My parents in Laos April, 2013 distributing underwear

After I graduate from college, I will be traveling to Southeast Asia. Yep, in 48 days this girl will be done with education and making my way in the real world. As scary as that sounds, it’s even more comforting knowing that I don’t have a job or source of income or anywhere to live starting July 5! I’m not worry about all that ’til I get back, though…

Just kidding mom and dad! I’m excited to see what comes in the next few months and I’m making serious strides to get my ass up to San Francisco where I can start living there for real. After the past year and half of exploring the city I have fallen madly in love with, I realize it’s my time to take on SF in full force.

But before that is my next adventure to Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam with my cousin Shonna. We’re both so excited to explore a part of the world we have never experienced and more importantly, visit a place that was very special to my uncle Jeremy. Jeremy was closely involved with the Windhorse Foundation, which helps provide educational, financial, health related, clothing, and other forms of support to poor individuals in Southeast Asia. There are orphanages in Laos that Jeremy (and my parents) visited, and I wanted to make it there too and see why Jeremy was so connected to this place that he talked about so fondly.

Now I need your help. Instead of asking (or just receiving) graduation gifts, please consider donating to Shonna’s GoFundMe so that we can purchase underwear to take to the children at the orphanage. Shonna aims to raise $3,000 before we leave in honor of her 30th birthday and my graduation. Some of the money we will use towards underwear (there’s only so much we can carry), and the rest will be donated to Windhorse.

I feel beyond lucky that I have the opportunity to travel the world and see this amazing place that Jeremy loved. I can’t wait to share my adventure with you.

Here is Shonna’s link: http://www.gofundme.com/3000for30

Link to Windhorse Foundation: http://wdpf.org/

For those of you who knew my uncle Jeremy, and there were thousands around the world, there are many things you have all come to know about him. However, one would only need to spend a mere 10 minutes with Jeremy before you would learn all about: his chickens; couch surfing; how to cook one of the following: a whole pig, goat, or perhaps some small foul; a random fact about theater, celebrities, or some small grain of knowledge you’d never use again in your life; and perhaps possibly, how to properly set a kitchen table and clean a restaurant’s worth of dishes.

Jeremy was probably the only Sommer in existence to tolerate spicy food. He was one of the only people I’ve met who considered “regular ingredients” to be pomegranate syrup or a 50lb bag of whole wheat flour. He went grocery shopping for weekend trips and our family reunions like it was his last weekend on earth. He loved attractive Jewish male actors more than I did. He once made me cut down a tree outside his front house. A TREE. He had a “wine” collection that had turned into 70% vinegar. He once made me cry because he refused to take me to In n Out Burger. You couldn’t see the back of his pantry cabinets to save your life. And so many more ridiculous things that made Jeremy who he was…

Something happened between Jeremy and I during the last 8 months of his life – we realized we needed each other. Unlike before, I felt, our separate existences never needed to serve each other much of a purpose, besides our family reunions when I needed Jeremy to cook and he needed a mouth to feed. And during those last months, I tasted something that I had never truly come in contact with – this time it was bittersweet.

After hearing Jeremy’s diagnosis right before Christmas of 2012, the prognosis stated he had 6 months left. Jeremy made it to 8. And almost right up until the end, he still remained his true Jeremy self. At times, growing up, I didn’t know how to connect to my stubborn, loud, (and sometimes) obnoxious uncle, but when I came back to school this year, more than just our last name called us to be together.

When I came to visit Jeremy in January, he brought me to Glide for the first time. He may have been on his phone the whole time, but I know that over the past 25 years of him attending this church, Glide helped him find a community that would accept him no matter what. The mission of Glide is love unconditionally. While I had my differences with Uncle Jeremy in the past, I came to Glide letting go of my baggage, and embracing our differences, as well as our similarities. Coming to Glide with Jeremy is something I will hold sacred and special as I am sure many of his 50 couch surfers, family, and friends will as well.

Jeremy gave so much. He gave meals to the hungry (me), he gave shelter the poor (some couch surfers), and he gave until the very end. In fact, he is still giving. I look up to my uncle for being generous to the world: spreading culture, stories, laughter, food, and music. I look up to him for always being curious, for standing up to anyone, for being unique, and most of all, having a loving heart, although he may have had a hard time showing it.

I will miss my uncle deeply, in a way I couldn’t have ever imagined.

