I buy lottery tickets occasionally and have never won more than $10, and that was totally exciting.

I have known since I met this cute, ruachdik (lively) guy many years ago that I was the luckiest woman of anyone I knew. Throughout the past Shabbat, I closed my eyes and rejoiced in the fact that nothing beats having all of your children together with all of their children (with three exceptions because of distance), and all their great grandchildren who are now becoming best friends with their cousins, and I was totally overwhelmed. What an absolute bracha!

Thank you, Ari and Shoshi, for being the cause of the enormous simcha that everyone enjoyed and celebrated so much this past Monday night.

Also gratifying was the number of friends who came from near and far (London) to share their happiness for Ari. I heard things that I knew nothing about in the world of computer science. Some of these guys speak another language to each other, which they find kind of funny.

Another particular beauty of observing who your children and grandchildren marry is when you realize how fortunate you are when the other family that is blending their child’s life with your child’s is one that you could easily see becoming a part of your own family. I watched the Hirsch family together with the Schreir family and the male members of the Tuchman family and realized, what a bracha. Chavie and Chaim have increased their family not only by adding a new daughter, but an extended family as well, with whom they are more than comfortable sharing their nachat in the future.

One would not necessarily think that the phenomenon would include the Bubbie (that’s me), but in actual fact I have been welcomed into the hearts of all of my grandchildren’s families. Frequent calls from other bubbies where we can share the nachat we all feel and occasionally discuss our concerns (little things) and whether or not we have a right to say anything (the answer is no). For me, the machatonim of all of my daughters make me feel as though I myself have found an extended loving family. How ironic that I myself come from a very small family. Other than my brother we had an extremely small extended family and the distance of my grandmother and aunt on my father’s side living in Haifa certainly precluded us from seeing or speaking with each other regularly. No question that for me, in raising our family, emphasizing the need for us all to stay close with each other no matter where we lived was at the top of the agenda. In that respect I take pride in the fact that the effort has definitely paid off. Everything in life is hard work, but if you believe in something strongly it so reaps the benefits when you see the results.

I wrote  this just a few minutes before I left for the wedding venue. Deadline calls but honestly the importance of what took place that night superseded all else.

This euphoria is something I wish on everyone. Try hard to never let the little craziness of life interfere with the beauty of families bonding with each other.

My Mordechai, we did this, and I pride us both on our success.

Nina Glick can be reached at [email protected].