Today was a wonderful day, filled with family and long-time friends… the best way I can sum it up is by posting the pictures and the speech that I read.

"Me
I want to welcome everyone to this ceremony today. And, I wanted to speak to that notion of “everyone” because it gets both to the heart of the day and of how we feel about Theo.

Today is the day that we welcome Theo into the Jewish community by giving him his Hebrew name, but it is also the day we welcome into our larger community, made up of so many wonderful members of our family and friends.

In all our lives, the notion of community is important. But for us, this community has really meant something very special. The people in this room were with us at CHOP, were on the other end of phone calls and emails in those first few months when we really weren’t sure what was going on day-to-day. And as much as today is a celebration of Theo, it is also a celebration of all of you and the role you play in our life and Theo’’s life.

Theo’’s Hebrew name is “Todros” which means gift. Kat and I both feel the gift that Theo is in our life every day, but Theo’’s life also makes us so powerfully aware of the many gifts in our lives – the gift of a wonderful marriage that only seems to grow stronger every day, the gift of two wonderful little boys who smile and laugh with ease, the gift of family who are willing to walk this path with us, and the gift of friends who give of their time and their love over and over again. And we know that Theo’’s appreciation of all of you -– all of these gifts that he is surrounded by -– will continue to grow as he does, and we know that for as much as you are all gifts to him, his joy, his strength, his laughter, his life will be a gift to you as well.

So we thank all of you for coming today, for traveling to share Theo’’s naming with us, but more importantly for sharing your lives with Theo and with us.