Sutro tower

The weekend before last we went to a bat mitzvah.

These pictures of Sutro Tower were taken while we drove around the city, killing time between the service and the dinner. It was great to have an unexpected afternoon to spend.

The service was lovely, as those things generally are. K’s mother died recently, and this lovely event, where family and friends come together to celebrate a kid growing up and becoming a member of a community, reminded me how important it is to celebrate life events with other people.

So we’ve made plans to go back and see K’s mother’s brother and sister this May. Oddly, N and M hardly know them, but when I spoke to them on the phone, they seemed happy that we would be coming to see them. We do know E’s brother’s wife, since K’s cousin lived out here for a while and she came to visit him. We know she’s lovely. When I spoke to E’s sister on the phone, she also seemed wonderful and kind. So I’m glad we’re doing this.

K, of course, knows them. He did see them when he was little. But it seems that not all families grow up like mine did. I spent every summer of my life until I was 16 at my grandmother’s lake cottage in Minnesota, and my kids have spent at least two weeks of most of their summers at my mother’s house, and always saw K’s nearby brother while we were there.

In other news, N is getting ready to go to Bolivia in late May. She’s planning to travel around South America for “not more than a year.” She seems both very organized and very excited, which is good.

And M is finishing up papers and exams and drawings for midterms and will be home on Saturday. Spring break, already, which seems impossible.

I’m busier than busy, which is just fine.

So that’s what’s new around here.