I Still Have My Family

Photo by Sandy Alpern

I pulled up to see the driveway full of cars.  As of a few weeks ago, Debbie and I were clearly empty-nesters.  Maybe my mind was wandering, but I found this to be unusual.  I double counted, and yes, I was going to be the fourth car in the driveway.  Then I remembered – Gab and Bec are home!  The four of us once again under one roof – the thought of that was very exciting.  It was like in the movie, “The Blues Brothers”, when they announce “Let’s get the band back together!”

When the girls were growing up, it was important to sit together each night and have dinner as a family.  The routine was similar each night in that we would ask the girls about their day and what they learned at school.  When the cell phones came along, we had no cell phone dinners.  Looking back, these were great times being together.  Once they went off to school, most nights of the week, Debbie and I ate dinner together. 

After the flurry of activity of the past few weeks, this weekend will be the last one that I have both days to take a step back, take a deep breath and collect my thoughts.  And what better way to do this then have everyone around.  Friday night, everyone had plans, but Saturday, we spent most of the day together.  Friends of ours were running a booth at an Irish Festival, then it was off to swim.  Sunday afternoon, to beat the extreme high temperatures, it was an afternoon in the pool again.

When I started on the path to becoming the President of the synagogue, I told the committee that my family and work would come first.  Time with family is paramount and the means to providing comes second.  I know that balance is important.  So, for the time being, I have all of my girls around to make sure of that.  When I pulled up to the house and saw the cars, there was a certain warmth that filled me knowing that we were all going to be home.