Yeah. So it's interesting because, um, when, you know, and I guess my relationship to the community in Bellingham, uh, relates a lot to, um, my upbringing, um, you know, so I, I grew up, uh, you know, going to a reform synagogue in Vancouver. Um, but really, that was just, you know, we would go there for, uh, Sunday school, you know, which we call Hebrew school. Um, but my dad would, you know, drop us off at the front door and be there to pick us up when it was over. Um, and, uh, you know, again, no fault to my parents, but they really had no. No sense of investment. Um, in, uh, you know, our synagogue life, um, you know, and, and, uh, as far as being Jewish goes, you know, we celebrated, uh, the holidays. Um, but we weren't overly religious. And, uh, I never really felt a sense of connection. Um, and, you know, like a lot of people, after my bar mitzvah, I got the heck out of there. Um, you know, and, you know, and it relates to an old joke, um, that, uh, you know, a rabbi showed up at synagogue and there was a pest control, uh, truck in the front of the synagogue. And the rabbi goes in and says, what's with the pest control truck? And he's told that, oh, my gosh, we have a mice infestation. And, uh, no matter what we do, we can't get rid of them. The rabbi says, give me five minutes and I'll get rid of them. So the rabbi goes in and comes out and he says, all the mice are gone. And everyone says, how did you do that so quickly? And he says, I gave them bar mitzvahs, and they left and never came back. Um, and so, sadly, you know, there is a lot of truth to that. Um, and that's, you know, that's really how I felt growing up. I didn't, uh, um, you know, I didn't have a whole lot of connection. Um, you know, it's kind of like, uh, you know, you're you're you're Jewish on Sunday for for Hebrew school. And then the rest of the week, you're just a kid trying to fit in, um, at school, I didn't have any Jewish friends outside of the synagogue. So that sense of disconnection, uh, you know, followed me. Um, everywhere else I went. Um, and then when my son was born, he was born in 2007, seven. We were living in Seattle at the time. Then I sort of felt all of a sudden this, um, you know, this several millennia crushing responsibility, um, to introduce him to his heritage. And, um, and so I, um, you know, I took him to, you know, several events at the Jewish Community Center in Seattle. Um, but really, more than that, um, I was still disconnected. Um, and then, I mean, and don't get me, I'm. We're still working our way back to Bellingham. It's just, uh, it's a long, circuitous, uh, story. Um, so after Seattle, we moved to a small town in Indiana, and, um, my, uh, my daughter, who's 12 now, was born shortly after we moved there and all of a sudden having small kids and, you know, small Jewish kids in a predominantly, um, Christian small town, I felt this enormous weight of responsibility to, um, introduce them more to, um, their background. So there was there was a very small synagogue there. It was a part time synagogue. Um, there would be a rabbinical student who would drive from Cincinnati once a month to have services. And unfortunately, the majority of the congregants there and again, there weren't many, um, but the majority were elderly. Um, there weren't very many young families. And, um, it just, uh, it was hard to, you know, and I felt like I had to compete against, you know, my wife, my wife is not Jewish. And so on Sundays, we would, uh, you know, to sort of honor her background, we would take the kids to church. And there was a thousand kids there, and there was a playground and, um, fun activities all the time. And then once a month, we would, um, Saturday mornings, we would, uh, take our kids to, um, little part time synagogue. And it just it was it was a depressing experience. I feel bad saying that. Um, and when we finally, um, made the decision to move to Bellingham again, to be as close to our family in Vancouver as possible, you know, I like to say, um, you know, close enough that we could see them every day, but not so close that they could come down and see us every day. There was still an armed border in between which which was great. Um, and uh, so when we moved here and, uh, you know, I saw that there was a, uh, a fairly large Jewish community, um, and I knew that there was Sunday school. You know, I immediately claimed Sundays as, um, as the day that, you know, my kids would, uh, get their dose of Judaism. Um, and it became really important to me, um, that I wouldn't be a drop off the kids at the front door of the temple kind of parent. Um, and so I pretty much jumped in with both feet. Um, and it's funny because, you know, most of our friends are from the synagogue and, you know, and that's the way it is. Um, I mean, I assume you're not originally from New York. Um, and, you know, when you go to a place you don't know anyone, um, the majority, you know, you're starting from scratch. The majority of the people you end up being friends with are, um, you know, whatever that is. That drew you there often? Um, and so I, um, immediately became involved with, um. Committees at the synagogue, um, making friendships. Uh, I really wanted my kids to have friends that they didn't just see, you know, for 2.5 hours on Sundays. Um, but, um, throughout the week. And they developed, you know, long running friendships. Um, and so we've been here for seven years now. So fast forward to now. Um, you know, I'm on the, uh, the board of directors at the synagogue. I'm co-chair on a lot of committees or chair on some other committees. Um, and people say, oh my gosh, you're you're so involved. But I mean, really, it has purely to do with, uh, wanting my kids to feel like, um, you know, the temple is their home. And again, you know, we're not a religious family by any means, but, um, connection is important. And, you know, I spent, um, decades feeling unconnected. Um, and I never want my kids to feel that way. And so I, uh, actually, this is my third year now of teaching, uh, Sunday school. Um, I'm the Sunday school for, um, one of my daughter's classes, and I've. I've moved up with that class so that I could have that connection with her. Um, I teach martial arts at the synagogue. Um, I've been doing that now for several years. Um, and really? Yeah. Like, I, um, the majority of our life sort of revolves around that connection. Um, and again, it all stems from not wanting my kids to feel the disconnection that I felt. And it's great. I really feel like it's been a success. Um, did that answer?
