My favorite things about moving to the Chicago area are the new experiences and opportunities offered to my children. I think this happens no matter where one relocates. All places have new and different and wonderful opportunities to offer. Except maybe prison. Even prison, really, would give a new perspective, but still, I wouldn’t recommend it. Not that I have any firsthand experience with prison. Because I don’t. No matter what you have heard.
Living near a huge city like Chicago offers many lessons in diversity. I rarely shop at Joe Caputo’s without hearing several different languages spoken. It’s one of the reasons I shop there. That, and their chocolate cannolis make my heart go pitter-patter, probably a symptom of clogging arteries, but YUM!
My children have friends who are Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, and Jewish. I have photographs of Rosebud and her friends with more than five different ethnicities and five different religions represented.
Last weekend, Boy Wonder was invited to a Bar Mitzvah. He and his friends needed a driver to the ceremony. Having never before had the opportunity to attend a Bar Mitzvah, I volunteered. I obviously don’t understand Hebrew, but was extremely impressed by the amount of effort and work it must have taken for this young man to learn the readings and songs. I was also struck by the involvement of the families in the ceremony. I don’t really know this family all that well, but I had to choke back tears when the parents, grandparents, and big brother shared their love and wishes for this boy. Especially the brother. That got me most.
I am not a religious person, but I can see the value and comfort that it brings into many, many people’s lives. I am glad that there are temples, churches, mosques, woods, lakes, and mountaintops in which people find peace and understanding.
Those are the things that I wish for you today, my friends, peace and understanding… and chocolate cannolis.
This photo was not taken the day of the Bar Mitzvah, but this is the outfit he wore that day, and, being his mother, I can’t miss an opportunity to show off how handsome he is.
Most of my friends while growing up were Jewish and I was often welcomed into their family traditions and celebrations, and always found them incredibly moving, inclusive, fascinating. I’ve been moved to tears at bar mitzvahs myself.