I always eagerly anticipated New Year celebrations as a young girl. We often celebrated at home as a family—my parents, my younger brother, and me. My mother created several alluring and memorable child-centric rituals which our family enjoyed over the years. One such tradition was watching a blockbuster movie in theaters. A big movie-going family, … Read more
Two days ago, I attended the funeral of Rabbi Simon Glustrom, my family’s Rabbi throughout my childhood. He was a welcome presence who presided over important lifecycle events throughout my childhood including my bat-mitzvah, the coming of age ritual ceremony for 13 year old. He also was one of three Rabbis who stood under the … Read more
Although I’ve never gone camping, I spend hours each fall season in an urban makeshift campsite nestled in the concrete courtyard behind my Manhattan apartment building. The fall festival of Sukkot follows the holidays of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, considered the holiest day of the year complete with a 26-hour … Read more
For weeks, we could still smell the smoke—even though my apartment is about 100 blocks north of the World Trade Center. It started out as a momentous fall day, until it became an atrocity. It was supposed to be the first day of nursery school for our younger son Joshua. My husband and I were … Read more
It’s back-to-school season and I’m getting ever so nostalgic. Whenever I duck into the Staples store in my neighborhood, I’m swept up with positive flashbacks from my childhood back-to-school excursions. My mom was wonderfully supportive, always encouraging my love of learning. For this annual rite of passage, we’d go to the local stationery store in … Read more
In the second year of my MBA program, I put on my black jumpsuit and headed to the end-of-semester dance party to celebrate the completion of grueling exams and papers. At around midnight, I asked a handsome guy to dance, not knowing how this simple gesture would alter the trajectory of my life. Jacob was … Read more
Danish existential philosopher Soren Kierkegaard said, “Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” And, in 2016, author Rachel Cowan said, “Ours is the first generation in human history to move into elderhood with 20 years or more of vitality and good health ahead.” Cowan was one of the … Read more
I’ve never been a car person. But when I was in college, my parents bought me a used car. This is when I discovered how expectations play a significant role in how we process information. That’s because, before I saw the vehicle, my dad casually mentioned that it was a red sports car. Now, although … Read more
I am a passionary, a visionary driven by great passion and action. As an active, high-energy social entrepreneur with meaningful social connections as a wife, friend, daughter, mom, and grandma, my life is balanced on a fulcrum constructed like the seesaw at the playground. That fulcrum allows me to stay present in both of these … Read more
According to family lore, my father actually believed until he was 10 years old that the Fourth of July fireworks were staged in honor of his birthday. He loved everything about the festivities: The Main Street parade, a family BBQ in the lazy afternoon where he was grill-master extraordinaire, and, most of all, the celebratory … Read more