Just over 25 years ago I began attending Passover seders at my friends J and E's home. Their sons were just young teens then, and now they are both PhDs with smart and capable wives. One couple has had two children. I have moved away from NYC, but I will drive down to the city so that I can help with the preparations for seder starting Thursday and into Friday. I will be peeling veggies and laughing and basking in the immense joy of my extended family. With the exception of one 85 year old (Catholic) cousin, my entire blood family is dead. So my extended family is my family in every way.

When I was about ten years old, a Messianic Jew came to our Lutheran Church and taught us how to celebrate Pesach (Passover) by holding a Seder meal. My parents were captivated by the ritual: the lifting of the afikomen, the passing of the bitter herbs, the salt water on the tongue.