The Charlotte Jewish News- August 2026- Page 2 Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte
From the Editor’ s Desk: The Best Day Ever
Every morning, before Lucy leaves for school or camp or wherever we are gallivanting to, I ask her the same question:“ What’ s going to happen today?”
Without hesitation, she grins and almost shouts,“ Today is going to be the best day ever.” Then she asks for my phone, deftly opens the Spotify app, scrolls through a list of artists and selects her song of the day. Amid this summer’ s World Cup buzz, it has been Shakira’ s“ Dai Dai” on repeat.
There is something so marvelously 6-year-old about that response. The unbridled optimism, the certainty that every day holds something worth discovering. I love that she enters each day with the expectation that something spectacular is waiting for her.
As we prepare for first grade this August, our familiar backto-school rituals are underway. Each year, we select a new backpack, search for the perfect matching water bottles, find sneakers that will help her to“ run the speed of lightning”( Lucy’ s words) and schedule a visit to the hair salon.
Last year, much to my surprise, Lucy developed a fascination with Star Wars completely independent of me. She chose a galaxy-inspired design, carefully selected the thread color for her monogram at a SouthPark kiosk and insisted that every accessory coordinate.
First grade feels different in her mind. Last year, she regularly declared that she was a“ big kid on campus” in kindergarten. But somehow, a grade with a number attached to it carries an entirely new sense of responsibility and importance.
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Published by Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte
Editor Elizabeth Johnson
Sr. Communications Specalist Jessica Goldfarb
Social Media Manager Shelby Robinson
Director of Marketing Dylan Vander Velde
5007 Providence Road, Suite 101 Charlotte, NC 28226( 704) 944-6765 www. charlottejewishnews. org elizabeth. johnson @ jewishcharlotte. org
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Of course, these milestones have a way of carrying parents backward even as our children move forward. I can still picture the first morning I dropped Lucy off somewhere without me.
She was just three months old when I apprehensively carried her into the Jewish Preschool on Sardis and placed her into the arms of a compassionate head of school while I stood there choking back tears. I apologized repeatedly for my emotions, embarrassed by my reaction, but she reassured me that what I was feeling was completely normal.
The truth was more complicated. I was heartbroken to leave my baby, yet I was also excited to reclaim a small part of myself after months of round-theclock motherhood. Her generous words gave me permission to understand that both things could be true at once.
My own back-to-school memories remain just as vivid. In the summer of 1996, my family packed up the only life the Breyer children had known in Dallas, Texas and moved to Charlotte. The relocation became a phenomenal( and oftentimes hilarious) adventure for our family, with Charlotte Latin playing an integral role.
For the first time, my siblings Keith, Michelle and I would attend the same school. I traded saddle oxfords, a green plaid kilt and a hunter green blazer from my all-girls boarding school for a coed campus with no uniform in sight. Naturally, my fashion-forward mother drove us to Atlanta to prepare our wardrobes for the new school year.
But what stayed with me was not what I wore. It was the feeling of walking across my new school’ s campus and seeing my brother and sister, chatting with teachers who knew me personally and becoming part of a community that transformed a new city into home.
Those two years shaped me in ways I could not fully appreciate at the time. They taught me that the most meaningful lessons often extend far beyond academics. They are found in the relationships we build, the confidence we gain and the communities that help shape us.
Those are the very same lessons I want Lucy to carry with her as she begins first grade. Of course, she will build upon her journey to read and write, solve problems, and think critically. But even more important are the lessons that cannot be measured on a report card: kindness, empathy, resilience, courage and the ability to show up for others.
Lucy has a heart that notices everything, often quick to ask if someone else is okay. When another child is crying, she is often
the first to walk over and gently ask,“ Can I see that smile?” At the pool, she returns a forgotten toy simply because she knows it belongs to someone else.
In Judaism, we teach tikkun olam, the responsibility to repair our world; kehillah, the importance of showing up for one another and building community; and limud, the understanding that learning does not end when the school bell rings.
One afternoon in July, Lucy came home from camp and proudly announced,“ Today was the best day ever. I had so much fun. We didn’ t even have to learn anything.” I thought for a moment about to navigate her words. So, I asked her to tell me about her day and what made it so fun.
She described in great detail an elaborate art project that reminded her of Frida Kahlo. She spoke with gusto about her inspiration as well as the size of the paper and the paints she used to create her masterpiece.
“ Did you do anything that surprised you?” I asked.“ Absolutely mother,” she replied with typical Lucy authority.“ I mixed pink and orange and invented the beautiful salmon color.”
I smiled triumphantly.“ Well guess what Lucy? That was learning,” I told her.“ You experimented and in turn, you discovered something new.” She looked at me thoughtfully and finally responded,“ Mom, you are right. You are always right.”
I know the day will come when she no longer believes that. In fact, at six years of age, we are almost there. But I hope she never loses the curiosity that allowed her to discover a new color, continues to notice the details others miss, navigates her life with the kindness that leads her to comfort another child and the optimism with which she greets every morning.
As another school year begins for children across our community, perhaps there is a lesson for all of us in Lucy’ s simple, albeit powerful daily declaration: Today is going to be the best day ever.
Elizabeth Johnson Editor The Charlotte Jewish News