Alaina's Bat Mitzvah: Friday at Kim's

I have just returned from a long weekend in Durham, North Carolina, where my youngest cousin Alaina was Bat Mitzvah'ed. My mom has 2 younger sisters, and between the 3 of them, they have 5 daughters. We are a heavily female-centric family, and we love it! All of the aunts and cousins were present, along with their husbands (my uncles) and my grandfather Poppa. A special treat was the presence of our other "family," headed by Claire, my grandma Annie's good friend. Claire and her daughters Elisa and Sheryl flew down with Elisa's husband Brian and Sheryl's 15-year-old son Casey. My mom and aunts grew up with Elisa and Sheryl, so there is much talk of the old Albany days, as well as teasing about old boyfriends and behaviors. Claire's family is just as loud and inclined to tease as my family is, so there is an exponential increase in teasing, laughing, shouting and slightly crude humor when all of us are combined. It was a most excellent weekend.

Friday, I drove the 5 easy hours down to Durham--it seriously was the 5 easiest hours I've ever driven. Everyone had lunch in Kim's spacious living room. We had several lengthy discussions about H1N1 flu vaccination.

Molly (17) and Aunt Kim (Alaina's mom)
Poppa catching up with Claire.
Casey and Sheryl in Kim's chair that is just perfect for snuggling.

Friday evening saw us at the hotel, giving the waitstaff a difficult time over dinner. This also was the first appearance of the beef tenderloin, which has apparently been cooked several days earlier and left to dry in the sun. In the end, everyone had plenty to eat and there was much laughter.

Friday night services brought a welcome pause to breathe. The rabbi spoke about Women of the Wall--great d'var. She also spoke about Alaina's Hebrew name: Chana Esther. Alaina is named after my great grandmother Grandma Stanger (whose first name was Ann) and a dear friend of my grandma, Elaine. The rabbi talked about the biblical Chana and Esther (she focused on the strength and courage of each, not on the less savory parts of those stories). A nice connect.

When we returned to the hotel, we found that Kim's Durham friends had been parked at the hotel bar since we left. We joined them and listened to some crazy stories full of double entendres. We learned about "sweet spots" on the head (in terms of hair styling), and saw a reenactment of a story using a chicken finger as a cell phone. Good times, good times.