Pesach is over...Count the Omer!

I can't believe Pesach 5772 has ended.  Didn't it just start? All that intense preparation warrants a longer chag, don't you think (see previous post)? I always have had difficulty in separating from a chag, especially the Shalosh Regalim, Pesach, Sukkot and Shavu'ot.  This year, it was no different; my daughter left on Wednesday, during chol ha-mo'ed, the intermediate days, so we were 'alone' for the rest of the chag.  Don't get me wrong: Thursday night, the 7th night, we went to our friends and neighbors, the F. family-and we split the cooking (some were leftovers).  The next night, Friday night, last night of Pesach and also, auspiciously, Shabbat, they came to us.  More food, more leftovers, but it was delicious.  Then Shabbat lunch, just today, after davening, we and another family came to their house and we all blessed and ate and talked and sang the Birchat Hamazon together.

But we were still 'alone.'  No family.  In the late afternoon, as the chag and Shabbat were waning, I sat at the table, looking through our bags of kids' "Kadesh u'Rechatz" books and other holiday artwork (seder plates, Pesach signs to hang on walls, etc.) which we have saved over the years and put away with our Pesach dishes, pots and pans, and general paraphernalia.  My daughter's Kadesh u'Rechatz book from when she was maybe 5 or 6, just learning how to write her name.  My other daughter (Rambo) also had one, where she was learning how to write the letter "E" in her name, only with 4 lines in the middle!  Our younger son's 2nd grade Pesach learning binder, our older son's cardboard seder plate with cupcake paper holders glued on.  I miss the time when we were all together as a family.  It brought back memories...which didn't help me face the end of the chag any better.

After havdalah, we counted the Omer, and I went upstairs and called my daughter in NY (too early to call Israel). She said she went to a friend from school (who also lives in NY) for the Shabbat/chag seudah Friday night.  I'm glad of that, but embarrassed to say that I still broke down when I told her what I was looking at. I didn't even remember that we still had it.  Had I remembered, I would have taken the time, while she was here, to show it to her.  Guess it will have to wait until...next year...meanwhile, counting the Omer helps connect this holy time to the next holy chag of Shavuot, z'man matan torateinu.






Oh, and just to get my kids a little more nostalgic, here is a pic of one of our milchig dishes, right after we finished our eggplant parmigiana, after dropping Toodles off at the airport this past Wednesday on chol hamo'ed.

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