It Is Before

It's a few minutes before davening, before attendance, before the beginning of my work day, before kaddish, before classes, before breakfast. It is before. Just checked my email and found the following. I'm going to address it before I paste it. Stay with us - as they say on the news.

I wrote a post about the start of the story of my mother's passing, which ended with to be continued. The answer is, eventually. I have not yet continued writing the story in a linear way. The story of someone being here and then gone, someone who made us who we are, is beyond words.

Hi Neil,

It's great to hear from you, albeit sad under the circumstances. I'm truly sorry for your losses - may their neshamot be elevated in your zchut and the zchut of all of your beautiful words about them.

Speaking of which, I read the blogs but then they seemed to get cut off. It said "to be continued" but then they didn't seem to continue anywhere...Is there something I'm not understanding? I'm curious to read more about your mother. She truly was a beautiful woman on the outside, and on the inside too, I'm sure! Why did she die so suddenly?

Anyway, I hope your Adar and Purim are somewhat happy...But not too happy, I guess. My grandmother, A"H passed away on Taanit Esther (was it 12 years ago?) Rabbi Tendler explained to my mom that a parent gives his or her child his/her standing in society. This explains why during the year of mourning, the child isn't permitted to attend social gatherings. Our parents really made us who we are in our social circles. I thought that was an interesting point. Just wanted to share.

Be well,
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