Nontraditional Bar Mitzvah: July 2005

Ordinary Miracles

XM radio Broadway played this song the other day and it really touched my old heart. I believe Maureen McGovern sang the version I heard so it was touching and inspiring and not at all grand sweeping vocal stage stealing (love you Babs). I'm thinking of using this for the soundtrack to a powerpoint or other video montage of Max's first thirteen years. It's a wonderful song. I wish I had a link so you could listen to it, but I haven't found one that's complete or tender.

Change can come on tiptoe,
Love is where it starts,
It resides, often hides
Deep within our hearts
And just asPebbles make a mountain,
Raindrops make a sea,
One day at a time
Change begins with you and me,
Ordinary miraclesHappen all around,
Just by giving and receiving
Comes belonging and believing,
Every sun that rises
Never rose before,
Each new day leads the way
Through a different door,
And we can all be quiet heroes
Living quiet days,
Walking through the world
Changing it in quiet ways,
Ordinary miracles
Like candles in the dark,
Each and every one of us
Lights a spark,
And the walls can tumble
And the mountains can move,
The winds and the tide can turn,
Yes, ordinary miracles
One for every star,
No lightning bolt or clap or thunder
Only joy and quiet wonder,
Endless possibilities
Right before our eyes,
Oh, see the way a miracle multiplies,
Now hope can spring eternally
Plant it and it grows,
Love is all that's necessary
Love, in its extraordinary way,
Makes ordinary miracles
Every blessed day.

The "Element" of surprise

A Hummer H2 knocked up a Cooper Mini and now I have a Honda Element!

I've been working pretty hard to stick to a budget so we can have a very low-key, casual and meaningful bar mitzvah. Every little expense is weighed against the bar mitzvah budget. Unfortunately our 2000 Honda Odyssey did not share my thriftiness. After 5 years, 133,000 miles and two transmissions, the transmission needed replacing again and the warranty on the 2nd tranny had expired. Since we travel a great deal, we couldn't afford to risk the transmission completely failing so we HASTILY began a search for a new vehicle. While we had always thought we would just go with yet another Odyssey, this last transmission problem soured me on the model (even though it hasn't been a problem since the 2002 models and they redesigned the tranny in the 2005) so I test drove 3 other models Friday...twice (thanks to the kids for the first long test and Ginger for the second in the pouring, blinding rain) then again Saturday after I got off work (thanks this time to Ginger, William and Uncle Mikey!) and by Saturday night I made my decision and had convinced Ginger of my choice! So after 2 days of shopping about 24 hours of parlaying bids between four dealerships, we are now the proud owners of a 2005 Element EX 2 wheel drive, automatic transmission in Rallye Red (that's how Honda spells it.) She'll be lugging decorations and food to Lichterman for the party real soon and if William and Mikey have anything to say about it, she'll no doubt be sporting various after-market accessories too. Somehow I just don't see myself driving a vehicle with neon undercarriage lights and spinners...

Loss of a childhood touchstone

Throughout Maxwell's thirteen years we have taken him to Pensacola Beach, Florida in the Fall. We used to stay at Barbary Coast. It was a wonderful cinderblock motel. Old-fashioned with kitchenettes and large studio style rooms, it was damaged by Erin and destroyed by Opal in 1995. The next year we found Villas on the Gulf and stayed in a Le Leche League friend's condo right after it was repaired from Opal. In subsequent years we've called various places in VOG home. We evacuated with everyone else last year as Ivan approached. Four of five condo buildings on the gulffront were destroyed. Today we watch The Weather Channel and cry as Hurricane Dennis rages across "our" tender half-mile wide island and destroys any hopes we had of being able to return this year. We were only there a few days last fall before we had to evacuate. We're grateful we have a snug home in Memphis to escape too. Many of our friends on the island were still not in their homes and are evacuated once again. The beach is our family's safe haven. We rest, reflect and restore ourselves for the coming year (we go around Rosh Hashanah) and we all noticed that without that touchstone, this year has been more challenging. We hope everyone near the storm remains safe and pray our little island survives, but know we will probably not be able to visit this year. It remained closed for 8 months after Ivan. We're praying for sudden weakening of the storm! It JUST dropped to a category THREE!!! I'm full of hope and goose-bumps!

Baruch Hashem, it's done!

Though none of you weighed in on Max's future hairstyle, HE did! Here are a few pictures to let you know what really happened. Our deepest and endearing thanks to Scott at Hi Gorgeous (1475 Madison Ave., Memphis, TN 38104-6316 (901) 726-5151) for cutting and styling Max's hair. The donated hair will help some child afflicted with alopacia and has helped Max enter the world of anonymous mitzvahs. He has two 15 inch ponytails that we'll be mailing off to Locks of Love after the bar mitzvah. I think we'll put a small display of his hair and info on LOL at the actual bar mitzvah.