Starting Over (One Year to Go)

Every new race starts with a new training plan. Why not use the same plan? Every race is different. If you train for the Boston Marathon (G-d willing- I WILL be doing that in two years) you have to run hills to prepare for Heartbreak Hill. Other races come with their own challenges. Use the wrong schedule and you might be toast.

Tomorrow is Meir’s birthday (our second son). He will be turning 12. That means that his Bar Mitzvah is only one year away. That means that it is time for us to start thinking about what we will be doing to mark that special occasion. You might think that in some ways, planning a second bar mitzvah would be easier than planning the first. In a way you would be correct. We have the addresses for the invitations and we loved the caterer. Those details will not be the headaches they were the first time around. The major difference is the difference between our two boys. They are each wonderful kids. They are so different from each other. Different personalities, different skills and different interests. What worked for Yehuda will not necessarily work for Meir. In some ways this will be more challenging than a marathon as there are no set “training plans” about how to figure this out. We will have to listen to Meir, both in terms of what he says and, more importantly, what he means. Try and impose the same Bar Mitzvah on Meir and we might be toast.

As with my second marathon, I am more confident that I will survive this than I was with the first. Before we know it, we and, more importantly, Meir will be at the finish line of this stage of his life.

Happy Birthday Meir