“Mr. B is homebound. Until last year, however, he was “schlepping around” in his kitchen, baking his own bread, and cooking and hosting Sabbath supper at his home for his adult children every Friday night.
Mr. B. is originally from Ukraine, Jewish and 101 years old. He ambles around slowly in a walker, hunched over, and wears a knit hat on his balding head. Mr. B has an infectious smile, wears large brown hearing aids, and despite the pain, walks with much effort.
My son is a home-educated Christian teenager, with Hindu grandparents. How often does a Ukrainian, Jewish centenarian meet a teenage, home-educated boy? Not too often, I’d venture to guess. He was the first home-schooled student Mr. B had ever met, and Mr. B was the first Jewish, Ukrainian centenarian we had ever met.
What in the world would these two dichotomous worlds find in common? But here, just around the corner, an unlikely friendship was forming….”
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You can read the rest of the story at The Mudroom Blog, where I’m honored to have this story published today, right here: http://mudroomblog.com/what-we-have-in-common/.
Check out The Mudroom Blog; it’s one of my favorite places and they aren’t afraid to dig in and get real.
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