Circle Of Life

A week ago, as I was watching the late news, I heard a report that made me stop in my tracks because I recognized the name. They were talking about a cousin of mine. He wasn't a close relative - I hadn't seen him in years - but he was family. In fact, he and his wife were the only family we had in the area when we moved here and they were kind and welcoming. As time went on life got in the way and made the distance between our homes in Virginia and Maryland seem to grow but I still thought of them and hearing what happened to Rickey was awful.



Rickey's death would've been upsetting even if I didn't know him because I too am a Metro rider. Every day I ride the Metro and over the past week I've felt acutely aware of just how alone we all are as we commute to and from work which is weird considering how packed those trains can get. People get on and off immersed in a book, watching a video on a handheld device, checking their e-mail on a crackberry, or listening to music and never even notice who is next to them. It's kind of sad when you think about it. A man died on a train that was full of passengers and nobody even noticed. What does that say about us?



Anyway, on Sunday I went to pay my respects to my cousin and her sons. It was a hard visit but nice to reconnect after all that time.

Fortunately, the very next day the circle of life expanded once more as a close friend had a baby boy. The kippot in this post are the ones that I expect will be worn by Baby "J" and his big sister Miss "B" at his bris next week.



Unlike the kippot I made for the Bat Mitzvah, these were made from cotton embroidery thread (#5 I think). I love colors that were available and the feel of it - nice and thick and soft. It's kind of hard to see in the pictures, but I incorporated a bit of gold thread into the yellow star on the blue kippah. I hope that they make the guest of honor and his big sister feel very special.