Author Archives: justinemrubin

Me: What should we do for Aba's birthday? Ari: Oh, I know. We should send balloons up into the sky to him. In the back yard. And so we did.

It’s the eve of the Jewish New Year. Another first without Ronen. He loved the holidays: all of them. Looked forward to services even. I’ve never met anyone who loved being Jewish more. And what a surprise for me, to fall in love with and marry this person. I’ve always valued my religion, felt itContinue reading “a new year”

A wonderful panel at The Decatur Book Festival with fellow authors Patti Callahan Henry and Mary Alice Monroe, moderated by Kathie Bennett this afternoon. Thanks to everyone who came out. And afterwards, popsicles with some of my favorite peepsicles.

In the months since Ronen left us, the kindness and selflessness of friends and family has been incredibly humbling. Meals and cards, donations and hugs. Friends for weekends to play, feed and love on my kids; to lend me shoulders to cry on; to hold my hand. To carry us as best they can. ThisContinue reading “Friendship”

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#89 Supremely grateful to all of my readers!   

Hello friends and readers.   Should you happen to be in the Decatur area this Labor Day weekend, please join me at the Decatur Library on Saturday, September 2nd from 3:00-3:45 pm as part of the Decatur Book Festival.   I'm honored to be speaking on a panel with fellow authors Patti Callahan Henry andContinue reading “Decatur Book Festival, Sat 9/2 3-3:45 PM”

Our boy Ari started kindergarten this week. He was scared, as was I. It's a big deal, this kindergarten business. We went to the meet and greet and I was okay. I said hello to other parents, held Ari's hand, watched him with awe and pride as he negotiated this brand new terrain. The newContinue reading “firsts”

today marked thirty days. thirty days since he took his last breath. thirty days since i took mine knowing he was alive.  what have they been like, these thirty days? they have been filled with phone calls and meetings and paperwork and tantrum navigation. with kind messages and careful texts; with a bounty of delicious,Continue reading “shloshim”

except it's mine and i'm living it. i hope to be more eloquent about what's happened, but right now words are just messy paint splatters on the canvas of my disbelief. that said, words have always been my therapy, so i am trying to cling to them, even if they don't make the sense iContinue reading “watching a sad movie about someone else’s life”