Tradition!

I watched the musical "Fiddler on the Roof" for the first time in a long time last night. It was the first time I'd watched it since I've had kids. It made me see it in a whole new light. It's the story of a poor Jewish man living in a village in Tsarist Russia (in the early 1900's, maybe?) trying to eke out a meager living, balancing his religious faith, his cultural traditions, and his desire to see his 5 daughters happy. As a parent, I watched as he struggled between his traditional beliefs and mores and the changing world around him. I had been in a bit of a struggle myself, of late. It was becoming a major struggle to get up and go to work everyday, as it was a meaningless series of motions I went through, without any real significance to it. But, as Tevye, the main character in the movie, said, "but look at my daughter's eyes". I did, and remembered that it's all for them, all of it.