Just A Guy Who Is Very Grateful

(Note: I consider this an early Thanksgiving-themed blog – enjoy)

I attended the Bar Mitzvah of a friend’s son recently.  This young man has some relatively severe learning disabilities.  Yet, his parents provided him with the sort of support that was full of love and understanding for him.  The rabbi adjusted the service to allow him full participation, within his limits, and it was as loving a right-of-passage as possible, with an equally classy and terrific party afterward.

Even the weather cooperated, as their theme was a rainbow and at just the right moment, with all of the guests gathered outside, the rabbi asked us to turn around. We saw the setting sun actually make e a slight rainbow, as if Industrial Light & Magic were hired to create it. read more

Back to School

Recently, I saw a really funny commercial showing a man leaping with joy as he pulled something down an aisle.  It was revealed to be a couch, with his two sullen kids sitting on it, and the background music was the famous Christmas song which extols, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”  It was a back-to-school ad and that dad was jumping for joy.  It was very clever, so kudos to Staples.  Yes, the kids are going back to school. We parents get our lives back–especially our evenings.

The job of parent revolves around the school calendar.  Our chauffeuring responsibilities are different during the school year than during vacation times.  One of the big differences, from my perspective, is the bedtimes for the boys.  On “school nights” they have a curfew that gives us some quiet at night.  However, during summer, the boys are allowed more freedom and Will, my almost-16-year-old, loves to stay up late and sleep late.  At least I get quiet time in the summer mornings.  It’s said that the more they sleep, in the summer, the more they’re growing.  Will is 6 feet, 2 inches already! read more