I was driving in my car the other day, when I glanced at my sideview mirror and began to smile to myself. As do many mirrors, this mirror was stenciled with the words "CAUTION: Objects in Mirror are Closer Than They Appear!" The meaning of this pithy little statement is that the mirror distorts the image somewhat and you might THINK you have more time to react to a car or truck, etc, indeed you may have LESS time as the object is truly closer than it seems.
And that is when I smiled to myself. This Shabbat marks exactly two years since we went public with the news of our impending Aliya. At the time, it seemed SO far away. And even as recently as a few weeks ago, it still seemed off in the distance. At times, our future appeared to me like a mirage in the desert...it was there but it was ephemeral. It still seemed so far off in the distance, that I still had some time to breath.
Well, that is no longer the case! Over the next few days, we will experience our last Shabbat in our house (tonight and tomorrow); our last few days in the house and the move over to my parents' home. We will experience giving a final cleaning to the house (if only the house were this empty just before Pesach!!). We will experience both the joy of moving on and the melancholy of saying goodbye to our home of the last 23 1/2 years. Yes, our future indeed IS much closer than it appears.
I find myself filled with so many conflicting emotions this morning. I think that what is helping to magnify that is the fact that I give my last Shabbat speech this week...for all those in the area, you are all invited at 8:30am this Shabbat to hear this final speech and join us for Kiddush afterwards. I look forward to greeting you personally.
Oh my Gosh! The future really, truly is closer than I thought! The countdown is in SINGLE DIGITS!!
9 days...1 hour...8 minutes...TICK...TICK...TICK...whoah!
