Nachas

I complain about my job...maybe a lot. But I love being a nurse....really I do. I have opportunities to meet the most interesting people - some good and some bad. Undoubtedly, I end up having a lot of conversations with people about their families, kids, grandkids, great-grandkids. Some times they ask me if I'm married...I always say "Yes, and I am so lucky that I have a great husband." and some times they ask me if I have kids and my standard answer has been, "Not yet." And I change the subject.

For the past few days, since I now know that we are NEXT, I have changed my standard response. Yesterday, I met a man who I had this conversation with and he told me about his kids, his 5 grandkids, his 15 great-grands and he asked me the standard..."Do you have a family?" I thought for a minute before I responded and started, "Yes I have a husband and we've been married almost 10 years....and.....we are adopting a baby in the next few months." Wow. I said it. And it opened up quite a conversation.

He asked me a TON of questions. He was really pretty interested and I was so happy to share the basics. Remember this is an 82 year old man that I am holding this conversation with...one with a lifetime of wisdom gathering. He said so many things that I will hold in my head. He, of course, told me that I am about to embark on the journey of a lifetime....that I am about to re-live my life all over again through parenthood as I watch my child grow....that there is nothing like what I am about to experience....to listen to the advice people give me but to trust my gut first. Then he just looked at me and said "Nachas"....and asked me if I knew what that meant. He said, in his life and religion he has learned to speak Yiddish fluently and this is a word that means "great joy". I treasure experiences like this, when unique and amazing people come in to my life even for brief moments and leave me with nuggets of their wisdom and perspective. I know some time, maybe years from now, when I am giggling with my little girl (or boy), I will know the true meaning of nachas. I will think of that little 82 year old man and the 30 minutes of his life that he spent with me.