WHERE IS SHE GOING?

I just received an email from a friend I haven't seen since junior high school.  I always thought she was Jewish.  Maybe I was wrong.  She wrote that she attended synagogue with her father when she was a kid.  She later did transcendental meditation and started reading eastern philosophy.  Next she became a "secular humanist" and then later was baptised into the Episcopal Church.  She went on to earn two graduate degrees from Yale Divinity School and soon became a Buddhist.  She now follows Chrisitan Mysticism.
I can't help wondering where she is going with all this.   What is she looking for?  And will she know it when she finds it?

WILL YOU BE MY VALENTINE?

When our sons were in elementary school, I used to buy them each a box of valentine cards to share with the others in their class.   Their teachers brought in valentine treats for the class parties.  I used to buy candy hearts for my family.  My husband used to buy a dozen red roses for me and sometimes even a box of Gadiva chocolates.  He and I would exchange corny greeting cards and would go out for a special valentine meal sometime during the weekend.  Then my husband started to notice that the prices of all the valentine stuff were drastically reduced the day after the holiday, so he started waiting until the day after to buy them.
This year we didn't exchange corny cards and didn't go out for a special valentine meal because it finally dawned on me that we don't need a special day to share our love.  In addition, it finally sank in that st. valentine was not Jewish at all.

SOUP ANYONE?

No matter what I say, some of my friends still don't understand why I maintain the same level of kashruth in my home even when my sons won't be home for a while.  I hope this short story helps.
I love soup.  And I love making soup.  Quite often I make too much soup.  My husband rarely likes what I make.  So I freeze it.  And bring it with us to our younger son's house in New York on our next visit.  I love being able to share with my family in ways I couldn't if my house wasn't kosher.  

IS THIS A TYPICAL AMERICAN FAMILY?

My husband and I are Conservative Jews.  Both of our sons are Orthodox, but they don't always agree.  So I try to stay out of their "discussions" whenever possible.  When necessary, I do step in and try to get them to realize that they're both entitled to their own beliefs.   I sometimes find myself in a precarious position trying to maintain shalom bayit (peace in the family).  But my sitiuation seems relatively easy to handle when compared with a family that I just heard about.  The mother is Conservative but goes to an Orthodox shul.  The father is Reform.  One adult child is an athiest.  The other married a Catholic.

WOULD YOU SHOP ON SHABBOS?

  Before we visit the grandkids in Israel, I like to stock up on gifts for them.   My older son doesn't mind that we "spoil" the kids.  But he asked me not to shop for them on Shabbos.  This does put a cramp in my shopping style.  I used to love shopping on Saturday because that's the day most stores have their big sales.
 It's not as if the gifts we bring are overly costly.  Even if they were, I'd still follow through on my son's request.  Why bother when I know he'll never ask me what day I shopped?  Because my own concience would bother me.  I want my sons to know they can trust me.