Labor Day in Crown Heights

My family loves telling people the story of how we moved to Crown Heights on Labor Day. We came from a quiet little suburb that not many people have heard of. We had no idea what we got ourselves into. Labor Day in Crown Heights is- chaotic. To put it mildly. There is a West Indie Parade, made up mostly of people wearing very little clothing, who just want to eat, drink, party, and dance to really loud thumping music. The streets are packed, traffic is horrible, and cars have a very hard time getting through.

Here is the post I wrote last year at this time. It was not the greatest time for me. I had no job, no real idea what I was doing, I had just moved into a new apartment, my family moved away, and everything was changing. Now, it has been a year since I moved into my new apartment.

I always marvel at the passage of time. This year had many ups and downs, seemingly more downs than ups. But now, B"H everything is going well, and I can look back and realize that everything I went through was meant to bring me to this point in time. And from this point- on to the rest of my life.

This is not a holiday for me. In fact, I am working today. (Despite the fact that no one else, including my boss, showed up for work today.) But it is always a good time to stop and thank Hashem for everything. For things that are going well, and for things that don't seem so great.

I hope and pray for all of us, that we can all see only revealed good in our lives, that we will be able to recognize the Hand of G-d in everything, and may this year bring lots of blessings for everyone, materially and spiritually, things that you need, things that you want, and things you don't even know that you are lacking.

Raise your glass and say- Lechaim.