In honor of my earlier promise to you, my readers, and to myself to live in the moment, no matter how busy that moment may be, I have been concentrating HARD on enjoying everything that has been going on in the whirlwind of activities that have been sweeping through my life in these past few months, focusing on being productive, not busy.

And now, today, is Brevitt’s Bar Mitzvah, his time for spiritual growth and a deeper understanding of faith and the meaning of life.

For me, this experience has been oh so much more than I was prepared for. Perhaps I should rephrase that. Being me, one who throws herself into everything without carefully plotting out the schematics first, this plunge into our 13 year olds journey toward manhood has taken me by storm. But just like anything else, when one stops to observe and reflect, one can’t help but to become more sensitized, more emotional, more alive.

I am so grateful for this opportunity to take the time to think deeply about our Brevitt and who he is as an individual, separate from me. Otherwise, this time would come and go and then he would be gone, no longer by my side as my energetic companion.

When I tossed the idea to him that he needed a deeper understanding to who he is he took the challenge without hesitation. And today the day has come where he makes his passage to manhood.

Had we still lived in our home in Old Snowmass, we would have had a beautiful service outside as the fall sun splashed warm colors over the chuppah, but without that home we had to find a venue, and no, we did not rent out the entire Hotel Jerome.

With a Presbytarian father and a mother who has always felt that her religion lay more in her spirituality than in the temple where she visited on the High Holidays with her parents growing up, Brevitt has not grown up with any Hebrew schooling and so he came out of the gate running when he began his studies for his Bar Mitzvah. He has been a quick study, learning to read Hebrew and memorizing prayers in just nine months.

We are proud of him and relieved that he is finding faith. The other day when we were driving home I asked him if he feels as though he has grown through all of this and he was silent for a moment. Then he said, “You know mom. When I finish with my Bar Mitzvah I think I’ll go with no religion.” I about choked on my coffee but Rabbi Itzhak of Neshama Center Aspen shed some light on this for me by saying that it’s really not about religion, it’s more about having faith, and told me not to worry.

Not to worry…I’m going with that and today, when Brevitt gets on the podium to read from the Torah, I’m going to watch as he transforms into a beautiful butterfly…and hopefully, not fly away.