Thank G-d It's 5777

Surprised to be finding this in your email box today?  Some of you won't even see it until Monday….or Wednesday depending on how you observe the holy days. But Monday, there can be no episode on accounta it's yom tov. Besides, my Big Brother is here. And for these few days, my mind is elsewhere. 

I do want to take a moment to reflect on this past year. I am not sorry to see 5776 depart for the history books. As my close, personal friend Liz Mountbatten might say, it was "an annus horribilus." The start of 5776 coincided with the beginning of my battle with breast cancer. Just a few days before, I had the surgery needed to make sure I did not have a recurrence. In the days and weeks that followed, I learned about just how strong I was, and just how weak my towering parents were becoming. For me, it was a clash of realities: the old with the new and I was not completely positive I would survive the change intact...physically, mentally, or spiritually. Last year at this time, I said I had cancer, but the blogs do not fully reflect the roller-coaster I was on. Part of me weathered the storm just fine... but another part knew I was moving forward into what would be a difficult year. It was. 

This past year, my Big Brother and I buried both our parents.

However, life does not stop and forward we go. Newly minted orphans even at our advanced ages, we are navigating a holiday cycle without the ‘rents. We are figuring out what that looks like, what that feels like.

My Big Brother always went to the folks for Rosh ha'Shana. Last year, he came here because they were here. This year, my Big Brother is here so we can figure this out together, and, G-d willing, forge new traditions that keep our ties strong.  

Despite the complexities and pain of the 5776, I am grateful for the year I had. I got to be a daughter on daily basis for the first time in almost 40 years. I was able to be there for both my folks, and I continue to be able to say kaddish for them. The cancer is in remission and hopefully gone. I moved out of the house Ziggy and I built, and moved into what is really my very first own home. It's my house and the senior son says it looks like me. I get to say what goes where and I get to change it if I want. No need to ask anyone else for an opinion. I published my first novel and it is actually selling; my first royalty check will arrive this month.

5777 promises to be an strong and good year. It begins with the senior son's wedding. I can only look forward to that, to another novel coming out in December, to adventures yet to be imagined. As I learned from last year, I will learn from this one. I'm okay with that.

May you all be inscribed in the Book of Life for a happy and healthy new year. May 5777 bring only good times, good learning, and good outcomes. 

לשנה טובה ומתוקה