THIS GIRL!
This weekend, our family saw the passing of two dear friends at very different points in their lives.
One was a beautiful, gregarious, young mother. She was wed to one of the most impressive and handsome young men we grew up with. They looked the part of a perfect couple. They married, had three kids. Then a few years ago, she was diagnosed with incurable stage 4 cancer and given months to live.
The other was at the logical end of his life's story. Despite tremendous challenges of war, health and loss, he became wildly successful. He was married for well over 50 years. He was 87 and had escaped death many times. But advanced Parkinson's made it difficult for him to walk and use his hands and arms effectively. Nonetheless, his mind remained sharp. While his disease slowed his speech, his insights were always of tremendous value.
Both friends carried themselves with poise and fineness, so unless you knew of their challenges, you might envy their blessings. Both had incredible attitudes towards life and shared their love and kindness until the end. Both of them beat the odds, over and over again. Both of these dear people have incredible families who have loved them, cared for them, supported them in sickness and health, poverty and wealth, in life and in death. Yoni and I know that if nothing else, our future is uncertain. But I am so deeply grateful for the example of these beautiful families because it reminds me that when everything else is stripped away, when you have love, you have the only thing that really matters.
One was a beautiful, gregarious, young mother. She was wed to one of the most impressive and handsome young men we grew up with. They looked the part of a perfect couple. They married, had three kids. Then a few years ago, she was diagnosed with incurable stage 4 cancer and given months to live.
The other was at the logical end of his life's story. Despite tremendous challenges of war, health and loss, he became wildly successful. He was married for well over 50 years. He was 87 and had escaped death many times. But advanced Parkinson's made it difficult for him to walk and use his hands and arms effectively. Nonetheless, his mind remained sharp. While his disease slowed his speech, his insights were always of tremendous value.
Both friends carried themselves with poise and fineness, so unless you knew of their challenges, you might envy their blessings. Both had incredible attitudes towards life and shared their love and kindness until the end. Both of them beat the odds, over and over again. Both of these dear people have incredible families who have loved them, cared for them, supported them in sickness and health, poverty and wealth, in life and in death. Yoni and I know that if nothing else, our future is uncertain. But I am so deeply grateful for the example of these beautiful families because it reminds me that when everything else is stripped away, when you have love, you have the only thing that really matters.
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| This handsome guy is working for a client in New York right now, and when we heard he was going to be stuck in the office over Father's Day, the babes and I piled in the car and popped up to join him. You can't really tell, but our second favorite Lady Liberty is in the background of this shot... |
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| We snuck out for a few hours on Saturday and took the kids on the Staten Island Ferry. |
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| Oh, hi! |
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| Hettie did a bit of photo bombing on Wall Street. |
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| We paid our respects to David's favorite Founding Father. Can you guess who? |
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| Naturally. I'm frankly more excited for an eventual pilgrimage to his birthplace on the island of Nevis... |
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| They sell honey roasted coconut on the street corners, and it's kind of crazy delicious. |
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| Hettie likes to work it for the camera. |
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| Phinny, not so much. |
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| Of all the things we've seen and done, I think the random Brooklyn splash pad was the biggest hit. |
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| Proof that we do, in fact, have three children. |
The other week, Yoni and I attended my sister in law's graduation. We meandered our way through the Hudson Valley, which looks like a StyleMePretty dream come true. Old barns, dilapidated grand mansions and a river rolling between. Brooklyn has become so expensive, we mused the next hipster bastions would be America's small towns. With Etsy and the internet, you don't need a store so much as a space to showcase you passion. So why not go to a place where you can get a gorgeous old house on acres of land?
And then we arrived in Hudson, NY and realized it was already happening. The fedoras are already on the move.
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If you stop in, check out these places: TruckPizza and the whole gang of food trucks; Cafe Le Perch which supposedly has the best baguette in America. We missed it since they're closed Mondays; Rural Residence; Good Musica, a beautiful little music store right off of the main strip; Tanzy's is a sweet little diner with really good food; The Union Street Guest House is where we stayed. A pair of brothers who were set designers are behind this B&B. Word around town is it has a secret bar in it. I have a hunch it's on the second floor of the main building. Since I don't drink, this wasn't a huge draw. But the decor is exquisite and they have awesome dogs.
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You saw it here first ... ok, maybe second, if you were watching CBS tonight. The amazing opening number of Tony's 2013.