But think about it anyway.
—
It was a little uncomfortable, all those birthday speeches about what an amazing human being I am. But hearing your mother and aunt say how lucky they are to have me as their mother? That’s a level of naches everyone should know.
Still, I have to tell you, it was a little like being at my own funeral. Which reminds me, I want you to make sure there is just as much joking and laughing when I die. You were the funniest of all: I can’t believe you told them that we smoked pot on my eightieth birthday.
Maybe you’ll put that in when you do the eulogy. And please, you do it. It would be too hard for your mother or your aunt, and it’s always so moving when a grandchild speaks.
Don’t look at me that way. I’m fine. The doctor said she only hopes she’s as healthy as me when she’s eighty-five. And anyway, there is no way I’m dying before I get to hear someone call you Rabbi Ava Miller.
I keep trying to imagine what my father would say about his great-granddaughter becoming a rabbi. I think his head would explode.
Rabbinical school is five years, right? So I’ll be ninety when you graduate. Oh, excuse me, when you’re ordained.
Now there’s something to look forward to.
Acknowledgments
Grateful thanks to the staff of the Schlesinger Library at Harvard University, who rearranged their schedule to catalog more than fifty boxes of papers related to Rockport Lodge for my use: Susan Earle, Kathryn Allamong Jacob, and Sarah M. Hutcheon.
Thanks for their generous assistance to Bridget Carr, Boston Symphony Orchestra; Katherine Devine, Boston Public Library; Susan Herron, Sandy Bay Historical Society; Jane Matlaw, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Maureen Melton, Museum of Fine Arts Boston; Ethel Shepard, Crittenton Women’s Union; Ellen Smith, Brandeis University; Donna Webber, Simmons College.
Chris Czernik, Rosalyn Kramer, Deb Theodore, and Pattie Chase shared memories of Rockport Lodge. Dexter Blumenthal and Joe Mueller provided early research assistance. Thanks to Ellyn Harmon, Amy Fleming, Joyce Friedman, and Marilyn Okonow for their support and suggestions, and to Denise Finard, Ben Loeterman, Harry Marten, Nancy Schön, Sondra Stein, Jonathan Strong, and Ande Zellman for being there when I needed you.
Thanks to Amanda Urban at ICM and the Scribner team, Roz Lippel, Susan Moldow, and Nan Graham: I so appreciate your belief in me.
My longtime, wise, and gentle writing group partners, Amy Hoffman and Stephen McCauley, were on this long march with me every step. Janet Buchwald provided fresh eyes when they were sorely needed.
My family endured more than the usual mishegas from me. Thanks to my mother, Helene Diamant, brother Harry Diamant, daughter Emilia Diamant, and especially my husband, Jim Ball, who bore the brunt and never lost faith.
Bob Wyatt talked me off the ledge half a dozen times. Without his help, you wouldn’t be holding this book in your hands.
About the Author
Anita Diamant is the bestselling author of the novels The Red Tent, Good Harbor,The Last Days of Dogtown, and Day After Night, and the collection of essays, Pitching My Tent. An award-winning journalist whose work appeared in The Boston Globe Magazine and Parenting, she is the author of six nonfiction guides to contemporary Jewish life. She lives in Massachusetts. Visit her website at AnitaDiamant.com.
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Also by Anita Diamant
NOVELS
Day After Night
The Last Days of Dogtown
Good Harbor
The Red Tent
NONFICTION
Pitching My Tent
The New Jewish Wedding
How to Raise a Jewish Child
Saying Kaddish: How to Comfort the Dying,
Bury the Dead, and Mourn as a Jew
Choosing a Jewish Life: A Handbook for
Bible Baby Names: Spiritual Choices from Judeo-Christian Tradition
The New Jewish Baby Book: Names, Ceremonies, and Customs—
A Guide for Today’s Families
Living a Jewish Life: Jewish Traditions,
Customs, and Values for Today’s Families
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This book is a work of fiction. Although based on historical events and historical characters, the names, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Copyright © 2014 by Anita Diamant
First Scribner hardcover edition December 2014
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Manufactured in the United States of America
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2014019284
ISBN 978-1-4391-9935-0
ISBN 978-1-4391-9937-4 (ebook)