The Blessing

On Saturday, October 9th, 2021, Julianna and Chloe had their joint B’Not Mitzvah. They worked incredibly hard practicing and preparing and, not surprisingly (at least to my wife and me), were incredible. As part of their service, we wrote a blessing for them and then read it to them. This is that blessing… Chloe and

The Mailbox Again

It has been almost 2 years since Chloe and Julianna have gone to overnight camp. It has been roughly 1.5 years of us being together, all the time. Because of COVID-19, their summer camp like so many others, was closed in the summer of 2020 but here we are. Here. We. Are. Today is drop-off

Mothers’ Day

There’s been a lot of gardening going on around here. My wife, who will be henceforth known as D, has started to really enjoy gardening. This is likely in her blood (her mom also likes it) but COVID has been a catalyst and over the past year+, she has spent a lot of time planting

For The Win

“Some day soon though, things will get back to the normal we all crave.” Me. Exactly 1 year ago. Today Chloe turns 12. It feels like just yesterday that I wrote last year’s birthday post. How is that even possible? Have you ever been to summer camp? As I reflect back on the past year,

Her Teen

Today, Julianna turns 13. I am fah-reaking out. She’s a teenager, like, officially. I mean, now we are going to have to have puberty and relationships and…and…MAKEUP. I’m not equipped for this sort of thing. What am I going to do when she brings home some person she wants to date, introduces me followed by

Always Forward

Previously… Donald Trump is going to be our next President. We live in a country where there’s something called Democracy. Not every country gets to have this. The idea is that once you get to be 18, you get a chance to vote for the things that are important to you. Sometimes the vote goes

The Matriarch

Well… My grandmother died today. She was just about to turn 95 years old. This is a weird one. My grandmother, Rhoda Brand, had been battling dementia. It is difficult to know exactly when it really took hold but I’d say it has been roughly 8 to 10 years where I can remember being able

Et Cetera

Today, Julianna turns 12. Every year, since she was 3, I’ve been publishing a post on this day. You can read them here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. These birthday posts have gotten harder and harder to write each year. I generally start thinking about them a few days in advance

Counting to 10

Today Chloe turns 10. I know what you’re thinking: Another exciting look into the future! I thought about doing that for Chloe like I did for Julianna but Chloe deserves her own thing, not some derivative nonsense. And so I’ve been thinking back to all that’s happened since her last birthday; all the moments of

11.

Today Julianna turned 11. This year’s birthday post might have ended up looking like this: This year, we talked to Julianna about sex. The end. That would have been a big enough event to cover the whole year. I then thought about what I did last year. Last year, I did a very clever “flashback”