#blogElul 25: begin

As the month of Elul comes to a close in a few days, I'd like to use this opportunity to draw your attention to the secular month of September, which begins tomorrow.

Last year, for the very first time, I learned that September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Which meant, frankly, that I used to be very un-aware.

(And nevermind that I am now fully and completely aware of childhood cancer EVERY month. Nevermind that, okay?)

What does this mean?
Did you know that in the US alone, 36 kids are diagnosed daily with childhood cancer?
Did you know that in the US alone, 7 kids die each day from childhood cancer?

Sigh. Childhood cancer isn't pretty or shiny. Even though we are often smiling, there are lots of times that we aren't. There's a lot of pain and worry and fear and that's just from the parents. You can imagine how bruised and battered our kids are...

Tomorrow begins a month of story-sharing, statistic-quoting, and gold-wearing.
Maybe people will get so used to it that they won't stop.

Here are some links to cancer posts, videos, etc, that are all designed to make you so crazy that you will stop at nothing to join in the fight against childhood cancer...and of course, you can always read about our journey at Sam's blog.

Are you sick of all this cancer stuff? -- by Nicole Scobie
Breaking News! Childhood Cancer is Not Rainbows! -- by RockstarRonan's Mom, Maya
Lock up September -- at the FourSquare Clobbers Cancer blog
Childhood Cancer Stories all September -- by MaryTylerMom

All of these blogs are hard to read. Be courageous and subscribe to one or all of them. Read the stories, feel the heartbreak. Get mad and do something....it's a good time to begin.

Feel free to grab one of these and share it....share it....share it.

The Jewish month of Elul, which precedes the High Holy Days, is traditionally a time of renewal and reflection. It offers a chance for spiritual preparation for the Days of Awe. It is traditional to begin one’s preparation for the High Holy Days during this month with the Selichot, the prayers of forgiveness. We look to begin the year with a clean slate, starting anew, refreshed. All month, along with others, I'll be blogging a thought or two for each day to help with the month of preparation... I will be blogging here, and sharing #Elulgram photos on the same themes at imabima.tumblr.com. Follow me on twitter @imabima for all the #BlogElul posts, not only mine but others' as well! This year, I'm not doing a linky or anything like that -- I'm conserving energy! So be sure to tag your posts on Twitter and Facebook so I can catch them with my alerts....

#blogElul 24: end

How do people write memoirs?
People keep suggesting that I write a book about our experiences.
I keep telling them that I can't write the book until I know how the story ends.

I can be very goal-oriented.
It took me a long time to understand that sometimes it's just about the process.
Sometimes the doing and the being and the living are enough....

The wise Brene Brown said that if we OWN the story, we get to write the ending.

But what about stories that are being written for us?
What about the endings that are unclear...blurry...far away?

The year has a definite end. As Rosh HaShanah comes in, we know that the book is closed on the year. No way to re-open it and rewrite it. We lived it, we move forward.

If only the rest of life were so simple....

The Jewish month of Elul, which precedes the High Holy Days, is traditionally a time of renewal and reflection. It offers a chance for spiritual preparation for the Days of Awe. It is traditional to begin one’s preparation for the High Holy Days during this month with the Selichot, the prayers of forgiveness. We look to begin the year with a clean slate, starting anew, refreshed. All month, along with others, I'll be blogging a thought or two for each day to help with the month of preparation... I will be blogging here, and sharing #Elulgram photos on the same themes at imabima.tumblr.com. Follow me on twitter @imabima for all the #BlogElul posts, not only mine but others' as well! This year, I'm not doing a linky or anything like that -- I'm conserving energy! So be sure to tag your posts on Twitter and Facebook so I can catch them with my alerts....

#blogElul 23: love

It was love at first sight.
If you haven't read about Sam's love-at-first-sight meeting with his new cells, check it out here.

The Jewish month of Elul, which precedes the High Holy Days, is traditionally a time of renewal and reflection. It offers a chance for spiritual preparation for the Days of Awe. It is traditional to begin one’s preparation for the High Holy Days during this month with the Selichot, the prayers of forgiveness. We look to begin the year with a clean slate, starting anew, refreshed. All month, along with others, I'll be blogging a thought or two for each day to help with the month of preparation... I will be blogging here, and sharing #Elulgram photos on the same themes at imabima.tumblr.com. Follow me on twitter @imabima for all the #BlogElul posts, not only mine but others' as well! This year, I'm not doing a linky or anything like that -- I'm conserving energy! So be sure to tag your posts on Twitter and Facebook so I can catch them with my alerts....

#blogElul 22: Dare

Sometimes you have to take a daring leap....

