Welcome Our New Member
Eilene Kalbfeld
I’m so happy to have found the Nature Coast Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. I feel truly blessed to have met others with a similar mindset.
A bit about me: I was born in the inner city of the Bronx, New York. I’ve always remembered being a very sensitive child—I cared deeply about living beings and the planet before I could even put it into words. Animals, in particular, held a special place in my heart. My childhood dream was to become a veterinarian, but growing up in a lower-income family didn’t make that path possible.
Religion was not a big part of my life, yet the fear of G-d was ever present in Judeo-Christian teachings. At the same time, I became acutely aware of the misuse of power religion has held throughout history.
My first career was in Greenwich Village, where I worked as a barber at the Astor Place Barbershop. It still exists today, although it has lost some of its fame. During my time there, I met various movie stars, singers, and athletes. Those were definitely my wild years!
Life changed course, as it often does, and I attended college in my late 20s. I earned a Master’s degree in Education in 2000 and taught for three years in an inner city school in Brooklyn, hoping to reach children like myself. After receiving tenure, I felt called to make yet another change.
In 2002, I packed up my four cats and parrot and drove down to Altamonte Springs, Florida. I continued teaching in Apopka for several years until my son was born in 2006. Like me, he was a very sensitive child, with a strong sense of equality and justice for all. When he was nine, we attended a bear hunt protest in Orlando, where we met activist Jane Velez-Mitchell.
We eventually found our way to Citrus County and, in time, to UU here in Citrus Springs. I hope to be of service and to continue doing my part to make a difference in the world.
Thank you so much for the warm welcome.
Eilene
Aden Kalbfeld
Hello, my name is Aden! For the majority of my life, I was completely unaware of UU’s existence — this changed after my mother and I moved to Citrus County and found ourselves longing for an environment that was more inclusive and open than the area’s general populace. As my mother and I believe in fighting for the rights of all living things (as well as the general betterment of the world), we found ourselves being captivated by UU’s mission to spread the values of love, justice, generosity, and celebration of all cultures; much of our infatuation was because such values aligned perfectly with our own!. Now that I am regularly attending UU services, I hope that my own actions to help advance the well-being of society help support the actions that many other members of UU take — as the Ancient Greek historian Herodotus once noted, “number is strength”.
Unlike many others in UU, I am relatively young. As I was born in 2006, I would be considered part of Generation Z; in other words, I am a “Zoomer”. While I am far from a genius, I have a decent understanding of modern technology (much like most other “Zoomers”). Whenever this congregation is in need of someone to help with its tech work, I will likely always be available to help! Besides technology, I also find myself interested in art (specifically illustration), history, animals, and spirituality (as I believe in my own interpretation of God, and I do not follow any specific religion). I hope my presence in this congregation makes it even more lively!
Best regards,
Aden
