Temporary Bachelor

So last Saturday I dropped Wifey off at MIA and she jetted to Atlanta. Her sister friend Edna is having some elective surgery, and Wifey is there to help her recover. Plus, those two love time together without end, so there's that, too. The Bachelor life is fine, so far. From MIA I fetched my nephew Henry, who was in town for a short workcation -- a word I think he coined. We went to breakfast in the Grove, and then drove to Matheson Hammock, where I showed him where his Grandma's cremains (I dig that word, too) were cast into Biscayne Bay. We walked the park, and then sat for hours talking. It was the first time in his life (he's 29) that we had that much time uninterrupted, and it was delightful. He's grown into an amazing young man -- kind, smart, artistic, and, most important to my eyes -- a man who takes care of his family. We laughed about the shared psychopathology that is our birthright, as well as the positive qualities given to us via our Ashkenazic ancestors. Henry is blessed with another half of colorful DNA -- Okies who migrated to California during the Dust Bowl years, and made a new life for themselves -- in the San Joachin Valley -- those are Henry's paternal relatives. Saturday night I left him with D1, and the two first cousins got to bond as adults. D1 shares my thoughts about Henry -- as she noted, he's a terrific young man and she's proud to be his family... I went solo to a wedding up in Parkland, which is South of Boca, but somehow seems to be in Casa Caracho, as the Cubans say. Sunday Henry and I met my Florida sister and brother in law, for some Cuban breakfast, before he flew home to San Francisco. They hadn't seen Henry in 4 or 5 years. I hadn't seen them together since my Mom died in April. Such is the modern extended family... Sunday I watched the NFL playoffs in Mike's back yard, and then received the best news in awhile. My brother/law partner's daughter gave birth to a baby boy -- Jack. He was received into an amazingly loving family on the Upper East Side. Poor Jack gets the tough welcome into our Tribe this Sunday -- the ritual snip. I always joke that if I were a non Jew who decided to convert, and I learned about the required circumcision -- well, Buddhism would start to look pretty good at that point. Paul's daughter in law Danielle is due with HER baby boy next week -- so Paul's grandpa cup runneth over... The rest of the week I've kept my dance card full -- dinners with friends, and some real law work. Yesterday Stuart and I went to South Beach to meet some new clients, and then turned the afternoon into a classic boondoggle -- with a long lunch at Prime 112, and a visit to his wife's aunt at the family club Mango's. I dropped Stu at the office, and headed to meet Dr. Vince at Shula's...we laughed heartily over our cocktails -- realizing, as we always do, how college chums had become old farts... Wifey called and said Edna wanted her to stay longer -- she feared the post surgical blues... I told her I could handle some more of this single guy thing...