I was a bad boy the other day.  I got caught up in the drama of one of my client’s issues.

Don’t get me wrong, we all have drama.  We all have issues.  And, to be honest, I thrive on solving the drama of others.  (I generally suck at dealing with the drama of my own life- unless it is life threatening- and, then, my training kicks in and I am in overdrive.)   But, in this case, my client was trying to develop an explanation of the craziness that obtained in 2013, because the narrative will be crucial for our moving ahead with plans for the future.

So, I got sucked in to staying late.  (The problem with my practice is that this often occurs.  So, I have learned to schedule client meetings for one, two, three hours longer than they say they “need”.)  But, in this case, I was standing up a good friend, who graciously invited me to dinner.  (Note:  When my friends who don’t keep the rules of kashrut invite me for dinner, it means they are taking special pains to meet my needs.  I am honored by their intent and actions.)

And, without realizing it, this meeting extended almost 2 hours longer than it should.  Which meant I was NOT pleasantly tardy, but outright rude to my host. So, I am apologizing publically to my friends Andy and Liz for that rudeness.

But, that still is not the subject of this post.  That night reminded me that I have managed to develop a synthetic family to replace the family into which I was born.  For almost three decades, my “brothers and sisters” join me for holidays. Rosh Hashana, a quick dinner before the fast of Yom Kipur, Sukot, the seders of Pesach, Shvuot, Shabatot (Friday nights), and birthdays.

Oh, my children and their families join me, too.  Which means that I am clearly lucky to be surrounded by those that I love- and, dare I say, love me back.   So, when I am late, they get worried- worried that I was in another wreck or couldn’t breathe.  And, that means I really must be diligent when events force me to be detained.

When I survived a terrible crash (unfortunately, there were more than one), I knew that life was precious. And, the Supreme Being gave me an extended period on this earth.  Time to scurry about and work on tikun olam, leaving this world a little better than it was when I came.  Time to get my ideas into use to save lives, make them easier to endure, more fun, more profitable, or even just to give a chance to rest to some.

For that, I thank the Supreme Being each morning, afternoon, and night- and again when I go to sleep. My four series of daily prayers.

For that, I thank those that made my “family” complete- Andy, Liz, Jon, Dennis, Iris, Biff, Bob, Maureen, Phil, Lenore, Alan, Dan, and Jack.  There are others, but these form the inner core.

And, thanks for enriching the lives of my children, Shanna, Matt, and Eli, Shira and Chris, and Dan.

Shabat shalom to you all.