Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Still Here

Hi, I'm still here.  Between the chagim and the birth of our new twin granddaughters (kiddush!  two kiddushes!), life has been the good kind of busy.

I have had the chance to polish my baby-care skills, which have gotten a bit rusty, but I still remember which side of the Pamper goes on the bottom, how not to drop a newborn in the bath, and how to jiggle a baby to sleep.

Yet as much as our hearts are full of thanks and joy for the new babies, we hear each day about another horrific event in this country in which an innocent person is murdered in order for someone to make a point of some kind.  An entire family is shattered, and we all wonder, "How would we handle that?  How does anyone handle something so random and vicious?  How are there people like that?"

Still, it becomes part of your life.  You sigh, your heart breaks, you go to the grocery store to pick up milk.  You read the news, you look at the pictures of the funerals, you return a book to the library.  Knowing that wherever you walk, wherever you are standing or driving, someone could purposely run you down and end your life - you kind of have to deal with it, yet not focus on it, every day.

Standing in line at the grocery store, I strike up a conversation with an Israeli who notices my less than perfect Hebrew and asks when I came here.  She says, "Well, of course, you had to come, this is home - everyone has to come home eventually."  I love her.  I mean, so much love I feel like crying.

Today I went to the post office - where all of Israel transacts most of its business, sort of like the Old West.  I had received a letter from the Government offering me money!  yay!  So I had to go to the PO and do stuff there.  The woman behind the counter asked me something, and I gave her my usual "dumber than dirt" look in response.  She smiled and said, in her broken English, "I ask eef you work for you-self or somebody else."  I apologized for not understanding.  She looked at me with the warmest smile and said, "You are here, that's what is important, don't worry about the language, ok?"

Felt like crying again. 

It's starting to feel like last summer - everything feels shaky and tentative, scary beyond scary. But we are still here - all of us - and more are coming.  That's our answer - a warm smile, love for one another, and staying power.  It'll be OK.