And the gift of family

E has a special shul bag filled with quiet little occupations to keep her sitting nicely through our lengthy prayer services. Among her things are a number of family photographs that she once pilfered from Grams' neglectedly open and low-lying purse. On the first morning of Rosh Hashanah, E pulled a picture from last summer out of her bag and asked me to look at it with her.

Where is L? she asked. I told her this picture was from before we had L, and she became upset. Here's the picture:

Portrait of only child E, circa summer 2007, in the pool she now knows as only half hers

E's face filled with sadness at my explanation. But! But! She paused, trying to figure out how to say what she wanted to say. But I needed a L!!

"Well, that's why we got her for you," I told her, and she was comforted.

Last Rosh Hashanah we weren't this whole family. We were three of us, plus that kicky question mark that was distorting my belly button.

This year, we're us.