Against large odds, mathematics professor Larry Lesser
experienced a new way to multiply
(or perhaps a new way to add: 1 +
1 = 3)
by becoming a dad at the Y2K millenium change....within
a small margin of error.
The "dependent variable" (Judah Boaz Lesser) was born
101 minutes into 01/01/00 (a "binary birthday")!
In the OR (with no equipment suffering Y2K glitches!),
Laurie and Larry get their first look at the lesser
Lesser
as the Lesser family becomes greater by 9.7 pounds.
Larry's parents, meanwhile, are hearing Judah's healthy
cries through a short hallway and 2 sets of double
doors!
Below is the blurb that appeared in Memorial Hospital's
newsletter a few days later:
About the name our son received the next week:
Our son's Hebrew name (Yehuda Chaim) honors all family branches represented
by Larry and Laurie’s 4 parents:
Yehuda honors Larry’s paternal grandmother, Julia (Yehudit) Lesser
as well as Laurie’s mother’s mother’s father’s father (i.e., a great-great-grandfather),
Yehuda Kravitsky (who is the father of the father in the photograph
you may have seen on the mantel in our living room)
Chaim honors Laurie’s paternal grandfather, Chaim Davis as well as
Larry’s maternal grandfather’s father, Hyman (Chaim) Farfel.
His legal/secular name is Judah Boaz Lesser and we usually call
him "Judah" or "Judah B."
Judah derives from Yehuda (see above),
while the name Boaz is intended to reflect something about the essence
of who our baby already is
rather than only the ancestors from which he has come.
Specifically, the strength our son displayed
by staying in the womb so long (the due date was Dec. 19! the
labor went 18 hours....)
and doing "pushups" in the recovery room an hour after birth
inspired the name which the story of Ruth reveals to connote great
physical and spiritual strength.
Judah is the first grandchild for Larry's parents, the seventh grandchild
for Laurie's parents, and the first
great-grandson for Larry's maternal grandfather.
PHOTO GALLERY of JUDAH
at:
birth,
3 wk.,
3 mo.,
4&1/2
mo., 6
mo., 8-10
mo.,
12
mo.,