The Mourning Of Hope: Seeking to Accommodate Light in Darkness

“I have learned to be stronger in my religious beliefs, not by trying to change another to be the way I am, but by respecting the way another person is and what he is prepared to share with me, and lastly, but most importantly, the very special soul Hashem has given him.

To wish him derech hatzlacha on his quest to find the right woman to share his life with, I, figuratively, raise a proverbial glass of wine (I can’t raise a literal one) and wish him a l’chaim.  Ironically, he can only figuratively drink it, because he, for his own religious reasons, doesn't drink alcohol.  It makes me smile, and we actually laugh out loud.  Two figurative wine glasses, signs of deeply felt friendship, just clicked in some alternative existence.