Once again, please forgive the self-indulgence here, however there are a few lessons from these past two weeks resulting from personal experiences I enjoyed.

I have written a lot about the importance of community and communities in previous Monday Morning Mojos. One of my favorite posts includes the Ted Talk by Robert Waldinger about “What Makes A Good Life,” where he speaks about the quality of relationships as the secret formula to a long and happy life. Here is that post if you missed it.

“Secrets to Eternal Happiness”

Well, the theme of community was ever present for me these last week when I traveled to New York City & Brooklyn to celebrate the wedding of my niece, Jordyn, to her new husband Misha Krichever. For me, my family “community” brings me great joy, and we had a weekend filled with a lot of fun and celebration. Among the list of possible family events, weddings are my absolute favorite. I love the tradition, observing the merging of two family cultures, and just hanging out with those I am closest to for an extended period of time. A special shout out to my other niece who is a frequent MMM reader and an inspiration to me, Orley Krugel, who wanted to know when she would be featured :-). This wedding of my brother and sister-in-law Kathy’s daughter was great, and here are a few of the pictures from the evening.

Although time was limited, I did have the chance to catch up with other friends from varying parts of my life. It was great getting together with the Paul-Blumenstein family, who we were very close to in Beijing. Samuel and Eli were a trouble-making crew in their youth, and they enjoyed reminiscing about their childhood muckraking.

I had the delight of lunching with a journalist friend from the earliest part of my career, who entertained my very first pitch. In my USC class, one of my invited speakers talked about the importance of relationships and keeping these fresh, and I took a nod from her and reached out to one of my very first contacts to reconnect.

My visit ended with a lunch with my college roommate, Homere, and his brilliant wife, Lillian, and daughter, Rachel. Homere spends his weekends as an Olympic development soccer coach, Rachel, is a former professional footballer, and Lillian makes it all happen. My special thanks to the Bretons for always making the time.

Evidently, my week was filled with a lot of community, and I am feeling a healthy dose of connections recently.

My week ended with a chat with Christian Olsen, another friend from Beijing, who I taught how to play soccer. Christian has a particular skill of memorizing the lyrics to his favorite songs, and he raved about Bill Joel’s newest song, “Turn The Lights Back On.” To round out the wedding theme here, all marriages have their bumps, but if you take a moment to reflect, and to “Turn The Lights Back On,” there is so much to be grateful for. Enjoy the listen.

Have a great week ahead.