Skip to main content

Thanksgiving

My wife and I were married on Thanksgiving day, 24 years ago.  Since then, we have celebrated our anniversary with the traditional thanksgiving day meal.  If you search this blog, you can see past thanksgivings here, here and here.  For some time now, we have hosted huge thanksgiving events with more than 300 friends and guests.   This year, we have a change.   My sister's son is celebrating his Bar Mitzva this weekend and we are all invited.  Our thanksgiving party has been canceled for this year, but we will be celebrate a condensed version  next weekend with a smaller group of friends (20 or so).

I am very excited to participate in this Bar Mitzva. My nephew is a bundle of energy and excitement.  He has grown significantly over the past few years from a very independent child to a real mench.  It is a pleasure to watch him grow up and blossom.

From the thanksgiving point of view, I will miss our big gala event.  It was very much part of my yearly calendar.  This year we will have a Thanuka (Thanksgiving+Hanuka) dinner next shabbat.  We will make the same foods for which we have become locally famous and will share the good times with our friends.

We have much to be thankful for this past year.  My eldest was married in February, bringing my first daughter-in-law into the family.  My second son who had a kidney transplant last year in may, is fully recovered and has entered the army as a volunteer. My third son graduated high school and is now studying in Yeshiva until his army duty starts this spring.  Numbers four, five and six are all healthy and studying in high school!  We are done with elementary school.

My wife is studying in a two year tour-guide course and really enjoying the country and the learning.  She is going to be a great guide (shameless plug for business) and constantly impresses us with her knowledge, passion and excitement about the land and its history.

Of course, I just finished my Phd thesis and I'm now starting a new venture.  I'll probably have to start a new blog for the business side, but I hope to continue with WeekendHospitality for my personal views and events.

To give thanks is to recognize positive events in our life, to recognize the people who made them happen and the people who were with you throughout.  I give thanks for the past year, to God for the many miracles, to our friends for their support, to my wife and my family for being there always.

May you recognize the gifts that you have and the wonderful things that have occurred.  May we continue to share these gifts and events in the year to come.

Elliot
Labels:

Comments

Hasya Ya'ara said…
Elliot,

Happy Anniversary to you and your wife. And mazal tov on all of your's and your families successes.

May each year bring you more simchas.

Hasya Ya'ara
November 28, 2010 at 1:53 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A change of pace (Kidney Failure)

I have been trying to keep this blog focused on hospitality and food.  God though has other plans for his creations and I find now that I will have to expand the scope to cover new topics.  I'll try to continue blogging about my menus and our guests, but expect more posts that have little or nothing to do with food. In February of this year, My second oldest son, Asaf was diagnosed with Chronic Renal Failure. Simply put, both his kidneys are damaged and scarred from some infection or defect that happened years ago.  They will likely cease to function sometime within the next six months. The good news is that there is no immediate danger to his life.  Kidney Dialysis is a viable option and can maintain his health for up to ten or more years if necessary.  Unfortunately, the process is not easy and there are potential side effects. Given Asaf's generally excellent health and age, Kidney Dialysis is considered only a stop-gap measure and not a long term solution. The best solutio...
13 comments
Read more

Pesach 5768 (2008) Overview

Pesach is just around the corner and preparations are already underway.  Our current guest list includes 7 gentlemen from a post-high school yeshiva program and two young ladies.  Our total count stands at 17 for all five meals. My wife and family are already working on cleaning the house.    Some of the dry goods purchases have been completed, and now we are looking at the protein purchase (butchers bill) and the fresh produce.  To get the process started off on the right foot, we are making menus.  In the general way of things, I expect these menus to change over the next 10 days.  Yet, I want to keep them online and get your input.  Do you think they are too light, too heavy, or just plain not enough for our hungry guests?  Let us know! There are five major meals that we need to prepare. Friday Night Dinner Early Shabbat Lunch (which must be eaten before 9:30am and that needs to include bread) Shabbat Lunch (around 1:30pm, that cannot include bread or matzoh) Seder Dinner First Day ...
3 comments
Read more

B"DE Clark Evenchick

B"DE = Baruch Dayan Emet, Blessed is the truthful judge. This is the traditional jewish response to hearing that someone has passed away. My friend Clark Evenchick passed away last night. He suffered for a number of years from ALS. His passing is both a loss and a blessing. We will miss his wit and his powerful presence. On the other hand, ALS is a terrible disease for both the patient and their family. As the body becomes less responsive, the family and caregivers need to spend more and more time providing physical and mental support. Clark's passing frees both himself and his family from this disease. Clark built our house. At one time, he ran a construction company. Clark was not only an honest contractor, but also a joy to work with. At a time when most houses took up to two years from ground breaking to residence, Clark built our house in 7 months. Whenever there was a problem, we were more than comfortable telling him to find his own solution. I believe that...
4 comments
Read more