by Jody Comins, Development and Events Coordinator
…said my daughter, Talia, who just started her freshman year at Gann Academy. I was thinking the same thing! This is a big year for my family, with both children starting new schools. Talia started high school and Elizabeth started middle school.
On the first day of school last week, I posted a picture of each of them on Facebook comparing the first day of kindergarten side by side with a photo taken that day. I wrote, “All I did was blink”. Actually that’s not true, but looking back, it does feel like time went by quickly.
At the end of every summer we go to visit my husband’s family who live on an island in Penobscot Bay, Maine. My father-in-law takes one look at us, and jokes, “I don’t look forward to your visit because when you get here, I realize the summer is over.” This year, Talia realized the same thing.
Every year during our visit, we take the boat and go camping on Warren’s Island, a Maine State Campground. Our campsite is on the beach and we see the Camden hills across the bay. The kids like to catch crabs and this year, a family got out of their boat and watched while Elizabeth was crabbing. The two children, both under three, were fascinated watching her. I loved to see her interact with the younger kids and show them how to hold the crabs so they wouldn’t get pinched. She was just two herself the first time we camped there and I remember how excited she was and how nervous I was that she would tumble into the water!
The sunsets are spectacular and we take photos every year as the sun sets over the water and behind the mountains. The photos we take every year in the same spot are just as beautiful but my kids are bigger and bigger.
I guess it’s a common feeling for parents as we watch our kids get older and become more independent. I miss the little kids they once were, but I am so proud of the young women they are becoming. I’ve worked at the mikveh for over a year now and think about our family transitions in different ways. Wondering all the time, is this a moment to mark by immersing?
Any moment in time can be marked with an immersion at the mikveh. It won’t stop time from passing, but while you prepare and immerse, it feels like it does.
Jody Comins is the Development and Events Coordinator at Mayyim Hayyim. She has a Clinical MSW from Boston University and has worked in the Boston Jewish Community for 22 years in many different environments.