Itâs been a few months since my last blogpost, and I felt today was a good day to count my blessings.
Tonight is the 3rd night of Passover, and the day that I used to mark as Easter Sunday. My conversion to Judaism is imminent, and it makes my heart soar to be on this journey.
I donât see it as leaving anything behind as much as accepting a truth about myself and where my spirit and soul reside, and it is in the faith of my children, my beloved, and my in-laws. And perhaps also in the legacy of my great, great grandfather Moses Ennis, a tailor in Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland.
So nu?
This week, Irish people the world over will mark the 103rd anniversary of the Easter Rising.
The bloody rebellion against England at first failed, but ultimately led to the creation of the Irish Free State, a republic that is my ancestral home, and still home to both my mother and fatherâs families. Which makes them my family.
It was two years ago this summer that the children and I traveled to our ancestral homeland. I look forward to returning to Ireland, perhaps in 2020. Or sooner, if President Trump continues to oppress transgender Americans as he and his administration are doing. Some folks would go to Canada, but itâs Ireland for us.
Our extended family still needs your prayers and good thoughts, as one of our loved ones is ailing. I wonât get into details because theyâre not mine to share.
But other than that, life is good. No, really!
In fact, weâre all doing well. Our oldest is in his last quarter of his first year of college. Our middle child is finishing her junior year and weâre starting to look at colleges, and the youngest is a boy scout in seventh grade and studying for his bar mitzvah this fall.
Together we are doing all the planning, and this being my first one without his mom to help us, Iâll admit itâs a challenge. But we have the hall, the cake, the deejay and a theme. Next up is invitations, seating charts and of course, the actual ceremony and celebration!
Iâve been teaching journalism, advertising and public relations at the University of Hartford since January, and Iâll be back in the fall. This week, my students in my Writing for the Media class are almost at the conclusion of viewing âAll The Presidentâs Men.â
My News Reporting students are conducting interviews, asking people their thoughts on the redacted Mueller Report. Their assignment: find people on both sides of the Trump divide.
Iâve been managing editor of Outsports since February and itâs been going very well. This was my most favorite story to tell so far, and this one was an exclusive.Â
And last week, I signed a contract to be a contributor to Forbes.com, starting soon. So, financially, weâre in the best shape weâve been in since 2016. I still have huge debts, and even with three paychecks, we still struggle, but my head is at long last above water.
Yes, life is good. Our seder was fun and for the first time in the 22 years since Iâve been co-hosting seders, we had a guest, our housemate Kati. Dahlia was there but we missed having our oldest child at the table! In fact, itâs the first time in 20 years we didnât have all three children sitting with us, and our third Seder since we lost the most important person in our lives. But life goes on.
As it must. And there will be people who will gossip and whisper about the fact that for the first time in a long time I shared photographs of our children here. Well, let them.
Itâs proof we are happy, and together (sorta), and thriving. And thatâs worth sharing.
Easter Rising It's been a few months since my last blogpost, and I felt today was a good day to count my blessings.
