Well, the Frustrated Son is no longer able to place all responsibility for his foibles onto me; he is responsible for his own foibles now. What a relief!
He was incredibly poised up there on the bima. Cool as a cucumber.
At bar mitzvahs it is customary for a senior member of the congregation to take the bima and present a gift from the congregation to the bar mitzvah. The dude whose responsibility it was mentioned to those present that as he sat down next to my son, prior to his presentation, he told my son who he was and why he was there. He then told us that my son's response was, "Wicked! Cool tie." Now if that ain't confidence, I don't know what is.
There are many opportunities for family members to get confused because many of them are in the actual service, but most of them never got a chance to practice. It's like a play, and the rabbi is the director, quietly and subtly moving people to the right spot, signaling when someone needs to go back to their seat, and so-on. Well, my son took on most of that. He was very, very impressive, and I am so proud of him.
It was a very nice service (if you're into that kind of thing) full of singing, clapping, little kids being cute, and proud parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends filled with pride.
The Frustrated Son's mom, who is a chef and restaurateur, made most of the food, which was frickin' delicious. She made the lox creamed cheese for crying out loud! At the restaurant this morning, where we all met before a couple trips to the airport to deliver those flying home, my best friend, who came up for the celebration, noticed that on the "specials" board there were a couple items that included "smoked salmon cream cheese." She made more than we needed.
I will resume a more regular blogging schedule later today, or in the morning, after I am finished beaming.
