Clowning Around

I love the 4^th of July - a day to celebrate the birth of our great country, a day of fireworks and a day to feel patriotic.  And for me, most importantly, it means that my annual gig as a clown has come again! 

That is right – you read that correctly, my annual clown gig!  You see, I have two friends, Juggles and Glitter (yes, that is their names) who several years ago asked if I would be interested in marching in a 4^th of July parade as a clown.  No, they were not just clowning around with me.  It was something that I had never done before, so I said yes (I am generally open to trying new experiences). 

This was not just slap on some makeup and go.  THIS WAS SERIOUS BUSINESS.  I had to learn how to be a clown.  I had to learn how to put on clown-face makeup.  I had to learn the clown garb, most of which I borrowed from Juggles.  And, I had to learn how to act like a clown.  A good clown is fun, exciting and can make you smile.  For me to join Miles of Smiles, I had to be worthy!  Since then, I have marched in cold weather, extreme heat and humidity (this year) and torrential downpours.  To use the words of Agent 86, Maxwell Smart, “And loving it!”

The best part, is making children smile.  Some of them sit along the parade route, obvious in their bored expressions as their parents have dragged them out to watch a long parade in hot weather.  However, when they see me, as the clown, coming up to them to give them some attention, the big smiles appear.  Now, this is true of children of all ages, young and old alike.  Not everyone, however, is excited to see me coming.  I walked up to a brother and sister that were all smiles and excited I was coming up to them.  The boy saw his mother stand up and said to me, “My mother is going to take our picture.”  The mom finished standing up, turn to her right (away from us) and proceeded to walk down the block into a crowd and out of sight.  “Oh, yeah,” said the boy, “she’s afraid of clowns.”  Yes, coulrophobia (fear of clowns) is real. 

After the long parade in the extremely hot weather was over, I had one more stop to make.  At my synagogue, they were having a 4^th of July BBQ.  In I walked, arms waving overhead, yelling happy 4^th of July.  The smiles were just as big when I went from table to table.  These people know me and were thrilled.  Many had fun (at my expense).  Someone even said, “I have a serious question to ask you, but I can’t because you are a clown!”

In both cases, being a clown is about giving a moment of joy and happiness to someone else.  I guess the old adage is true, happiness did come from making others happy.

Photo by Glitter

Sacrificial Wayne?

With new responsibilities comes new sacrifices.  This is true in so many areas of our lives.  I remember back to a time when Debbie and I were living in an apartment in Montclair.  We were a young couple starting a life together, still learning the ways of the world.  We had recently talked about how nice it would be to stay home, sleep late, lounge around and just watch TV / movies with no responsibilities and not a care in the world.  26+ years later, owning a house, having two daughters (and two dogs), raising a family, being involved in our community, having hobbies / interested, etc., we have accumulated a life filled with activities.  Do not get me wrong, these are good things, but interesting that we “romanticize” a simpler time in our lives.

Life is always about the choices we make.  With each choice comes the responsibility of following through (taking action) and striving to do or be the best at the choices we make.  To achieve that objective, one is either all in or not.  Being all in means doing whatever it takes to reach our goal(s), including prioritizing activities and making some personal short term sacrifices.  These are thoughts that should go into the thought process prior to making a choice.  I had one opportunity where I never went all in.  I did it for years, hoping that things would click and I would obtain the successes I was looking for.  Truth is that I just dabbled – I treated the opportunity as a hobby, sacrificed the wrong things and had little to show for the effort.  I was clearly not all in.

As I take on the new role of President of an organization, the amount of time required is not trivial.  There will be times where I will have to make sacrifices to achieve successes.  However, balance is important – Family still comes first, though the timing of things will be different.  For me, it is important to remind my family of the changes (setting expectations).  Based on past experiences, anything worth doing should be done the right way.  Knowing way in advance what the sacrifices and time commitments will be, can help, even if it is a jolt when it actually occurs.  As with all things we are involved in, there will be an adjustment period until this becomes part of the fabric of life…then the term will be over!  Here’s to change, sacrifice and the successes ahead.

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.