9/20/01, 12:51 am

Last night, at grandma’s Rosh haShana dinner, I learned that grandma is an atheist. I also learned that her parents were super left wing. “Socialist?” I asked. “More than that,” Nana said. Pretty interesting to imagine my great grandfather attending Eugene Debs rallies…

So what in God’s name is an atheist doing having Rosh haShana dinner? Tonight, she was mainly proving to herself and to us that she could still entertain, after breaking her shoulder a few months back. She told me that although she’s always felt like an ethinic Jew, she never participated in any of the religious stuff until my mom and dad were married and started popping out kids. Fearing that my dad’s family’s Cathlocism would mar us, she decided we needed her religious influence. Hence the Passover seders…

She’s a courageous woman. Silly, too, sometimes.