Mother's Day

I need to be (and want to be) a good father and make sure my daughter's mother - who's also a wonderful wife - has the kind of Mother's Day she deserves. But I can't just say "okay, leave everything to me honey. Just relax and i'll take care of everything today." I can't take care of everything. I can barely put Zoe's hair in a pony tail. But I can remind Emily just how wonderful she is, which I tried to do. Still doesn't feel like enough, though. So all of you mothers out there, please hear this: You're great! Just being who you are is a step above the general , run of the mill, ordinary, mundane, work-a-day, average Sally. Look in the mirror if there's no one else around to do it for you and say "I'm wonderful, I'm great, I'm special." You, and (almost) you alone know the secret to making little people blossom. Thanks. Happy Mother's Day!

A Gift?

I actually converted to Judaism today, in the salt water (and air) of the Atlantic ocean. After a year of study, I sat before the Beit Din, then we traveled to the ocean at Fort Fisher beach for the mikvah. It was a touching and fun ceremony - captured, of course, on film by Emily. I barely had time to contemplate this significance of my new status when I encountered an elderly lady. We had zipped out to a restaurant to enjoy a Mother's Day lunch, and a lady in pink shuffled by our table and plopped a tiny pamphlet down beside my plate and said "Happy Mother's Day, here's a gift for you. I glanced down at the gift and read the words "Back From The Dead" accompanying an eerie drawing of dark shadows, a yellow moon and the silhouette of an anonymous person. I practically spewed a mouthful of guacamole all over the table. The combined facts that she called it a "gift", back from the dead, and the fact that I had JUST completed my conversion to Judaism some how made this old woman's gesture seem hilarious. I never read the pamphlet, the cover was interesting enough on it's own to reinforce my confidence in my decision to adopt the religion of my wife and daughter. I wonder if that's what she gives everyone when a gift is expected...hmmm.

Driver's Ed.

Zoe explains driving. "It's a car! And push the button, and honk, honk, honk, and beep, beep, and driving!"