Page 110 - issue
P. 110
METAMORPHOSIS
Aby Eve Poupko couldn’t remember when it stopped. wasn’t until we arrived at our destination
s I was driving home from work This conundrum left me puzzled. that I began to recognize these same
the other day, I passed an ele- children, most of whom I had known
mentary school just as the par- Little did I know that I would get my since nursery school. As the door began
ents were coming to pick up answer through a fortuitous experience to slide open, seat belts clicked open,
their children. It was one of the very next day, during my regular scuffling ensued, and there was a mad
those rare rainy days when the afternoon carpool. On this particular car- race to be the first one out the door.
sun, still bright and shiny, was pool day, not only was I driving a middle- Luckily, there were no puddles to navi-
smiling down on the world. As I school boys carpool home from school gate, because we all know what would
was waiting for the light to change, the but also had the privilege of driving them have happened. Relieved at their return
school bell rang and the doors burst to a classmate’s bar mitzva later that to humanity, I was reminded of that
open. Counter to my expectations, I was evening. Now do you understand what ancient Jewish haiku:
treated to a stream of life-sized ladybugs, I’m “driving” at?
frogs, ducks, butterflies and even a pen- Today I become a bar mitzva,
guin flocking to greet their parents. Of You see, the difference between the Joining my people as one,
course, they really were children whose two carpools, which were separated by a Tomorrow, it’s back to seventh grade
moods were enhanced not only by seeing mere hour, was astounding. Talk about a As I watched the boys race inside I
their parents but also by the multiple caterpillar turning into a butterfly! I realized my good fortune. I was not only
puddles waiting for them. Not only was mean, these were boys who had just witnessing but also recognizing that a
the weather in an optimistic mood but so scrambled into my minivan at breakneck metamorphosis was taking place. These
were the children and their parents. speed, tossing insults at each other as if boys were not so different from the little
they were having a pillow fight and rainy-day penguins I had observed the
This scene left me asking myself that elbowing one another as if their lives day before. It’s just that they were on the
age-old question: Had my children depended on that extra inch of personal tail-end of that metamorphosis instead
already been transformed from puddle space. Contrast this with the unrecogniz- of the beginning of it. I hoped and prayed
jumpers to puddle avoiders, and, if so, able young men I picked up an hour that, as they leapt toward adulthood with
when did that happen? I certainly remem- later. Preened and turned out in their their friends beside them, they remem-
ber watching them splash through pud- best Shabbos suits, they carefully got into bered that every once in a while, it’s still
dles in their froggie boots and ducky rain- my van, thanked me for picking them up, a good idea to splash through a puddle
coats. What bothered me was that I and quietly moved over whenever we or two, especially if you’re wearing your
stopped at the next boy’s house. As froggie boots and not your Shabbos
polite conversation ensued, I began to shoes.◆
wonder what planet I had landed on. It
Upbeat Photo and Video
For all your Simchas and Events
Yossi Roth
443-801-9051
rothj@comcast.net
www.upbeatphotoandvideo.com
©WWW
102 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
Aby Eve Poupko couldn’t remember when it stopped. wasn’t until we arrived at our destination
s I was driving home from work This conundrum left me puzzled. that I began to recognize these same
the other day, I passed an ele- children, most of whom I had known
mentary school just as the par- Little did I know that I would get my since nursery school. As the door began
ents were coming to pick up answer through a fortuitous experience to slide open, seat belts clicked open,
their children. It was one of the very next day, during my regular scuffling ensued, and there was a mad
those rare rainy days when the afternoon carpool. On this particular car- race to be the first one out the door.
sun, still bright and shiny, was pool day, not only was I driving a middle- Luckily, there were no puddles to navi-
smiling down on the world. As I school boys carpool home from school gate, because we all know what would
was waiting for the light to change, the but also had the privilege of driving them have happened. Relieved at their return
school bell rang and the doors burst to a classmate’s bar mitzva later that to humanity, I was reminded of that
open. Counter to my expectations, I was evening. Now do you understand what ancient Jewish haiku:
treated to a stream of life-sized ladybugs, I’m “driving” at?
frogs, ducks, butterflies and even a pen- Today I become a bar mitzva,
guin flocking to greet their parents. Of You see, the difference between the Joining my people as one,
course, they really were children whose two carpools, which were separated by a Tomorrow, it’s back to seventh grade
moods were enhanced not only by seeing mere hour, was astounding. Talk about a As I watched the boys race inside I
their parents but also by the multiple caterpillar turning into a butterfly! I realized my good fortune. I was not only
puddles waiting for them. Not only was mean, these were boys who had just witnessing but also recognizing that a
the weather in an optimistic mood but so scrambled into my minivan at breakneck metamorphosis was taking place. These
were the children and their parents. speed, tossing insults at each other as if boys were not so different from the little
they were having a pillow fight and rainy-day penguins I had observed the
This scene left me asking myself that elbowing one another as if their lives day before. It’s just that they were on the
age-old question: Had my children depended on that extra inch of personal tail-end of that metamorphosis instead
already been transformed from puddle space. Contrast this with the unrecogniz- of the beginning of it. I hoped and prayed
jumpers to puddle avoiders, and, if so, able young men I picked up an hour that, as they leapt toward adulthood with
when did that happen? I certainly remem- later. Preened and turned out in their their friends beside them, they remem-
ber watching them splash through pud- best Shabbos suits, they carefully got into bered that every once in a while, it’s still
dles in their froggie boots and ducky rain- my van, thanked me for picking them up, a good idea to splash through a puddle
coats. What bothered me was that I and quietly moved over whenever we or two, especially if you’re wearing your
stopped at the next boy’s house. As froggie boots and not your Shabbos
polite conversation ensued, I began to shoes.◆
wonder what planet I had landed on. It
Upbeat Photo and Video
For all your Simchas and Events
Yossi Roth
443-801-9051
rothj@comcast.net
www.upbeatphotoandvideo.com
©WWW
102 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
