On a messageboard that I occasionally visit, there is a topic posted "Greatest Moments of Your Life". I got to thinking what the greatest moments of my life have been.
The top three are definitely the births of Ezra, Gila, and Eden. There was something unbelievably magical about the labor and delivery process. Yes, there was pain (except during Eden's birth which was really fantastic), but the end product was remarkable. I know I will savor the memories of their births forever.
I was thinking about whether my wedding day was among the greatest moments of my life. I don't know. I know that being married to my husband is one of my most cherished things, but I honestly can't say that the wedding itself was up there in my experiences. I was a tad stressed and I didn't feel 100% (as evidenced by my barfing in the hotel bathroom right after the wedding). The wedding was fun and enjoyable, but our lifetime together that came after (and is still to come) is what was and is important.
Another really great moment happened when I was studying in Israel for a year following highschool. I was in the Old City for Shemini Atzeres/Simchas Torah. We davened in R' Nachman Kahana's shul in the moslem quarter for Simchas Torah. During one of the hakafos, we danced to the old Cotton Market where you can look at Har Habayit from around 30 or so feet away (I could be remembering the distance wrong) and sang "V'shavu Bonim L'gvulam". It was a remarkable moment.
Another great moment was when I graduated from Graduate School. When I was a kid, I wasn't a student. I didn't have any learning disabilities, I did ok some of the time, I did poorly other times. I really just didn't care about school. This wasn't very well looked upon in my school and specifically my grade of over achievers. The majority of my grade were the types of people who cried when they got a 90 (or heaven forbid in the 80s) on a test. For some reason, when I got to college, I started caring and I did really well. The culmination of my education was my graduate school graduation. I felt really accomplished and proud of myself at that moment.
These are some of my greatest moments. I've had some other great moments that don't need to be recounted, and I have had some not so great moments. I look forward to experiencing
many more great moments in my lifetime.