This weekend is Passover and Easter, as well as April Fool’s Day, making things pretty busy for my fun-loving interfaith family. On top of all that, my spouse Helen and I are celebrating our 25th anniversary. I’m finding a lot of resonance in all four occasions.
(Originally published as my Mombian newspaper column.) It was holiday prep weekend here at my house, our annual festive mash-up of traditions.
I wrote this last year for my newspaper column, shortly after the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando that killed 49 mostly LatinX, LGBTQ young people. One year later, to #HonorThemWithAction, I thought I should post it here.
When I learned of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, my own son was in elementary school, and I was shaken to the core. He is in middle school now, and the Orlando massacre has shaken me again. The victims this time were not young children—but they were all someone’s children.
Today is Giving Tuesday, a more altruistic counterpart to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, when we’re asked to give back to our communities and our world. Here are some ways my spouse and I have encouraged our son to give, today and every day.
My son is 13 years old, and the current election will likely be the first one he remembers into adulthood. There are therefore a few things I want to make sure he understands.
I had an encounter with the police a few weeks ago. I am an avid cyclist, and had a flat while on a ride, about 15 miles from home. I was struggling to change my tire when a local officer drove by, stopped to see if I needed help, and offered to drive me to my house.
On Saturday, my son became a bar mitzvah, taking on the mantle of Jewish adulthood. I couldn’t be prouder—and I couldn’t be more thankful for the family and friends who came together to support him.
I’m about to be the mother of a teenager. A little event we’re having for the occasion on Saturday means I’m going to be too busy actually parenting to be writing about parenting for the next couple of days. Hope you understand.
My family and I had the joy last weekend of going to PAX East, the giant convention of all things gaming and geeky. Here are some things we saw and a few games to recommend.
I was among the first generation of kids to see the original Star Wars movie in 1977. I was 10 then, and when the third installment rolled around six years later, I was waiting in line for hours with friends at the local theater on opening day. I’ll be seeing The Force Awakens with my own son this week, and have been reflecting on some of the lessons I’ve learned from the series and what it has meant to me.
