A CLEAN SLATE UPON WHICH TO WRITE

Yesterday offered up sound reasons as to why a sense emotional conflict was mine.

On the one hand , Will and I had thoroughly enjoyed our kind-hearted, seven year old grand daughter, Ravi, after school.  Her high-spirited, positive focus offers both of us such a remarkable sense of delight!  Ravi breezed through her homework, after which she and I enjoyed cuddling up with storybooks about Passover, which stimulated her sense of disbelief to feel outraged at the brutal treatment of the Jewish slaves in biblical Egypt, followed by a serious discussion concerning the annual deletion of next week’s family Seder.

‘Will I be the only child at our Seder?”

“Yes.”

Can I invite a friend?”

“Of course.”

Then, a little later—

“Gramma, I’ve changed my mind.  I don’t mind being the only child at our Passover dinner.”

“Okay, Ravi, whatever feels best to you is what we’ll do.”

While discussing the meaning of Passover, power, slavery and the eternal struggle, throughout the world, to attain, regain and maintain our freedom from bullies arising within every next generation, Ravi’s eyes opened wide as she and I discussed the fact that people are being harmed, right now, in the Ukraine.

Then, our discussion turned to the freedom to think for ourselves in the USA, where everyone is free to choose the occupation and religion that feels most natural to an individual, or we can even choose the parts of each religion that makes us feel happy and peaceful, because religions are made up of beliefs. As that led Ravi to ask more questions about Passover, I added Easter into our discussion, since Ravi’s daddy is Jewish and her mommy is Christian.  At the conclusion of our discussion, Ravi decided that she’d like to choose the parts of both religions that made her feel happily content, and we agreed that that was a good choice for a seven year old child whose family is about to celebrate both Passover and Easter within the very same weekend.

After finishing her homework, Ravi was eager to decorate plastic eggs (which symbolize new life in both religions), and as these colorful eggs came apart, Ravi enjoyed filling each one with tiny treasures in hopes of delighting her besties with gifts she’d created  herself.

Once Steven arrived for dinner, we four laughed a lot while our son, who, years ago, had passed the bar in AZ and CA, described the ludicrous nature of an exam he had decided to take, this week.

Once Steven and Ravi left for home, Will and I turned on our TV in time to relax while watching last night’s  NBA basketball game.  So what, you might ask, had offered up reason for a sense of inner conflict to be mine after having enjoyed such a delightful afternoon with a child as sensitive, quick-witted and loving as is true of Ravi, followed by laughing throughout dinner with my beloved husband, Will and Steven—one of our kind, fun-loving, responsible sons who grew up to freely embrace so many of our values as to be one of our best friends—I mean, seriously—yesterday sure does sound like a swell day to me—right?

Well, what if I’ve only detailed one half of that which had made yesterday whole?  What if having expressed our delightful afternoon and dinner leaves yesterday morning a clean slate upon which to write that which had stirred a heartfelt sense of sadness within my mind.

👩🏻Annie