Justin Cecil's Blog

            “Everybody Loves Raymond” was one of those sitcoms that I grew up watching with my family. The acting and writing are great, and they have excellent episodes and scenarios. But as I grow older I find myself having a slightly harder time rewatching many of the episodes. Granted there are a lot of episodes that I think are absolute gems and still hold up, making me laugh out loud, such as the one with the Civil War reenactment, the one where they all discuss the meaning of life, and Marie’s sculpture. But honestly a lot of them now make me almost kind of cringe. As I look back on many of the episodes of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” I think to myself, “This marriage has no reason for being. Raymond and Debra need to get divorced.”             As I watched it growing up I thought to myself, “Well I guess this is kind of what marriage is like.” I thought this with mixed emotions to say the least. Granted even growing up I knew that the characters of “Everybody Loves Raymond” lived

           This is the third part of a series of blog articles. The first in the series can be read here . * * * Currently I am living abroad, teaching English to children in Hohhot, China. Even with the pandemic and all of the craziness of this year, I think this is probably the happiest I’ve been job-wise. But let’s go back a bit. After college I worked a couple of part-time jobs, working mainly as a sign twirler and at a college bookstore. Then I got offered a position as a gardener at the Baha’i World Centre in Israel (I had fallen in love with the Baha’i Faith in college). While I was there, I was honestly happier than I ever was in college. I explored places I had barely even dreamed about, and meet new friends (many of whom I’m still in touch with) from around the world. I worked hard underneath the Sun, with sweat constantly pouring down my body, but I was doing work I was proud of. I honestly felt like I gained a lot more from living in Israel than I did from actually going t