closest things to a New York City bodega.
It was one of two spots where the Cross and Billips family liked to go to get their milk and bread, or drinks and snacks for the restless kids. The move from Brooklyn had taken some getting used to, and a convenience shop that felt like something from the old neighborhood probably helped a little.
But on this day, the day after five kids from their family were killed in a horrific car crash on the Hutchinson River Parkway, the small mart offered a brief oasis from the unthinkable grief and pain, a place to buy some convenient food, and some drinks to wash it down.
