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Tenth Yahrzeit for Joshua Zion

It was ten years ago on this day that my life was turned upside down. I was 18 weeks pregnant with a baby boy. We’d had an early ultrasound and were waiting until the 22 week scan to discover the gender. But I knew in my heart it was a baby brother for Noki. I’d […]

Let us not grow weary of doing good

This benediction comes to us from the book of Galatians as Paul exhorts believers to be mindful that they sow to the Spirit and thus reap life. We will reap a good harvest in due season if we are diligent and do not give up.

Do hard things

Do not let kindness and truth leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Proverbs 3:3

A 10th birthday blessing for my second daughter

My precious girl, you are finally here at this day you’ve looked forward to for such a long time! I myself can hardly believe how swiftly these years with you have flown by. The way you entered the world is the way you live your life. You came to us on a windy, golden November […]

This family prepares for bat mitzvah

We are still about two years away from JayJay’s bat mitzvah and yet it is finally time for preparations to begin! This has been a much-anticipated time in our household. The children look at this process of being released into “grown-up-hood” as a treasured time. Though there are some fun privileges in our family that […]

Twizzy’s Simchat Bat

Simchat bat means the joy of a daughter! Oh, what sublime joy! Her fair, creamy skin, soft and delicious in its perfection like one of those disgustingly sweet frosting-filled cannolis from Cinzettis – this is the 12 lb rolls of baby delight named Twizzy Love. Each time we bring a daughter to her introduction to […]

Completion and a new beginning

My five year old son defines wealth as the cuteness of his baby sister. “Mommy, we’re SO rich.” His earnest little face looks with adoration on Twizzy, and he constantly tells me how adorable she is and how he feels like he is as rich as a king because he gets to be her brother. […]

A rainbow after the storm is past

“Pain is only pain; unless we resist it, then it becomes torment.” I haven’t talked a lot about pain in my previous birth stories because I have always understood that the pain is truly secondary to the fact that a new life is born into the world. Yes, it’s present, but it doesn’t have to […]

A 10th birthday blessing for my eldest daughter

It’s your 10th birthday! I can’t believe how fast the time has gone between now and when I first welcomed you into my arms. I love so many things about you – from your artistic side to your quirky sense of humor. I can’t wait to see the young woman you are revealed to […]

You have turned my mourning into dancing

…YOU have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness. Psalm 30:11 As a family, we honored the tradition of lighting a Yahrzeit candle and saying the Mourner’s Kaddish over our little boy Joshua Zion today on the one year anniversary of his death. Having had a full year to mourn and grieve has […]