Preparing for a bat mitzvah under the best of circumstances can be an overwhelming endeavor. We launched into our preparations for an event this year with a considerable time disadvantage, causing the normal planning process to be rather telescoped. This leaves me little time for much of anything else this summer—but somehow the need to work efficiently does not protect me from the necessity of engaging in a little bit of nostalgia.
How can you possibly prepare for the sensations that are aroused when reviewing old family photos and old family videos! The girls and I have been just entranced by the images of their younger selves and they insist that we watch the whole thing, rather than fast forward, because they have not seen the older footage of themselves before! It is amusing to see how funny they find themselves as little kids and we are laughing at nearly everything.
They are so different and yet the same! Infinitely familiar and yet at a stage virtually unrecognizable. Impossibly cute and yet possibly just as cute as we are today. Videos bring it all back in a tantalizing way, so close and also, so clearly far away. Still, Amelia is on the cusp of 12 years old. Just 12. I can tell myself that this is still very young and I've got a little more time to adjust to the notion of her becoming an adult. And then we remember the purpose of all of this reviewing of old videos and I must gulp and recollect that this is her bat mitzvah! (Sigh!)
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