My mom asked me when I was home over spring break if I would post again soon on my blog. She said, “What, you don’t have anything important to say since now you’re back in America?” And I said, “Well… not really what anyone would want to read.” But in truth, I have felt hesitant since being back at school has felt so mild in comparison to the previous four months I had experienced while traveling the world. While talking with friends who are abroad now, I live vicariously through them, occasionally sending off an email or two with a list of my top Paris faves for their weekend getaways to my home away from home. The adjustment of being back after the first two weeks wasn’t bad, and now that I’ve gotten the routine down, I’m perfectly fine. But I’m starting to itch again, ready for my next Crazysash adventure. And not knowing what that will be or when it will come.

After missing almost every major family holiday for the past two years, I decided I needed to go home for spring break. I was in Paris for Thanksgiving of 2012, Visalia for 2011, as well as Passover in 2012. While I have loved spending my holidays in different places, there really is no place like home. Passover is a big part of my family tradition and this year was about to be the biggest (and baddest) us Sommer’s had ever seen. With my dad crankin’ out the Mr. Paul’s Matzoh Balls, and family coming from near and far, I just felt I had to be there to be part of the celebration. My mom wouldn’t let me give a speech before our dinner (because she wanted to hog the spotlight), but I was itching to tell everyone how thankful I felt to be sitting around the beautiful “O” shaped table full of  all my different families. My Sommer’s – two uncles, my dad, my aunt and her brother; Selby’s – my mom’s cousin; Ashley’s – family from Mercer Island, Seattle, and New York; and the Mercerwood Shoreclub Family – people I have spent every summer with since I was 8 years old. Just being “home” for the first time in so long felt like a Jewish miracle in and of itself!

This weekend, I got to participate in a new Passover tradition – a Gayder. Yeah, that’s a gay Seder. It has been an annual tradition for my uncle to host, but lucky for me, I scored an invite this year. Don’t worry, this Seder (as well as all Sommer Seders) was gentile (and non-gay) friendly. I spent my evening talking to Israelis, a German, a Turk, and I guess some Americans too. When I came back to school today, all my friends were telling me how they want to experience to one of these famous Jeremy hosted dinners, and I sadly had to inform them that table space is limited, plus I guess they have to be cute and gay to make the cut. Just kidding! It has been an emotional four months, but I know it’s a blessing in disguise that I have been able to spend as much time in San Francisco as I have been. While I regret not taking advantage (I mean, hey… it’s free food) long before, my life has been changed in a short amount of time by the people I have met, the love I have seen, and the true acceptance I have felt. I am lucky.

One of my favorite things I have done so far since being back has been going to Glide church in San Fran with my uncle and whomever feels like showing up Sunday mornings. My dad has come, my grandmother, my aunt and uncle, cousin, old friends, new friends, foreign friends, and so many more. This “church” is not what it sounds like. Glide stands for unconditional love. As I hear in the sermon every Sunday morning, you can come as you are to Glide. This community of complete acceptance is unlike anything I have experienced before, and the music is just an added bonus. Sharing Glide is like sharing love, without having to do any work. Here’s a link to a video from one of my favorite services I have attended this year.

So that’s what I’ve been up to this quarter. It has gone by all too fast, but I’m not looking back anytime soon.

Dear readers:

One of my favorite photos from my Paris abroad journey has been selected as a finalist for the student abroad photos for the program. I submitted my top 4 favorites in December (that was a VERY challenging task, mind you, with over 5,000 photos to choose from) and 1 was selected to participate with a total of 80 photos in the actual contest. I’m honored! Not only that, but I really want to win. I get a cash prize which would be awesome, but also I’m pretty sure they use our photos for their marketing materials and general beautification of their program and that’s pretty cool too.

All you need to do is click the photo below, and it will take you directly to the Facebook page, and you only have to make a small click of your finger and hit the “like” button. The photo under each category with the most “likes” gets selected as a winner. Currently I have 107 likes, and the top photo in my category has 138… I can do this!

The winner gets chosen next week, March 14, so please help me out and share with your friends if they saw my blog during my abroad travels and enjoyed my photos!

As an aspiring photographer, this is kind of a big deal to me, as I’m sure it is to all the contestants. Looking through the other photos I am awed and inspired, and definitely a little jealous that I’m not still out exploring the world.

Thank you!