This Weeks Very Short Story: Chapter 13

THIS WEEK’S VERY SHORT STORY: SLIGHTLY LONGER VERSION, SPECIAL EDITION

Back in 1982, friends of ours, David & Bonnie Pollack, saw a notice of a meeting for a group in formation of young Jewish couples, so we attended. This was the start of what would become a significant part of our lives for a number of years. The group would later become known as Kadimah B’nai B’rith Young Couples Group # 5224. 

Well, many years have passed since we last met. Some of us now have children that are older than when we first formed the group. Some of us are still in contact with a number of Kadimah members and consider them to be amongst our closest friends today.

Life has happened to all of us.

We have had the blessings of life that include having children, watching them grow up and move on; some of them have gotten married, some have given us grandchildren. Some of us are still working while others have retired.

There have also been changes in our so called Kadimah family. There have been divorces and there have been remarriages, even one marriage from previous divorced members.

There have also been the challenges of life. We have lost a number of members including one past president. Many of us have lost one or both of our parents. We have had children that have had difficulties with life. We have children that have gone through life changing events and there was one that’s life was ended tragically. There are also members themselves that are going through life changing events even now.

Through it all, I consider being a member of Kadimah one of the best things that we did. I am grateful for the time that we spent together. We met new people. We worked toward a common goal. We raised money for a good cause. Most important, we had fun doing it.

We had an above ground pool when we lived on Ithaca and Greenbriar. I was part fish, spending quite a bit of time under the water. 

I am driving with my mother and she points out a sign for the Neptune Society, so I ask her if she would like me to sign her up. I told her that my older son would not like it. She said that that doesn’t matter to her because she won’t be here anyway and I would have to deal with it. 

Around Bar Mitzvah time, I noticed that some guys got a manicure with clear polish in addition to getting a new suit. For years, I wanted to get one. Finally in the early 1980’s I was working in a building where there was a manicurist that I had become friendly with. I told her the story and she said come by and she would take of it. So I had the manicure, passed on the polish. I won’t necessarily be doing that again. I guess I can check that off the bucket list.