By last Thursday, I was ready to give up on birthdays (not everyone’s; just mine). It just seemed that weather or illness or post-holiday fatigue always gets in the way, and has done so from the very beginning.
My birthday is January 6. Not because my mom went into labor and naturally delivered me on January [...]
Category Archive for 'Family'
Smoky Mountain Misery
Posted in Family, Jessica, Little Boy on Dec 22nd, 2009
Matt and I left for a holiday in the Smoky Mountains on Thursday, arriving at our chalet at dinner-time. The first thing I did was pinch my finger in a corner cabinet, creating an immediate and painful blood blister.
No big deal, I thought,
Then we realized our phone didn’t work in the house, and that we had no [...]
One of the reasons I moved back home was to be near my family. After 17 years away, I was sick of literally phoning in my participation for every Rosh Hashanah, every Chanukah, every Thanksgiving, every Passover, and every birthday. And once my nieces and nephews came along, I was really sick of blindly (and [...]
Chanukah 2009
Posted in Family, Jessica, Little Boy on Dec 13th, 2009
Last night was the Goldstein family Chanukah party at Bubbie’s (my Mom’s) house.
Dreidels were spun, gelt and 7 pounds worth of latkes were consumed, and many blue-wrapped boxes were opened. Today the combined effects of the same are making me feel sluggish, and in a mere 4 hours we go over to friends to repeat [...]
Today in History, Part II
Posted in Family, Jessica, Little Boy on Dec 7th, 2009
From three years ago today:
Today is a special day for me for three reasons:
1. It’s Pearl Harbor Day. That one’s a gimmee.
2. It’s my zadie’s birthday. Lester M. Wolfson was born on December 7, 1911. Even though he died almost 13 years ago, I still think about him often and miss him very much. Simon’s [...]
We hardly ever take a picture of all three of us–mostly because I take 99% of the pictures around here. Below is a rare shot of all of us, taken by Matt’s brother at the end of our Thanksgiving gathering.
It’s not often that a photograph, a family photograph I should specify, has the power to shock me. Yet that’s exactly what happened last month when I feasted my eyes on this:
That would be my great-grandmother (my mom’s mom’s mom), Freda Leah Soirifman Kahn. This picture was taken in 1935, meaning my Bubbie Kahn would [...]
The Ridiculous and The Sublime
Posted in Family, Jessica, KIP (Preschool), Little Boy on Nov 1st, 2009
Not from one to the other, but both at the same time.
This week has been about Halloween. Which is, almost any way you look at it, a ridiculous holiday. You dress little kids up in costumes, go out door to door, and extort candy from neighbors on threat of vague “tricks”. How did such a [...]
Normally, October is my favorite month. The cluster of budget work, editorial meetings, and conferences that make August and September so hectic at work have wound down, the air takes on a refreshing crispness, the leaves turn glorious colors, and I get to indulge in steamed cider and caramel apples. Now that Simon has come [...]
The Time of His Life
Posted in Family, Friends, Little Boy on Oct 18th, 2009
When Matt and I collapsed in bed Friday night, we both had the feeling that Simon was dreaming happy dreams, reliving what had almost certainly been the happiest day of his life.
Simon was too young to understand his first birthday and got scared when everyone sang to him. Last year, I planned way too much [...]