Orel Family

Aaron and Ezra, May 4, 2025, outside Crisler Center, Ann Arbor The moment it hit me was at the start of Aaron's Nursing School graduation at Johns Hopkins . The ceremony started promptly at 9am at the school's lacrosse field, with Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance" being piped over the loudspeakers. The last graduation. After more than a quarter century of pre-schools, elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, colleges and, finally, this post-graduate degree, this would be -- to the best of my knowledge -- the last one. Earlier this month, Ezra went through the graduation ceremony at The University of Michigan. While the two suites of ceremonies were vastly different, they both provided closure. One child struggled mightily during the COVID-19 pandemic and arguably because  of the pandemic, ultimately withdrawing entirely from two full semesters and nearly a third semester before finding a path back to completion of two majors. The other thrived in the isolat...

We went down to the courthouse Wednesday morning, and the judge issued the order: As of this day, which is also our second child's 18th birthday, our child shall be known as Ezra Stanley. We filed the order with the clerk, ordered the new birth certificates, and save for some administrative details, it's done. Name Day! The old name is sealed. It's still in the records, it's in this blog . This is the same person who once had a bat mitzvah, the same person who sang and danced with Bruce Springsteen , the same person who swore that unicorns are real and that they eat unicorn food. I will leave those bits of history untouched. This is also the same person who has made art under the old name and new, and the same person who made a mess of our kitchen while we were away on Tuesday, leaving us to discover the concealed chocolate disaster zone. The shift between what was and what is... in some ways that was very slow, and in some ways it was sudden. There were behavio...

Things to do on my birthday: WGI Semi-finals in Dayton! Ezra turned 17 this week. Start with the name. That's the first thing. Ezra. But that'll be for Part 2. (If there is a Part 2) First, I have Winter Guard on my mind. What is Winter Guard, anyway? Fortunately, there's a web page that succinctly answers that question: "Winter guard is the sport of indoor color guard. Modern color guard is a combination of the use of flags, sabers, mock rifles, and other equipment, as well as dance and other interpretive movement." Winter Guard lineage ultimately goes back to military color guards, which helps explain the use of flags, rifles and sabres. I could do without that portion of the symbolism, even while admiring the mastery with which high school kids -- mostly girls -- can spin, toss and throw them. Ezra first joined Winter Guard as an 8th Grader. Aaron convinced them to go to a "try it out" night. The coach at the time had just created a ...