Bar/Bat Mitzvah Candlelighting Ceremony Poems:

Candle #3:
My Great Grandma always says that she is really blessed,
She is thankful for our family and thinks we are the best.
She is active in Florida and that's a big deal.
Watch out pedestrians!  She's still behind the wheel.
She checks her WebTV at the day's start,
She does the crossword daily because it helps keep her smart.
To be with the family a trip north she'll always take.
I can never get enough of those amazing cookies that she bakes.
On the porch of her apartment it's chocolate soda that I savor,
Her lemon cake is excellent and has the most delicious flavor.
She's always meant so much to Mom and she means so much to me.
Great Grandma please come up and light Candle #3.

Candle #9:
As a Black Belt in Karate, we call him Sensei,
He studies karate every single day.
He loves to watch ESPN when he wants to relax,
And he’s successful at his career as an accountant in tax.
He bleeds Big Red because he went to Cornell,
He’s pretty smart as far as I can tell.
The Mets have always been his favorite team,
His trip to training camp fulfilled his baseball dream.
U2’s been his favorite since 1983,
Sunday Bloody Sunday is what he used to sing to me.
He can't start his day without his Knicks coffee mug,
For Candle #9 come on up here, Uncle Doug.

Candle # 10:
After 30 years in Boston, Uncle Barry and Aunt Ellen packed,
They moved to Southern California, La Jolla to be exact.
Their granddaughters in Aspen are close to their hearts,
They travel often to see them then go on to Europe and St. Barts,
They’ve got lots of energy, I’m sure that’s no surprise,
They are very active and like to exercise.
I’m happy to say that they traveled yet again,
Uncle Barry and Aunt Ellen come and light Candle 10.


Excerpt from a Milestone Birthday Toast:

...We thought that on this occasion some of our Dad’s life stories we’d impart,

After a most successful career as an internist and a doctor of the heart.

Our father grew up in Flushing and went to college to pursue his degree,

He graduated in 1955 from Yale University.

He was in the first graduation class from medical school at Albert Einstein,

But his proudest diploma is from the school of wine.

Passing the medical boards, required diligence and lots of studies,
And simultaneous to that he became a “wine expert”

 through the encouragement of one his buddies.

The first day of high school is a time when new friends meet.

When Marty and Pat first met their hearts skipped a beat.

It was love at first sight as soon as school did begin,

Even if initially Marty thought that Pat was too thin.

They were the first married couple in their class,

It’s a marriage still going strong almost 50 years after breaking the glass.

Cafeteria food is bad, that’s how many feel,

But when studying to be a doctor that’s where my parents ate many a meal.

While the cafeteria dinner sure didn’t please,

All the wives pulled together to help their husbands get their MDs.

When our Mom went out to dinner with my Dad,
she was happy, you would think,

But she was embarrassed by his work on cadavers
because from formaldehyde he’d stink...

Excerpt from a Retirement Toast:

...As I got to know Charlene better I learned very important news,
Charlene's husband Barry owned an upscale store for shoes!
That was music to my ears, like the songs of the sparrows,
Even better than that Barry's store carried narrows!
I can only wear narrows.  That's all that I own,
I was now thrilled to know that I could find shoes in Bayonne!
I was excited and inquired about shoes some more,
Turns out I’d get a discount – Wow! What a score!
And then more information, much to my happy surprise,
And to the joy of all the teachers who in the morning socialized.
If stock were available in our sizes and styles,
Charlene would bring them to us, we wouldn’t have to travel the miles.
Well the word soon spread, and all the teachers were excited,
To the teacher's room for breakfast Charlene was surely invited.
It was there we would gather or should I say flock?
We'd all try on shoes, boots and sneakers.  We loved Barry’s stock!
Then off we'd all go with a spring in our step,
We were always so thankful for the shoes Charlene would schlep...


Excerpt from a Milestone Birthday Toast:

...And so I’ll start, there’s so much to say,
About what you mean to me on your fortieth birthday.
There’s a lot that I’ve been thinking of,
Because you are the man I love.
I see you every single day,
And you still don’t have a single grey.
Well maybe that’s not really true,
If I look really closely, maybe one or two.
And the same goes for wrinkles, I mean barely a one,
Unless maybe you frown or you squint in the sun.
I guess those vitamins and juices are really good,
And working out surely helps (you go enough, it should!)

You are a wonderful, loving and caring spouse,

And I know this regardless of how I can act in the house.

Although you are quiet and I am not,

I’m always glad you’re who I’ve got.

And when it comes to the house, I may be a pain,

And sometimes my nagging just drives you insane…

I give you a hard time about the cars that you pick,

And I guess you could label me as a “neat nick..."