Hanukkah Candle Guided Meditation

Breathe in and visualize a Hanukkah candle - lit with love, glowing. Julie Potiker completes the meditation with the poem, "The Back of Our Hands", by Annette Friend."The Back of Our Hands," by Annette Friend.My nephew's afternoon wedding in upgradedJersey City - a rose covered Chuppah overlooksthe sun-speckled Hudson River, the jagged NYC skyline.My granddaughter, six, sits on my lap,in a flowered pink dress, beige patent leathershoes with tiny bows, softly touches the backof my hand, traces brown liver spots, blue veins,red splotches of skin damaged by too much sun,baby oil slathered teenage skin at the Jersey Shore.Her pure, pink skin, unblemished, smoothas rose petals, in stark contrast to my time splatteredcovering. She maps the spots up and down my armas if trying to decipher clues about my life."What happened her?" she whispers,points to a thin white scar on my thumb."Cut myself with a knife making latkes.I'll be more careful when I come to visit,and we make latkes for Hanukkah."Her pearly fingertips mark up my saggy arm,"Your skin is squishy like Jello, Granny A."I laugh, she giggles snuggling against me.Does it matter if my skin tells tales of timepassing when she's here with me in the sunshinesmiling on this happy, sparkling day?We watch the bride and groom paradeback down the aisle to applause, the groomhas finally smashed the glass after five tries.All Jewish celebrations are tinged with ancientadversity, the broken glass, some say, a reminderof the Temple we lost thousands of years agoWhen I was young these customsmade me shrug my shoulders, annoyed, we Jewscan never just kick up our heels, relax and enjoy.Now my skin proclaims me an old relic as I watchfresh young lives around me begin to bloom, I realizestories of the past show us our strength, the beautyand pain all of our history contains, the pastentwined in all the moments that we are alive,part of a tradition that teaches us how to survive.In this moment, the past, the present, the youngand the old, the sun sets, yet rises, on a new marriage,and our two hands, my granddaughters and mine,side by side woven in gold."The Back of Our Hands," by Annette Friend.Find out more about using mindfulness in everyday life through Julie's books, "SNAP: From Calm to Chaos", and "Life Falls Apart, But You Don't have To: Mindful Methods for Staying Calm in the Midst of Chaos". Both are available on Amazon.com.Follow Julie on YouTube and Facebook at Mindful Methods for Life.comThis podcast is available on iTunes, iHeart, Blubrry and everywhere you listen to podcasts.