Family portrait by Drew Hyman and Jennifer Rodman Nourse

We want to wish all of our friends and family a good and sweet new year, a year of peace, health, and blessing. This is our fifteenth annual web site, letting us share some of our life (and pictures) with our community, both far and near. Looking back on the old web pages (links below) dramatizes the growth of our kids and all of us as we mark the years.

Yonah’s graduation from high school has changed our family constellation completely. Now that he is a freshman at Temple University in Philadelphia and Aviva is in her second year of teaching in Chicago, Brian and I are alternately missing them both and enjoying life in the empty house. Rather than “empty nest,” we like to think of this as the “empty next,” looking forward to the next stage and all that it has to offer. Here's our report:
 
 
 

Brian marked his 8th year at Health Care For All in June, the longest single job in his lifetime. He continued to spread the word about the success of Massachusetts health reform, and the positive outlook for the federal Affordable Care Act. With over 98% of Massachusetts residents with health insurance, the focus of his work has shifted away from expanding coverage. He's been working hard on proposals to reduce the cost of medical care, by focusing the health system on prevention, public health and primary care. Brian continued to be a regular in all kinds of media, debating a far-right opponent on "RommneyCare" on Boston public radio, and a source for the FactCheck.org report on Romney and health care. A paper he co-authored on the impact of health reform on Hispanics was published in Health Affairs, and, if your Spanish is good enough, you can watch an interview on Univision. He also continued a regular Monday morning slot on the New England progressive talk radio station. He continued to manage HCFA's blog, writing most of the entries (see them here).

Barbara’s work has been rich and fulfilling. She just finished her 18-month cohort with the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, which has introduced her to a regular yoga practice and renewed her spiritual life. At HBT, she happily took on the role of cantor for the High Holy Days, encouraging more congregants to help lead services. She has also become more engaged in the Hebrew School, creating more connections to students and teachers and sharing the joy and pride of watching them teach each other. Last year, the congregation made some intentional changes to Shabbat morning services and Barbara added a morning Torah study which has become quite popular. Her “Elul Meditations” this year are reaching a wider a audience and giving her more opportunities for writing. Barbara has also continued her work with the New England Jewish Labor Committee. In addition to her fierce advocacy on behalf of the Hyatt housekeepers (see www.justiceathyatt.org), she joined a mission with Rabbis for Human Rights-North America to visit tomato pickers in Immokalee, Florida (click to read her reflections on the trip).

Aviva finished her first year of Teach for America, a year when she worked harder than she has ever worked in her life. She teaches ninth graders who have special needs. Her subjects are algebra and World Literature. She also has an advisory group of girls who started out as freshman and who she hopes to continue with until their graduation. She introduced them to sushi, brought them to community service events, and watches over their academic progress. Aviva also started an after-school newspaper which won an award last year as the best new high school newspaper in Illinois. She has found fulfillment in the work and is excited about coming into her second year with more experience. Over the summer, Aviva traveled to Israel on a ten-day trip designed for Teach For America corps members and alums. Before she left, Brian and Barbara spent a weekend with her in New York. We stayed with Brian’s brother Richard and his wife Johanna, who kids were similarly far-flung. We walked the High Line and saw the Broadway revival of “Hair!” She also visited her grandparents, who were taking their annual summer trip to the California beach.

This summer, Yonah spent eight weeks at Camp JRF in his first season as a counselor. He has been going to Camp JRF since sixth grade and had a very fulfilling summer among friends old and new. For winter break, instead of our normal trip to Arizona, we took Yonah to glittering Las Vegas. He loved the shows, spectacles and street performers. Our side day to the Hoover Dam was a welcome respite from the Las Vegas sheen. He is enrolled in the School of Communications at Temple University in Philadelphia. He's taking a film class, playing ultimate frisbee, and joined a fraternity (a legacy of his grandfather!).

To celebrate Yonah’s graduation, we fulfilled a dream he has had since fifth grade – to visit Iceland. The only missing ingredient was Aviva, who was still finishing the school year. Almost immediately after the graduation ceremony at Newton North (the high school’s 150th commencement and the first in the new high school building) we took off for four days in the Land of Fire and Ice. Highlights included waterfalls, a raft ride on a glacier-fed river, horseback riding, and soaking in the Blue Lagoon. See our pictures below: