to caryn
wierd. two years. the only way time can be measured is by thought and action. so, in my thoughts it is more real than it was. my heart still aches. now the action part, you would be so proud of your children. i often believe that a bit of your vision landed in my eyes, and sometimes i feel that i am looking and seeing through you as well as me. what ray and jon have done in the last two years is nothing short of earth shaking. they are the definition of resiliency. ray had a year of emotional isolation in ann arbor. she, almost, single handedly packed and moved a household. the strength that she drew on seemed so natural.so, following the social work dream and sidney's good cooking, she made the trek east and made her room here home base and became the girl from pennsylvania. ray adapted to a new city, a new school and two (count them) two jobs magnificently. she got asked to work at her field placement writing grants!!! and another family fell in love with her as babysitter extraordinaire. all this while she traveled all over.......california, nashvile and other parts southern. she unloads a mean dishwasher. and she enjoys a fairly decent love relationship with Stuey. she can separate what is important from what is not. and, she has you in her fingers. you should see how natural and proficient she is as a knitter. sid and i consider her the best roommate we have ever had, and nishy gets walked and groomed and tickled and dressed up and photographed and fed hot peppers and mucus (not together). she and i have formed a gaseous choir and we are adept at annoying sid when absolutely necessary. now, your son, i never thought that anyone could do 10 years of growing in 2 years. he is just so bright and talented and i think, maybe, he is starting to see the positive impact he makes on others. he took on lower merion high school like a new adventure and came away with fabulous grades in the hardest classes, several really wonderful friends, a year of playing varsity ice hockey, and acceptances to every college he applied to! he also was here for me and with me through several crisis. he is a natural at being so sweetly supportive. i don't think that there is a kinder and more sensitive zilber (sorry other zilbers). and , he never would eat dinner until i came home at 8 after work. food, eating and preparing, and our family meals are times of exceptional joy for us all. oh, and you should have seen the ease at which he ordered a $30.00 peking duck at his graduation lunch.....with shirley sitting right next to him. and he will crawl into the hole with no complaints unlike ben zilber. and he is so talented - intellectually and musically and intersonally - and i think sometimes he begins to believe that that is true. and he is so darn cute, despite frequent hair related concerns and a nasty habit of the pulling of facial skin. he is part of the famous band, suspicious activity, and, get this, they are really, really good. we even enjoy playing the cd. and, you would be so proud of how he has adapted to college......loving learning with a vengeance. he is such a talented writer and so sensitive to the world around him. he does think a bit too much, and sometimes he is too forgiving when others don't treat him the way he deserves to be treated. he may be going to france this summer. we could not be more proud of who he is. we are all one family who have a bond in zilberdom. i will keep you posted, but i really don't think i have to. we all feel you looking down or where ever you and gary look from, and think of you always.