One day I have windows open in the house next day I’m turning on the heat. Crazy weather in NY. It was Passover this weekend. My mom and stepdad came over and we had a very revised Seder. However they had these new Passover books if I didn’t know the story of Passover I wasn’t learning it from this book. 40 some years I’ve been doing these Seders and I’ve never read from a book that made no sense. I couldn’t understand anything that this book was explaining. I actually found it funny. For the first time I was able to make jokes during a Seder without getting in trouble or being banished from the table.

My sister and I still talk about how we use to get in trouble frequently during Passover. My sister has a nervous habit of laughing at very inappropriate times. Especially when in a very serious situation like a Passover table or a Funeral. Unfortunately her giggles would start my giggles and I’m sure you can imagine how it would go from there. I remember at a funeral my sister went on one side of the room and I went completely on the other because we were so nervous about those giggles setting us off. Even then I remember sitting there thinking about her. I was biting on my lip so I didn’t by accident start to laugh. I knew even if she heard me without seeing me, she’d start laughing too. In a huge room of mourners, that would be a bad place.

It wasn’t that she or I meant any disrespect. It was just a nervous habit. Once my family really understood that and let her laugh, and me for that matter, she actually stopped. Now they are much looser around the Passover table and we are allowed to make jokes and laugh. A huge difference from what I grew up with. My sister’s laugh can still set off mine and we’ve still had to be separated in certain settings. However now we are old enough to just remove ourselves to the bathroom. We’ve done that many times during Bar Mitzvahs I still smile thinking about her laughing and we still talk about all the time. These are some of my favorite memories of Passover.