The Ordinary Life That is Not

milkmaid.jpg
This is not Offspring#3, but Milkmaid, by Johannes Vermeer, 1660, was one of the paintings that fascinated her when she was very young.

Let’s see, just a few days ago—at least it seems like days—Offspring#3 was this feisty little bundle of energy who liked nothing more than for me to lift her up in my arms and sail her through the air.

Frequently, on Shabbos, she’d plop down on my lap in the living room and we’d leaf though one of my coffee table art books. Offspring#3, like yours truly, had a thing for the Northern Renaissance, Johannes Vermeer and all the Dutch boys who made ordinary life look, well, magical.

And you know what, ordinary life is not ordinary.

Just a few months ago Offspring #3 was married and—

—and today Offspring #3 graduates from Yeshiva University Stern College for Women.

So Karen and I are in NY to attend the ceremonies with the rest of the family.

I am happy.

I am proud.

And blogging will probably be pretty light for the next day or two.

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17 Comments

  1. Jeremiah
    Posted May 28, 2010 at 7:39 am | Permalink

    Mazal tov for this moment of wonder and pride.

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  2. aryeh
    Posted May 27, 2010 at 7:34 pm | Permalink

    Mazal tov … got me choked up thinking about my too now grown up daughter!

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  3. PCD
    Posted May 27, 2010 at 7:14 am | Permalink

    Robert,
    I am a firm believer in putting my kids to work in their fields to benefit me. You should have #3 (I’m in the Village again), market your book. It is excellent.
    My daughter #2 is a mechanic. I’ll be exhibiting her work at the Car Craft Summernationals in Minneapolis this July.

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  4. Miranda Rose Smith
    Posted May 26, 2010 at 11:12 pm | Permalink

    Mazel Tov.

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  5. Posted May 26, 2010 at 7:36 pm | Permalink

    Everyone:
    Karen and I and Offspring #3 greatly appreciate your good wishes. The graduation was fun. Ambassador Oren’s speech was short and inspirational.
    Offspring #3′s major was business marketing.
    Yup, graduation was in Madison Square Garden.
    Jake, you are a pill:)

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  6. Posted May 26, 2010 at 3:29 pm | Permalink

    Congratulations to you, Robert, and to your offspring.

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  7. Johnny
    Posted May 26, 2010 at 1:52 pm | Permalink

    Congratulations to you and Karen and especially to your daughter. I assume she did all the work to get her degree and you stuck to paying the bills.
    My oldest just graduated from law school and I’ve threatened to disown her if she ever becomes one of those lawyers that go against all the values I tried to teach her.
    My son will have his MBA in two years so I feel better about his career choices.

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  8. Posted May 26, 2010 at 1:16 pm | Permalink

    You like Vermeer? Huh. He scares me. It seems to me that he’s painting skeletons clothed, for the moment, with flesh. Maybe I should seek professional attention.

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  9. alterbentzion
    Posted May 26, 2010 at 12:14 pm | Permalink

    Mazal tov from the folks in Cincinnati!
    Glad to see her M-R-S didn’t interfere with whatever other degree she had been working on.

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  10. Posted May 26, 2010 at 10:52 am | Permalink

    Mazel Tov!
    The guest of honor at my graduation (YU) was then Sen. Robert Packwood of Oregon.
    I wonder if YU would like to take that one back!

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  11. Jewels
    Posted May 26, 2010 at 10:21 am | Permalink

    I love Vermeer! O#3 has brilliant taste. Congratulations to you and your family.

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  12. Bill Brandt
    Posted May 26, 2010 at 9:49 am | Permalink

    For my graduation we had William F. Buckley – I can remember sitting in the hot sun and it seemed (at the time) he was rambling on and on.
    Jake – sounds like you have quite a story! To me Kate is a screen legend – not someone I could get to laugh at a ceremony!

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  13. Posted May 26, 2010 at 9:42 am | Permalink

    I am ashamed to say that during my college graduation I sat behind honorary graduate Katherine Hepburn and spent much of the ceremony mimicking her voice for laughs. To her great credit, she started laughing when I went into a bit on how she was outraged about there not being any Equestrian majors, and we then hit it off. Still, I trust your daughter will be better behaved than I was!

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  14. DrCarol
    Posted May 26, 2010 at 9:30 am | Permalink

    Congratulations to all! As a professor, I have to say that Commencement is my favorite day of the entire academic year. Everyone is happy, and I get to wear my fancy duds. Enjoy that special, joyous time!

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  15. Posted May 26, 2010 at 7:48 am | Permalink

    Wow, that went quickly! Mazel tov.
    My nephew is also graduating today — from Yeshiva University — at Madison Square Garden. Do the Stern girls also have graduation there?

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  16. PCD
    Posted May 26, 2010 at 7:35 am | Permalink

    Robert, Congratulations for #3 (gee, sounds like I’m in the village with #6). What is her major?

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  17. Posted May 26, 2010 at 6:25 am | Permalink

    Mazal tov, and may you continue to have much nachat from the entire family!

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