Sad News

it's 10:00 a.m. in the holy city of zefat. i jumped out of bed at 7:00 a.m. and showered for a change. unfortunately, the water was only luke warm. bummer! i quickly got dressed and went outside and let the dogs out. it seemed sunny. it was like a monsoon here, yesterday. we still need more rain desperately.

i saw the kids outside loading up sahar's stroller. that is how i knew that i was not on duty today. when i went to sleep last night it was still up in the air. i watched him yesterday for twelve hours. he was pretty much delightful. he did try to head butt me a few times but i was able to protect my face. he was very tired from his big trip to the big city for shabbat.

i bought him an electronic book of brachos for children. it looks like pages with cassettes. he really loves it. he kept on playing a certain bracha for bread, repeatedly, and would answer amen. i think i'll buy one for mendush in india.

i'm on my way to sign in at the unemployment office 'downtown'. i needed to stop for a moment and reflect on some very sad news that i just received. my cousin charlette passed away.

i hadn't seen her in over 40 years. she lived in california. her daughter-in-law and granddaughter read this blog. i have never met them. my sister has become reacquainted with this part of our family and always speaks of their warmness and
open hospitality. i was fantasizing about getting reacquainted too.

charlette was my father's niece. his sister mollie was my favorite aunt. i have such lovely memories of visiting her in california when i was in my colege years.

we didn't really get together with our father's family much. it was mostly at an occassional funeral or wedding, where we would meet. i grew up knowing my mother's tantes. her mother's sisters lived near us. they would come to our house to visit with my grandmother.

i regret not knowing charlette. my sister says that she was really very loving and warm. her husband mike looked strangely, very similar to my father's father, handlebar mustache and all. charlette recently gave my sister a pair of our grandmother's candleticks. how generous was that! it meant the world to us. it was a piece of our family history. we never met our grandmother chana, as she died before my parents even met. i just found out that aunt mollie lived with charlette and mike until her passing.

thinking about charlette makes me very sad. it brings up my parent's recent passing and it marks the end of a certain era. for my sister, it is much harder, having lost someone that she only just found. my sister is our family's historian and resident genealogist. she is the link to our family's story.

my niece in zefat couldn't believe that my sister and i actually had cousins. she has a ton of chabad cousins. they are all close in age and see each other mostly in new york and occassionally, in israel. we grew up without the luxury. our cousins were much older than us and already grown up.

i pray that my cousin charlette has an easy passing to the next world. may her husband and children be comforted amongst the mourners of zion! to my readers, karen and michelle, i am deeply sorry for your loss. may you find comfort in time. my offer of hospitality stands open to any of you who find their way to zefat to come and visit here with me. G-d bless!!