My wife Adi is a force to be reckoned with, and on this, our 6th Wedding Anniversary, I continue to remind myself never to take her for granted….because we each manage to do exactly that with the best things of our lives. (And now that I am fortunate enough to be a blogger for the Jewish Journal, why not fully utilize the platform and give my voice the microphone this message deserves!)
When I met my wife I had never had a proper career, and yet she was already utilizing her Masters in social work to help create chaplaincy programming for hospitals and clergy, working in the Kalsman Institute at Hebrew Union College. This programming is still used today throughout the country, across all denominations. I was in nursing school when she started raising millions of dollars for the American Friends of Magen David Adom (the Israeli Red Cross). I finally had a fulltime job, contributing to society as a nurse, while she was raising yet millions more for the largest hospital in the entire Middle East (Sheba Medical Center). And after years of scary conversations, she made the brave decision to put all of that amazing work on hold, while doing the absolute hardest job of her life: raising our wonderful daughter Natalia full-time.
She put so much of herself into caring about each job, she would always tell me that she could never work on any project she did not fully believe in, and there were times she even left lucrative opportunities to chase her passions. And she brings that same inner passion to our child. Case in point, when she looked for play that focuses on the outdoors for Natalia, she was surprised to find out that there was nothing available for babies and toddlers within miles. Most sane people would move on and find the next best thing, or possibly just take their child to a friend’s garden. Not Adi. She found an organization named Tinkergarten that teaches outdoor sensory play to little ones and applied for the job as a teacher JUST to provide a local class for our daughter. Now other parents are reaping the benefits of her own passionate motivations, and we are better for it.
Taking life and the beautiful things within it for granted is so easy. But every now and then we should each take a few steps back, and appreciate the good things we have. Monday I may very well forget to smile when I first arrive tired from work, and I may easily tell you about my day before asking about your own – I hope not, but our flaws and imperfections have a nasty way of remaining the default – but for today, on our anniversary, I appreciate you entirely.
Boaz Hepner grew up in LA in Pico/Robertson and now lives here with his wife and baby girl. Thus, the neighborhood is very important to him. He helped clean up the area by adding dozens of trash cans that can still be seen from Roxbury to La Cienega. When he is not working as a Registered Nurse in Santa Monica, he can be found with his wife and daughter enjoying his passions: his multitude of friends, movies, poker and traveling.