The Jewish month of Elul, which precedes the High Holy Days, is traditionally a time of renewal and reflection. It offers a chance for spiritual preparation for the Days of Awe. It is traditional to begin one’s preparation for the High Holy Days during this month with the Selichot, the prayers of forgiveness. We look to begin the year with a clean slate, starting anew, refreshed. All month, along with others, I'll be blogging a thought or two for each day to help with the month of preparation... I will be blogging here, and sharing #Elulgram photos on the same themes at imabima.tumblr.com. Follow me on twitter @imabima for all the #BlogElul posts, not only mine but others' as well! This year, I'm not doing a linky or anything like that -- I'm conserving energy! So be sure to tag your posts on Twitter and Facebook so I can catch them with my alerts....

#blogElul 21: CHANGE

When I create the BlogElul prompts, I brainstorm a list and then tweak it a little, adjust the order, make sure it all seems to "work" and then send it out into the world. This year, I clearly didn't proofread well, since I ended up with two identical prompts: change.

I caught it right away (well, not before I had sent it out into the world) and when I asked what people thought and the consensus was to just leave it. After all, "change" is a pretty big theme of the High Holy Days.


When I created the prompts, I had no idea what the 21st day of Elul would be.

Change? Today is about as big of a change as it can be.
Today is the day that Sam receives his new cells.
His bone marrow transplant.
His new birthday.
His start of his change of status...from Leukemia Patient to Bone Marrow Transplant Survivor.

The change will be hard.
His body will resist.
Change can be painful.
He may suffer pain and discomfort.
Change isn't easy.
But there's no giving up.
There's no going back.
There's no starting over.
This is it.
The change is here.

Blessed are You, our God, who gives us the capacity for change.
Thank You, God, for this gift.

The Jewish month of Elul, which precedes the High Holy Days, is traditionally a time of renewal and reflection. It offers a chance for spiritual preparation for the Days of Awe. It is traditional to begin one’s preparation for the High Holy Days during this month with the Selichot, the prayers of forgiveness. We look to begin the year with a clean slate, starting anew, refreshed. All month, along with others, I'll be blogging a thought or two for each day to help with the month of preparation... I will be blogging here, and sharing #Elulgram photos on the same themes at imabima.tumblr.com. Follow me on twitter @imabima for all the #BlogElul posts, not only mine but others' as well! This year, I'm not doing a linky or anything like that -- I'm conserving energy! So be sure to tag your posts on Twitter and Facebook so I can catch them with my alerts....

#blogElul 20: Judge

When we talk about judgment with respect to the High Holy Days, we are usually talking about Divine Judgment. The Big Judge. God on High, judging us all, writing our names in the Book of Life or....the other Book.

Last year, I read those words...
who shall live
and who shall die
who by fire
and who by water
who by sword
and who by beast
who by plague....

And I get stuck.
I can't write the words.
I can't think the words.
I can't even breathe when I think about it...

The Jewish month of Elul, which precedes the High Holy Days, is traditionally a time of renewal and reflection. It offers a chance for spiritual preparation for the Days of Awe. It is traditional to begin one’s preparation for the High Holy Days during this month with the Selichot, the prayers of forgiveness. We look to begin the year with a clean slate, starting anew, refreshed. All month, along with others, I'll be blogging a thought or two for each day to help with the month of preparation... I will be blogging here, and sharing #Elulgram photos on the same themes at imabima.tumblr.com. Follow me on twitter @imabima for all the #BlogElul posts, not only mine but others' as well! This year, I'm not doing a linky or anything like that -- I'm conserving energy! So be sure to tag your posts on Twitter and Facebook so I can catch them with my alerts....

#blogElul 19: Ask

Asking questions is, in my opinion, one of my best skills.

I always want to know more. 

Is it any surprise, then, that my children ask incessant questions?

Sometimes, though, I just wish I hadn't passed on this particular trait. 

The Jewish month of Elul, which precedes the High Holy Days, is traditionally a time of renewal and reflection. It offers a chance for spiritual preparation for the Days of Awe. It is traditional to begin one’s preparation for the High Holy Days during this month with the Selichot, the prayers of forgiveness. We look to begin the year with a clean slate, starting anew, refreshed. All month, along with others, I'll be blogging a thought or two for each day to help with the month of preparation... I will be blogging here, and sharing #Elulgram photos on the same themes at imabima.tumblr.com. Follow me on twitter @imabima for all the #BlogElul posts, not only mine but others' as well! This year, I'm not doing a linky or anything like that -- I'm conserving energy! So be sure to tag your posts on Twitter and Facebook so I can catch them with my alerts....