Carol discusses her family history and childhood experiences.  Her parents grew up in Orthodox homes in New York, but Carol and her two older brothers attended Reform Temple with their family.  They kept a kosher home, observed Shabbat, and attended Temple on Friday night, but she says her family did not draw attention to their Jewishness.  Carol recalls her Sunday School, where she learned the Hebrew alphabet.   She attended public school and non-Jewish summer camp.  At Colgate University, Carol was among the first class of women.  She felt like a pioneer in that respect.  At Colgate, Carol was not involved in any Jewish activities but met her husband, Michael, who was Jewish and whose parents were German refugees.  They wanted Carol's rabbi to marry them, but he refused to let them say their own vows, so they were married by the assistant rabbi, and this experience turned Carol off from Judaism for a long time.  Carol and Michael spent the first years of their married life in New York.  Their son Joshua was born with multiple handicaps.  Carol explains that Joshua’s disabilities were hereditary, so they adopted their daughter, Rachel.  When they moved to Boston, the family became members of Temple Israel in Brookline.  Carol became more involved in the Temple and their social justice initiatives, reconnecting her to Judaism.  Rabbi Zecher got Carol involved and connected in the Chesed group to assist the needs of Temple Israel’s congregants.  Carol was very interested in her daughter Rachel’s bat mitzvah process.  Her d’var torah was the first time a Torah reading had any meaning for Carol.  Carol began questioning God, particularly around Josh’s handicaps.  Rabbi Zecher suggested that they study together.  Carol says she wanted to learn Hebrew and a bat mitzvah was the “vehicle” to do this.  Carol learned the structure of the service and the liturgy, history, and text and wrote her own d’var Torah.  She describes how chanting the Torah and reading the trope was very powerful;  it had meaning for her.  Rachel welcomed her mother into the “tribe.”  Since her bat mitzvah, Carol participates in a weekly minyan, attends Maeh, performs shiva minyans, and leads services.  She attends Torah study and a Rosh Chodesh group.  Looking back, Carol reflects on her bat mitzvah as one piece of her spiritual journey.  She gets more out of the Rosh Chodesh group.  Finally, Carol talks about reaching out to women who feel “outside,” since she always felt like an outsider because of her disabled child.