My Best Five Moments in 2009

(Painting by Dennis Ditelberg)

As we head into the final stretch of 2009, newspaper editors have begun working on their wrap-up stories. People who died during the last 12 months or made the news for some other reason are likely to compete for highly coveted spaces on lists -- as are people who perceive themselves to be movers and shakers.

Although I can think of good people who didn’t make it to 2010, I prefer to focus on five “special moments” in my own life during the past 12 months:

(1) Opening a holiday gift package, courtesy of my stepson, Josh and daughter-in-law, Jane. Inside were packages of loose teas – including Rooibos African Jewel -- from Todd & Holland in Forest Park, IL. At a time of year when I try to adhere to my one glass of white wine and nothing else at holiday parties, this delicious, but non-caloric gift came as a blessing from people I love.

(2) Looking at a pic my daughter, Daphne, posted on Facebook. Having spoken to my dear friend and master pastry chief, Evelyn, I knew Daphne had called her to get her special recipe for gingerbread people. True to the Floridian lifestyle, Daphne and a friend, Eli Raynor Blachstein, chose to put bikinis and swim trunks of rainbow non-pareils on their gingerbread people, of course capturing the image with an iPhone.

(3) Seeing the Israeli film, “A Matter of Size,” with my son-in-law, Etan, at the Enzian, an art house in Maitland, Florida. Metropolitan Orlando is the last place I would have expected a Jewish film festival. The plot focuses on an Israeli who ditches his group weight reduction program for sumo wrestling. Repeated caustic comments from the woman running the dieting program account for much of the film’s hilarity.

(4) Receiving a beautiful red box filled with cupcakes for Valentine’s Day. Courtesy of my husband, Dennis, the white frosting was made with Madagascar vanilla, the pink with fresh raspberries, the yellow with fresh lemons, and anything chocolate with cocoa of the highest quality. Packed in ice, the cupcakes came from Teacake Bake Shop in Emeryville, CA.

(5) Visiting Dennis in his studio one Sunday morning. A chilly, gritty space in an old industrial building in Framingham, it has the northern light an artist loves. Knowing that my husband spends his days as a lawyer in a comfortable office with a bird’s eye view of Boston’s Zakim Bridge, I admire his ability to spend whatever spare time he has free of creature comforts. Especially when I see the beautiful paintings he creates.