- A longtime job with generous health and other benefits.
- Longtime friends from all parts of my life.
- Family that still enjoys being together – even as we drive each other nuts by being ourselves.
- Coffee, including a Dunkin’ Donuts gift card that gets refilled for me from time to time.
- More books than I can hope to finish anytime soon.
- A synagogue community and weekly services that ground me. (They’d understand my desire to disappear right about now and resurface just in time to shake the lulav and breathe in the sweet scent of the etrog.)
- A newfound love of learning to lift weights and box (yes, you read that correctly) – activities that also ground me.
- A more than adequate roof over my head and a home that is a quiet refuge from the noise and other challenges of NYC living.
- Knowledge of a genetic flaw and the wherewithal to act in a timely way to ensure it didn’t take my life, as well as a willingness and ability to use those experiences to support others who are on a similar path behind me.
Inspired by Ima on (and off) the Bima , this #BlogElul post is one in a series marking the days of the Hebrew month of Elul, which precede the Jewish High Holidays and traditionally serve as a time of reflection and spiritual preparation for the new year.
