Thank-You Note, 30 Years Later

Dear Danny,

Thank you for the journal.

It had,

until last month,

Lay dormant in its box--

corners broken,

worn flat

from too many moves.

Thank you for the glimpse

inside

my 13-year-old mind.

The self-portrait

of a not-quite child,

not-quite young woman,

standing on the brink

of Jewish adulthood.

The pink-festooned pages on which I dutifully recorded

"Favorite Movie: Back to the Future

Favorite Actress: Molly Ringwald"

(in pencil, in case I changed my mind)

remain mercifully smudge free.

My tentative scrawling

and belabored cursive

detail my thoughts

before, during and after

the event itself.

A thoughtful present then—

A treasured blessing now,

as I face

the same milestone

30 years later

With my not-quite child,

not-quite young woman,

standing on the brink

of her own Jewish adulthood.

She asks, "What were you feeling?"

I can point to the words,

line by line,

a secular D'var Torah

providing insight and commentary

into the scrolls of our own

Book of Life.

What a gift.

Your friend,

Allyson