Friday Oct 31

Home

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Papa has been writing more words more regularly in his diary over the last few days than he has in months, and even though he didn't say much in today's entry, it's the first time in a while he's written "Home" to describe an uneventful day as opposed to something more pointed and downcast like "Dull" or "Empty."

This more communicative mood started a few days after the Jewish High Holy days, a spiritually demanding period that includes Yom Kippur (a day of formal mourning, fasting and repentance) as well as Simchas Torah (a celebration of renewal and faith that found Papa dancing in the streets with his friends from the old country). These were the first High Holy Days Papa had been through since his father's death, and he had, in fact, written only spottily in the days immediately before and after.

As I've mentioned before, I think the High Holy Days were a profoundly introspective time for Papa during which he simply could not bring himself to write. Perhaps his recent change in tone and willingness to report on his activities shows he's starting to sort through his tangle of inexpressible feelings and emerge from his period of deep contemplation. Maybe the active Fall social and political season has lifted his spirits simply by keeping him busier and giving him more to thing about, too. (Remember that the streets were jumping with Presidential, gubernatorial, and local political campaigning; the atmosphere in New York was alive and frenzied.) We'll have to watch and see what develops.