June 12, 2011
We’re all checked in, on board and the air someplace over Utah! The kids and I have survived our initial round of anxiety in the terminal and passed the time before we boarded at burger king, making a few parting phone calls and taking pictures. This trip to Israel, as much as it is a long needed vacation is also a pilgrimage of sorts. We are to pay respects to my dear aunt Tati or Tata Raymonde who left this earth just a few days ago. I was hoping to see her and spend time with her before she passed. She has been ill lately and knew we were coming to visit. She succumbed to the illness that ravaged her body sooner than anticipated and has left a long stream of mourning brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews, all too numerous to list.
The highlight of our trip will be time spent with my grandmother, Meme and my grandfather, Pepe. They are elderly and in their 80’s. It has been 4 years since I last saw them and I am eager to have Andrew and Adam reacquainted with them. It is a rare gift to have great-grandparents still in this world and I hope for them to build a memory that includes the love and connection of an extended family, even if far and away. I believe it to be my obligation to create this for them. I have had concern over the monetary cost of fulfilling this obligation but I believe the sorrow and regret of not doing so will cost so much more in ways that cannot be quantified. I hope that when Andrew and Adam reach a time in their lives of greater maturity and understanding – maybe even when they are my age, and my grandparents are no longer on this earth, that they will appreciate and understand the importance and magnitude of our 2011 trip.
Check back again soon for more updates!
