Could she get engaged without her chassan?

 “Ima, Re’ut is sleeping over tonight, okay?”

“Mmm, okay, no problem.” After a moment, I ask, “For any special reason?”

“Ma, no! No, no.” Pause. “Well, not yet, anyway.”

My oldest daughter, Ayelet, just turned 18. Re’ut was a senior when Ayelet was a young, sweet freshie. “My senior,” as Ayelet fondly refers to her. My daughter had just started ninth grade in a new high school. Re’ut, a diamond of a girl with amazing middos, sincere, fun, gentle, alleh mailehs, took Ayelet under her wing and the two quickly became close friends.

Fast forward four years. A little more than a month ago, her mother, Rina, called me with a few important... ah, questions….

“Hi, Chava. How are you? How’s everything? Listen to this, my daughter Re’ut was suggested to a boy from your city, any chance you know him? His name’s Shalom Cohen.”

Shalom Cohen for Re’ut! Why didn’t I think of that? If I could still lift my legs high enough, I would kick myself. What a great idea! My husband runs the local boys’ high school, knows the guys inside and out, and puts a lot of effort into keeping in touch with as many of them as he can. Shalom Cohen was, well, something special. I felt totally confident telling Rina all I knew. He’s a serious learner, but would drop all to help a friend in need. He ran programs for teens during corona, a huge challenge, and managed to get those kids up, dressed, and out of the house to help families with little children. All in all, a great guy.

I wished her luck and then, well, davened.