Recently I mailed my tax papers to my accountant back in NJ. Now, I know that that doesn’t sound like anything great…but believe me, it is. This is the first time, since the accident in London, almost seven years ago, that I have been able to get my taxes done by April 15th! After many years, many moves and many tears, I am HOME, I am SETTLED, I am HEALTHY, I am HAPPY and beyond that, I am JOYOUS every single day (even at times when sadness comes) and maintain an incredible sense of just how precious this life’s journey is.
So there I was, having feasted at one of my Austin favorites, Kim Phung (delicious Vietnamese food), basking in the reality that I had actually finished my taxes on time, driving home to my now almost completed apartment (I’ve got these incredible brothers, Mort and Chuck, who operate as my “handy-men”) on a beautiful day, with Texas wildflowers in bloom all over the place. I had switched the car radio from my regular classical station to the oldest Austin country-western station. They were playing this song about what a great place Texas is to live. And there I was, with a “—-eating” grin on my face, as big as all outdoors which just wouldn’t quit. I don’t know that I have ever known such awareness of such joy before. It was blinding in its intensity. And therein lies the message, if there even needs to be a message. One has to be awake and aware to receive the gifts. Everyone seems to show up and be awake and aware for all the bad stuff. I wonder what the percentages are for those of us who show up and are awake and aware of all the good stuff.
Our really good stuff right now is that our family is growing. Ian, the twin who lives in NJ, asked his long-time girlfriend, Diane, to marry him. She said, “yes”! Davide, Sascha and I are sharing in their joy. Ian is somewhere in NYC, working at the corporate offices of Footlocker and walking on air (probably in vegan sneakers)! No wedding date has been set yet.
I wish all of us a beautiful spring and all the freedom inherent in the Passover story. May we all break free from that which blocks each of us from realizing the incredibly wonderful, divine beings we already are.
With many blessings and very great love,
Rabbi Raine
