By Phyllis J. Lubin

 “No school tomorrow or Friday!” Yussie announced as he came off the bus on Monday this week.

“I know. We are going to Brooklyn tomorrow morning. We will get to see your nephews!”

“What time are we going to Brooklyn?”

“As soon as you come home from shul with Abba, you will quickly eat breakfast and then we will leave.”

“Why so early?”

“That way we can see Maurice before he leaves for school, and we will also get to see the new baby!”

I am so proud to announce that we have a new grandson, born to our children Naftali and Nina! He was born on the first day of chol ha’moed Sukkos. That morning, my eldest daughter (who continues to remain nameless in this publication) and I decided to take a trip to Brooklyn–and we could not have picked a better day to entertain Maurice. While his folks were busy in the hospital, we took advantage of the beautiful summer-like weather and attended a chol ha’moed street fair a few blocks from their house in Brooklyn. It was wonderful seeing Maurice’s smiling face on the various rides. It was even more exciting when we received the call that Nina had given birth to Maurice’s new baby brother. The smiles on his face seeing the first pictures of the baby were priceless!

A week later, we all gathered in Brooklyn for the b’ris of the newest Lubin. Maurice looked so mature with his suit and tie that matched his father’s. In the blink of an eye, our baby grandson is growing up and now is a big brother to baby Jordan (Yehuda Daniel). It was such a thrill that my parents and in-laws were able to welcome another great-grandchild to the family.

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I write this a couple of weeks later, on Election Day. What does Election Day mean to me? It means that Yussie is off from school. It also means that we didn’t have much traffic on our early-morning drive to Brooklyn. An additional benefit is that we don’t have to feed the meters in Cedarhurst today. And it also means that we will be electing a new president of the United States. How will that affect our future? Time will tell.

I know which local politicians I’m voting for. I learned a long time ago that what goes on locally affects our day-to-day living much more than the political figures on the federal level. Regardless, we should worry about who is the president is on a global level when it comes to our concerns for Israel. We all know how important Israeli relations are to the United States, so I pray that our next president will honor the importance of a sound relationship with our ultimate Jewish homeland.

I have heard so many differing opinions. Some people told me they weren’t planning on voting. I think that is a dangerous precedent to set. We need to utilize our constitutional right to vote. I have also heard that people were going to vote for “the lesser of two evils.” I think that is frightening too. And I know that there are people out there who are emphatically pro-Democrat or pro-Republican, no matter who is running. I am not a person who votes for a specific party, regardless of my actual party affiliation; I think every candidate should be looked at closely no matter their party line.

Election Day morning went smoothly. Yussie and I made it to Brooklyn in record time and were able to see Naftali before he left for work. We were on the scene to watch baby Jordan while Nina drove Maurice to school, and even enabled Nina to go vote sans children.

I waited until evening to go vote with Leib. I was unsure about my vote for president, and whether it would even make much of a difference. But by the time you read this, we will all be discussing the outcome of this historic presidential race. Time will tell how it all plays out. v

Phyllis Joy Lubin is an attorney with Maidenbaum & Sternberg, LLP, who resides in Cedarhurst with her husband, Leonard. They have six children–Naftali, Shoshana, Rivka, Rochel, Yosef, and Lea–and a daughter-in-law, Nina. The author welcomes your questions and comments at MothersMusings@gmail.com.

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