Some bat mitzvah photos

Abby's bat mitzvah, June 11, a golden day in my memory. Unfortunately, not allowed to do photos or video during the ceremony, but here are some from the party that night -- also a really fun memory. Israeli dancing first, followed by a wonderful DJ.Kids jumping into the pool to cool off, then back to the dance floor...Also, a photo of Abby, Amalia and my mom Pat, at the luncheon after the bat mitzvah.

This is me

Since I have just figured out how to post pictures, I'll put a recent headshot of myself online....taken by my friend Jeremy Hogan from the H-T (newspaper where I work), when I was desperate for a decent headshot of myself to post on the wall at my synagogue (since I have joined the board there). I just cannot bring myself to do a big, wide smile for the camera, but I can live with this one! And the other is a shot I like, taken by Abby at the zoo in June, when I took her and some of her friends on a visit...I was taking a rest with some cold water and the Sunday NY Times, just mellowing out and delighting in the fact that the girls were old enough to go do one of the rides, while I just sat....

I could do better

I'm feeling low this week, and not just because it was pretty demanding at work...my friend Marilyn Breiter died a week ago, at 55, of breast cancer. And so attending the funeral of someone who was my contemporary and my friend -- well, that is awful enough. But to add to it, I have a nagging feeling that I could have been a better friend.

I know so many people who manage to work, raise children, etc. -- and still manage to do kind things.

I think that I let myself get overwhelmed with logistics, and then sometimes fail to do something that I could easily do, or fail to even see that somethng is in front of me, needing to be done.

For example. Marilyn had emailed me that she intended to come to Abby's bat mitzvah. It was a busy day for me, but if I were more the kind of person that I WANT to be, I would have noticed that Marilyn was not there. I could so easily have taken some of that glorious food of Cynthia's over to Marilyn and Don's house, only five minutes from Beth Shalom. I could have taken one of the bat mitzvah booklets, and a couple of those COEXIST bracelets that we gave out as favors. But, I did not notice. And I did nothing.

Even after our return from California, when Madi emailed around, asking for volunteers to help out with meals for Marilyn and Don, I let myself think "Oh, I'm so busy. And I'm not such a great cook. I can't think of what to make." And I did nothing.

A couple days ago, my friend Marci, a reporter at the HT, brought me flowers because she knew I'd had a stressful week. She's plenty busy, and yet she is the kind of friend who can take time to make a kind gesture. Who THINKS of doing the kind gesture.

I hope that at least this experience leads me to be more that kind of person.