Some of the children stayed to sleep in the shelter with their mothers. The missiles started arriving every four hours, volleys of dozens, and there are already homes destroyed and several dead in the center of the country. More neighbors who have not come to the shelter until now but realized that this time it is more serious than we thought it would be, some of them come with their dogs, but the dogs who are very anxious about the alarms are not always ready to make friends with the other dogs. The children are happy for the social event, they brought tablets and snacks and are playing games.
We are a little tired, when the Iranians take a break the Houthis from Yemen send their lone missile and that also requires his attention. In the few quiet hours I had, I managed to cook lunch for a family member. Our world now looks like a strange puzzle. There are parts that are sane, normal like anywhere else in the world, and there are parts that look like they were taken from a movie from another era.
The other day I traveled with my daughter and grandchildren to a small town in the north where a ceremony was held at a library named after my father, who wrote twenty children's and youth books and was greatly admired in this small town. We made an appointment with a Facebook friend of mine who is a resident of the city and a big fan of my father. She wanted to give us a tour of the small town where I was also born and has an interesting history. We arranged to meet at a restaurant in the city. When we got there, I saw an elderly woman sitting at the entrance to the restaurant. My intuition that it was a famous thing here in the family worked again. I asked her, "Are you Yehudit?" And she did answer yes. This was my kindergarten teacher, whom I had seen more than seventy years ago. She was very excited when I told her who I was, she remembered me and my family, which was well-known in the small town that was then a neighborhood of shacks. My grandmother was the dentist of the neighborhood at the time and everyone knew her. The kindergarten teacher, now almost ninety, was waiting for her husband who had gone to the bathroom at the shopping center. It was a complete coincidence that we met, but I believe it was not. There is some guiding hand in the world. We said goodbye excitedly. She asked me to come visit her and that we keep in touch. I will do that.
It all sounds very frightening for everyone over there. Escalating every day.
ReplyDeleteToday was quiet, now the headline on TV warns of a tough night. My anxiety level is rising every moment.
DeleteI can't imagine how strange and scary it must feel, especially when you can recall flashes of normalcy like running into your former teacher. What an amazing coincidence (or not).
ReplyDeleteThere really are moments when I can't believe that this is the reality we live in.
DeleteYou were early settlers it seems?
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking of you all the time Yael, and hoping for your safety and the safety of your family and friends. Take care and let us hear from you when possible so we'll know you're ok. Sending love.
ReplyDeleteThank you dear Jennifer.
DeleteNot me. My grandmother and grandfather and my father, who was only a year old when they arrived from Poland in 1924 and settled in that small neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteAnvilcloud,This comment answers yours.
DeleteI'm scared Jennifer, but I hope this too will pass.
ReplyDeleteIt is a strange puzzle. May your voice of sanity and other voices of sanity continue to be heard. The accompanying photo moves me deeply. A heartening piece (peace) in a timeless puzzle, along with the gift of recognizing Yehudit from more than 70 years ago. Continuing to send love to you and your beloveds.
ReplyDeleteThank you am. The picture is of my grandchildren, from quieter days.
DeleteI, too, was in kindergarten more than 70 years ago.
ReplyDeletePraying that your night is quiet. Watching the news and hoping it somehow comes to an end.
ReplyDeleteI'm very curious about how everything that happens here is reported. I'll try to find out.
DeleteThinking of you, unable to imagine how you manage any level of normality and admire your courage.
ReplyDeleteI don't think of myself as brave, I try to live as sanely as possible under these conditions. Thank you for the support.
DeleteYou are in my thoughts Yael. I can't imagine how you must be feeling in this situation. I would be anxious all of the time! I'm glad you had some distraction visiting the town of your birth
ReplyDeleteYou are very brave.
Thank you Betty. Your support means a lot to me.
DeleteI am thinking of you all the time these last few days. And constantly looking on FB to see what Israel RealTime has posted. May this all be over soon. Be safe.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sarah.
ReplyDeleteDear Yael, May you continue to be safe. I've a friend from Tehran, one of the Persian Jews whose family has remained in Iran, who texted me in a panic yesterday because she wasn't able to reach her parents by phone for hours on end. I wonder how she deals with her two realities: a practicing Jew who wears her Star of David proudly and keeps kosher, but also feels a crushing ache to know that her 'beautiful city' is being bombed. Again, thinking of you and hoping you and yours are safe. xx
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed very sad that in times of war there are innocent people who pay the price. On every side.
DeleteYes, it is very sad. My friend eventually got a hold of her family. I think that they've evacuated the city by now. x
DeleteBe safe my friend , I heard the news
ReplyDeleteYour government needs to calm down for your sakes
John, this government is indeed the worst we've ever had, but here you're wrong, and if we calm this government down, will they stop killing us? I read your comment at night while running to the shelter and I couldn't believe that's what you had to say.
ReplyDeleteYou are in my thoughts. Warm greetings from Montreal, Canada.
ReplyDeleteThank you Linda.
Delete"Our world now looks like a strange puzzle."
ReplyDeleteVery interesting way to put it.
As you say, I think you have to make the most of the connections you have around you to make it more bearable.
Are those your young ones in the picture?
Indeed, these are my grandchildren, Liam.
DeleteIt is unbearable to watch the news, and terrifying to think how things could escalate. I am hoping it stops soon. Stay safe. I rarely comment, but we are all thinking of you.
ReplyDeleteTasker Dunham, you are always welcome here.
ReplyDelete