Celebrating Love and Rituals in Community

In February, the residents of our building are being particularly pampered.

For Valentine's Day, we received tulips, and in celebration of the Chinese New Year, there were fortune cookies. Today, it turns out, is National Love Your Pet Day! In honor of this occasion, there are treats for dogs and cats.

It makes me want to tease them a bit and ask, where are the pancakes for Maslenitsa? I also haven’t seen any dates around, and Ramadan is already in full swing! It feels like they are trying to make amends for one of the elevators that has been out of order for three months now.

Speaking of Ramadan, there's a funny little story. Lucy, like every member of the family, has her own morning magic.

We go for walks, stopping at the same café where we’re greeted by the same girl. We exchange a few words, she hands me my latte, gives Lucy a scratch behind the ears, and offers her a piece of bread!

Lucy already knows the way to the café, and if we happen to take a different route, she pulls the leash in the opposite direction and looks back at me, as if to ask, “What gives?”

So yesterday morning, as usual, we head to the café and our friend tells us, “Sorry, I’m fasting today and can’t scratch the dog!” But she still made sure to pass Lucy some bread over the counter.

It was tricky explaining that change to Lucy, but we compromised with a bigger piece of bread.