2020 As Masterclass?

When the quarantine first began, I kept getting ads on my social media feeds for something called “Masterclass” and I was fascinated by them. These were classes taught by experts in their fields, so cooking classes by famous chefs, acting classes by famous actors, a gardening class by a great gardener, and even a class

Let There Be Light: Focusing on the Positive In a Rough Week

This week has been a doozy. Yesterday, my husband learned that he has to undergo yet another surgical procedure related to the surgery he had back in late August. Since that surgery, he’s been in and out of the hospital with fluid collecting in his pelvis and in constant, unrelenting pain. Our lives have been

Hope, Weirdness, and a Good Pathology Report

We got the pathology report today from my husband’s cancer surgery and it was probably about the best a report like that could read. The tumor they removed was much smaller than it was before treatment. The margins (edges of the tissue removed) were clear of cancer, meaning they got it all. Of the 27

Elul, Wake Up Calls, and Why I’m Doing This…

Even if it’s not your New Year coming up, this time of year, with Fall coming in, lends itself well to new beginnings, whether it’s the energy of kids going back to school or the return to our more usual life after summer, Autumn seems to call for a similar introspection as January. For Jews,

Cultivating Joy in Rocky Soil

I don’t know a single person who has had an easy year this year. Most families I know have had health challenges of some kind. Others have had employment challenges or financial woes. Everywhere, there are additional stresses of remote work and learning and the pain of isolation from our usual social outlets. More personally,

What a Difference a Year Makes!

Facebook reminded me yesterday that it was one year ago this week that I went back to work after surgery on my neck. I had suffered for almost a year from nerve pain and it had gotten to the point all I could do was lay as still as possible in my bed…and even then

The First Time I Prayed…It Was While I Was Running

Growing up, I’d never been really religious. Even through most of my 20’s, I flirted with different belief systems, but nothing ever really “stuck.” I was agnostic, not sure what I believed, but pretty much feeling like I was on my own. That is, until I was in my early 30’s a single mother of