T IS FOR THANK YOU

Do you remember when you were a kid getting all excited about going back to school? And, then the first thing your teacher did was make you either write or stand up in front of the class and tell all about your summer vacation!

'Well, we went to Jack Miner's Bird Sanctuary and saw all the geese. And, then we went to Saint Louis for a week to visit my Aunt Mina and Uncle Louie. (Yes I did have an Uncle Louie in St. Louie!)'

I know it has been a very long time since I blogged and that my last letter was S...See if I had stopped at R then I could have written S is for my Summer Vacation.

But since I used up S already I have to Tell you all about my summer vacation...and say THANK YOU!!!

I had a hellova great summer vacation!

I went from Florida and the Atlantic Ocean to California and the Pacific to Colorado and the Rocky Mountains and finally Windsor/Detroit and the Tunnel...I mean the Detroit River!

Eight weeks! I was gone from my wonderful Jerusalem for EIGHT WEEKS!

Now, I never can stand being far from Israel for more than ten days...two weeks at the most and here I was the Wandering Jew travelling all over the place for two whole months. Must have gypsy blood in me someplace cuz I did just fine...no I did GREAT!!!

Looking back I realized that I managed to stay away that long without missing Israel because, thanks to my iPhone and Skype and emails and a tricky thing called Viber, I was able to talk and see and connect with my kids and the babies and my friends almost daily! Wadda world!!!

The Theme of this trip was to connect with and be with people from my childhood---people who knew me 'when' and who thought my house was their second home and who knew my parents. People I could re-connect with and talk about those days and about my Mom and Dad A'H. 

I needed to Tie up loose ends and Talk with people who could share 'remember when' stories with me. I needed to talk about my mother...Bubbie Channah.

You know how sometimes the 'whole' is bigger than all the pieces? Well, that was my summer vacation. So much happened that filled my heart. I spent time with people I have loved for over fifty years. I reconnected with people who I haven't seen since we were younger than my kids! Some friendships were renewed. Some new ones were made and I hope to stay in touch with some amazing people I met along the way. Some were like we had just been talking and drinking that  cup of coffee together a week ago... some were changed...the dream shattered by a new reality. All were worthwhile. And one was ended. An old friend got suddenly ill and passed way within days of my return home!

I am sorry it has taken me so long to write. Between my summer vacation, the death of my friend and then weeks and weeks of holidays...did I mention jet lag? Seven flights...on with the shoes off with the shoes...where's my suitcase? Oh, thank God, there it is! I simply went into 'curl up and regain your strength' mode. I think I'm back. I think I can deal with the loss and the found. And, I am grateful for it all!!!

I am grateful to Florida/California/Colorado/Windsor/Detroit/Toronto...you know who you are and your kindness and generosity and love were beyond amazing. Lucky, lucky me!!!

So, hopefully I'm back and hopefully I'll find the quiet emotional space I need to write and create. Today was Trash day...I threw out bags and bags and sigh yes more bags of stuff that had been accumulating since I got back home. I not only cleared out the room I teach in, but I borrowed my daughter's spare flat screen for my desktop and then I called my computer mayven and he said, 'