Very proud of...

Like most of us, I've made mistakes. There are times that I've hurt others, and hurt myself. (Of course, I try not to do either.)

I love my immediate family and extended family.

But something happened today that made me feel wonderful.

I met a young lawyer and his wife at the new (and very interesting) Synagogue I have started attending.

They have three children. They told me they were going to stop at two, but they were influenced by book The Birth Dearth and particularly the parts about the incredible shrinking secular Jewish birth and fertility rates.

They had a third.

I have been told that several times.

Once, a very close friend of mind, living in Chicago, had recently remarried. We were out dining and drinking at a Windy City restaurant: He, his wife, and me.

They told me that they did not plan to have any children. The friend ---male--- had one child from a previous marriage. The new bride (in her mid-thirtes) had --- zero.

I had another drink and told them I thought that was unwise. Among other things, I believe, children are the closest we get to immortality.

( I grant that it is every individual's right to make his/her reproductive deccisions.)

Later, I was told, they thought about it. They decided to have a child.

She is now in Medical School.

I feel warm and toasty about it.

(I grant that it is the right every individual's right to make their own reproductive decisions.)

Ben