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Dear Readers,
In the best of times, planning a milestone event is known to create stressful situations. Throw in a pandemic, along with months of uncertainty, and the stress leaps to a never-seen-before level.
Believe me, I know.
My husband and I just returned from Boston celebrating our daughter’s delayed May 2020 Commencement from Boston University. While there was never a consideration not to attend, we had concerns, including wondering how many others would make the trip. Upon arriving in Boston, we soon learned the answer.
Approximately 8,000 BU Grads and families said yes to the weekend and traveled from around the globe to celebrate these graduates’ achievements and tenacity. It was a glorious weekend of ceremonies and reunions and we were so glad we chose to be part of the happiness…complete with masks adorned with BU logos and Class of 2020.
Eighteen months into COVID-19, one friend, who happens to be an intelligent nurse and tends to lean on the cautious side when it comes to medicine and this pandemic, said to me, “We need to celebrate life’s simchas…we just need to take smart precautions.” How right she is.
And, that’s exactly what we did in Boston and what we’ll do when our older daughter soon gets married.
In fact, I plan to take lessons from the three women featured on page 18: Two mothers of the bride and one bride. They managed joyful weddings in three very different settings. Mazel Tov to them all!
Weddings and graduations are just two reasons for shouting Mazel Tov! and within these pages, we have articles celebrating some of the others—a big birthday (page 21), the first Bar Mitzvah in Bahrain since 2005 (page 25) and the birth of a precious baby just 10 days after the death of her beloved grandfather (page 24).
As we learn to celebrate in slightly different fashions, let’s embrace each Mazel Tov moment, for as the student speaker at BU’s Commencement noted, “…cherish this experience, because the next one isn’t promised.”
Mazel Tov!
Terri Denison
Editor