ONE FINE DAY

Yesterday, June 5th, was one of the greatest days I've had in my entire life. It was also the first time I can remember being truly happy since about mid-November. As I've felt myself growing steadier and stronger over the last few weeks, my confidence, security, and ability to ward off the yetzer hara have grown stronger as well. It was almost like a day like this was inevitable, and I am most grateful for it- which reminds me! I didn't say maariv yet...
8 Minutes Later-
So I guess your all wondering what made this such an exceptional day? Well I'll tell you. But like any other great days that I've had it was a continuous flow of happy moments.
I suppose I should start with the previous night as June 5th technically started at midnight. I was in this bar on 97th and Broadway (I know the name but I can't remember it right now) with some friends, and friends and friends. Now I must go on record saying that I'm not, nor have I ever been a big fan of hanging out in bars (though I've certainly been to my share over the last 7 months). First off, I'm not a big drinker. I don't like liquor or beer, and tend to stray towards "girlie" drinks such as Sky Blue (yeah hashgacha!), wine, and daqueries- AND I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH THIS. There is a moronic amount of pressure to drink "manly" drinks if your a guy- you know what, I'll save this for a later blog. As I was saying, I don't like bars. I find them loud, generally sleazy (ok has anyone been to a bar in NY or Boston that remotely resembles "Cheers"?), expensive, somewhat poisonous, and I've never walked out of one feeling like I've accomplished anything. This was all going through my head last night, and I decided then and there that that's it not for me, my bar days are over(to those of you who know the story behind my lengthy "streak", it was a similar feeling). The person I know I want to be deep down just isn't a bar patron.
As all this occurred to me it was a little after 12, and I remembered it was almost time for my nightly chavrusah with my "favorite side dish", which we've been doing faithfully since he came back from Israel mid-May. I told my friends I had to go, and why, and they were completely understanding (all good folk who live in 5k, especially the visiting Big O and....."PHIL?"). So I headed back to the apartment, finally feeling like I actually did something positive after leaving a bar. My chavrusah called a few minutes later, we learned, it was quite good, and I promptly went to sleep.
I awoke the next morning not expecting much. I davened, didn't really have breakfast (though the 5kers are some of the nicest guys around, they seem to be grocery-impaired), and ended up watching 2/3 of "Meet Joe Black", a movie I find to be underrated. Then me and my buddy Josh had a decent lunch at Cafe Roma and walked from W91 st all the way to E56 St. As it was gorgeous out today, we both highly enjoyed the walk down to the Israeli Day Parade.
As a child I hated the parade, and I'm guessing many of you felt the same. It wasn't the parade or the ideologies behind it, it was that we were basically forced to give up our Sunday for school, we didn't like the long walk, and we didn't like the lack of freedom, and dress code that we had to endure the day of the parade. Now as an adult I truly had a wonderful time. It was beautiful seeing so many types of Jews march in support of Israel. It was as close a sense of unity among Klal Yisroelas I've ever seen outside of Israel (even if those Chussids marred the experience with there inane protests). I was moved, feeling that engulfing wave of spirituality that had rarely been making its way onto the shore of my life in recent months. It helped me take another step closer towards a particular decision that could change my life forever.
I was also highly affected by how many loved ones I saw today. As I had to briskly walk from 60th to 90th st as I actually had work today, it seemed I couldn't go 200 feet without someone calling my name. And the great thing about it was that they were almost all people I was genuinely happy to see. I was flagged down by good friends, family members, people I've recruited for the summer, and campers I hadn't seen in a while. It was a wonderful feeling, and I felt truly loved for the first time in about a year (parental/grandparental love doesn't count). I only felt one hug I received today was somewhat out of left-field, yet it was by someone who (I guess) felt I did him a big favor by hooking up him and his fiance with jobs this summer (yet in my book, they both deserved the jobs so I didn't really do much). But it was a nice, hearty hug all around.
By this point in the day I had walked about 5 miles, and was happy I did so; I felt alive and energetic. I made it to 90th st with some time to spare. Then when the kids started to arrive to the reunion meeting point we made our way to the Israel Day Concert in Central Park
It's tough to say how many people were there as it was being held over a tremendous area of land, and the concert was running for over four hours, so people kept coming and going (it was very similar to Bet-Shemesh-fest in Israel on Succos, just not as holy, and not as rocking). Let's just say there were a lot of people. And once more I ran into and hung out with several good friends. That combined with the excellent music made it another wonderful experience in an already solid day. Simply Tsfat was enjoyable, though they didn't play my favorite song of theirs "Barchi Nafshi"). I missed Blue Fringe unfortunately, but The Moshav Band reliably played their hits, and put on a great show (though the best I've seen them was still at Bet Shemesh-fest). Tzemach Band was the surprise of the day, I'm pleased to say. The band vastly improved since the last time I saw them, working out various technical, and arrangement kinks in their songs. And as always, the Bongo himself set the pace with a combination of fiery force, and deadset determination at the drums. They worked the crowd well, played harmoniously, and all in all rocked!
From there we led the reunion group to Dougies on 72nd. I however could not stay as I had to make my way "home" (i.e. Shea Stadium). Though before I left I stopped at the Kosher Krispy Kreme (KKK-lol) and had the new exciting "Cookies and Cream" donut. This culinary blessing was vanilla glazed with pieces of chopped Oreo's on top, and cookie cream in the middle. It was the best donut I've ever had. It was so good I think it briefly opened up the doorway to Narnia. The Malachim were singing Tehillim in praise of its savory sweetness, and fluffy texture. I was also able to get a nice cold glass of milk as well, which perfectly complemented, and washed down the rich yumminess (it's a word) of that delectable pastry.
So I headed Home, and got there with time to spare. I changed from my polo shirt, tzizit, wife beater and khaki shorts, into my Piazza jersey, Pepsi Pary Patrol T-shirt (I caught another one last week!), and desperately-in-need-of-a-wash-but-signed-by-Aaron-Heilman- so On the boardwalk towards the stadium I saw a magnificent sunset and realized I hadn't said mincha, and I still had time. I turned my back to Shea and davened in its shadow (while I love my Mets and there Shea, in no way do I truly worship them- facing Shea while davening just seemed wrong, so I stood northwest, rather than west). I got to the game right on time and had the most enjoyable night I've had at Shea all year.
It was a perfect 72 degrees for baseball. My friend Jay-hudah managed to get seats right behind the Mets dugout. I'm talking front row, right theres, as close as you can get. I tried calling my brother-in-law and nephews to tell them to look for me on TV if they were watching the game. Two minutes later I get a call from my oldest nephew. I assumed that he got my message. Turns out he was at the game with another one of my nephews, and my brother in law. They had binoculars and were scoping out the front row in search of celebrities but found me instead! I then sacrificed a few innings of front row Mets baseball to go watch the game with my family. It was just great high fiving my loved ones as the Mets destroyed the Giants 12-1. I spent the last 3 innings back in the front enjoying every minute of the Mets victory. I told you there would be magic at Shea this year.
I went home knowing that things were good. Hopefully they will stay that way.