Dial M for Mezuzah

So as alluded to in the 3 sentence header, My life goals and plans have undergone a dramatic makeover during the last 9 months. Einstein's relativity does its share to make me somewhat ignorant of the widening gaps between the people close to me and myself. About a month ago I re-encountered a family video from my cousin Anne's wedding. My cousin Yolanda took the initiative to capture a family portrait through interview, and I got a chance to a red-shifted version of my former self.

Yo: What do you plan do your life?
me: I hope to become a mathematical physicist... and basically keep myself stuck to books for the rest of my life.

Whoa, not so fast younger-Jordan, you might just want to read through that lease on the ivory tower before signing.

So what's the point? This is simply a preamble for what I actually want to say.  As I mentioned above, I'm guilty of sometimes losing sight of the growing disconnects between me and others (and sometimes myself). All the more reason to make special mention of my mom.

Despite the drastically different turn my life has taken, she remains supportive. But the word supportive doesn't do her justice; I could just as well be talking about an I-beam. While we we're not yet at a full understanding of each other, she has actually spent hours laboring on my behalf to create beautiful works of Judaica that I want to share with the world (any creative talent I can claim for myself, I inherited from her).

Here are two great examples:

The first is the Chanukiah she made last winter:

This is the mezuzah she just finished for me:
You better believe Zach and I affixed it to our doorpost:

I've since informed her that she will be making all of my Judaica operating around this theme.

Even though I don't really like hallmark holidays, happy early mother's day.

Thank you.