Nina in Tulsa, Day One

Food as Backdrop

Tonight, on my daughter's first night here in Tulsa, we went to Congregation B'nai Emunah for the last night of Hanukkah, where, outside, in front of the synagogue, bracketed by police presence, there was a block party with music and candles and sparklers and singing rabbis and traditional Jewish holiday food -- latkes, donuts, and churros.

It’s in the Talmud I think.

Nina is 32 and her relationship with Judaism is a curious, ambivalent thing, but nobody was keeping her from a sparkler!

We then went to Laffa, a Middle Eastern Restaurant and Bar, and sat outside, where she ordered Shakshuka, falafel balls, and a hot toddy with rum and I ordered a cheese pizza and a bowl of white rice off the kids' menu and a Diet Coke with an orange slice.

"I can't believe you actually ordered off the kids' menu," she started saying before giggling.

She very much could believe it.

And then a hard rain came. And came and came. We stayed outside but moved under an awning to watch the storm blow water sideways and pick up chairs and toss them down the street. I’ve never watched my daughter watch the rain before. We then talked about her grandmother — and this would be my mother, Florence — and Nina said she was in elementary school and got a note from the principal’s office that Grandma had died.

"I just remember writing her name over and over."