Hope For Us All...

There are lots of things to be hopeful about this week. My kids got into the MO school that I felt would be the best fit for them. I'm very excited for them to start school (and stop fighting with each other all day long!) I have inquired about a position within the community that doesn't pay well, but has many benefits and would allow me all holidays off-that's a huge thing! Things always get worse before they get better, and I hope that last week was my bottom.

I have a wonderful story to share. I have a very close friend who recently converted. As I've mentioned, we all get the "It will be difficult for you marry" talk when we go to the Rav. She's my age, but never married-less baggage than myself. A few days before going to the mikvah, she checked out Frumster. She saw a few hundred profiles, and there was only one person she really felt a connection with. She considered joining after the conversion was kosher just to write this man. A week after the mikvah, she met with the matchmaker. She put her profile up on Saw You At Sinai. The next night, the matchmaker called her with a name of a man she wanted her to meet. He was from the same city as the man she wanted to meet from Frumster. What do you think the poss ibility is? Like one in a zillion? She saw his profile and he was the same guy! He came in for the next shabbos, and she visited him, and so on. It's been 6 weeks, and they're engaged! That sounded a little short to me-but they're going to have a longer engagement-the wedding will be sometime after Thanksgiving! Isn't that amazing? I'm so excited you'd think it is my own engagement. It makes me want to stick my tongue out at all of the naysayers. Converts can get married!

On another note, I've started to cover my hair. I had been wearing hats to shul with my hair showing. I've been wearing tichels this week. It's a little different, but I actually feel kind of proud. And I feel just as pretty. If anything, prettier, because a lot of people just noticed my hair before and not my face. It is a little weirder out in the public-even in my Jewish neighborhood. I feel that people look at me like I'm different now, which is uncomfortable at times. A tichel is an obvious sign of being Jewish, kind of like my son wearing a kippah. I ran into a secular Jewish woman from my other life. She was pretty freaked out by it. I'm going to get more berets tonight-but I still think I'll wear the scarf at times.

I bought my son his first tzizit. He didn't like the idea of them when we were at the store. I went to buy 7 pair and the storeowner laughed and told me I didn't need to wash them every day. I told him I was trying, and he told me I was doing a good job! Can I tell you that this man is so stern that I was scared of him just two months ago? That gave me a secret smile-and then he gave my daughter a toy shofer that was so annoying I wanted to hit her over the head with it. I'm guess I should call my Rav about teaching my son about the tzizit. I'm sure once he goes to school and sees the other boys he will get used to it. Times like this I wish he had a father to show him, but I'm thankful that there are others I can ask...