glenrockschwartz

Dear Avery, The day before your 16th birthday you woke up and told me your dream.  You dreamed that you were at camp and you and I had walkie-talkies and you kept letting me know everything that you had forgotten to pack. We will come back to what that means and the bond between us, but first let me reflect more broadly on your growth over the past year. I would not find myself being honest if I did not first write about how many times the universe has pushed you down over the past year.  Mainly social of course and I don't want to focus on the specifics (aka not being invited, loss of friend groups, stress with camp friends and boys asking and then rescinding dance invites), what I want to write about is your response to these events.  You are so resilient, it actually blows my mind.  I'm not saying that you are a robot who is completely unaffected; rather you have a well deserved cry, some rotting in bed scrolling Tik-Tok on your phone, and then you dry your tears, rise up an

Sometimes when I'm sitting around thinking about my kids, I call them by their Hebrew names - Elazar and Aviva - in my head.  It's 2024 and I feel like we are completely secular at this point; "two day a year" Jews. Even though my kids learned to read Torah and haftarah (or memorized phonetically), even though we light candles when we remember and buy challah on the regular.  Even though we are sustaining members of our synagogue and whenever they ask I will read Torah or haftarah or whatever is needed.  Even though my heart aches for Ha'Aretz. My heart. Aches. For Ha'Aretz. I would resent the people in my life who do not align with my way of thinking, but who is to say that their way of thinking and living is wrong?  So what I find myself resenting at times are the choices that I have made

  Dear Alex, I was awakened at 5am today, a little bit by the snoring going on right next to me but also because my mind was swirling with what I wanted to convey to you today on your 20th birthday.  You are 20, but today you are also three months old. And that is because three months ago today we got into your car in Boulder and began the journey back to Glen Rock, back to the place where you would do the really hard work of becoming a stronger and more content human being. You did this among the naysayers thinking that taking a break from a linear path in life was for the weak, who believed that using your anxiety to drive you forward was the path to success, when you have realized that it is quite the opposite.  So on your three month birthday, here’s what I want you to know about yourself: 1. You are incredibly strong. Thank you for speaking up for yourself and for doing the hard work 2. You are infinitely interesting. When you speak, people are drawn to you and want to hear what y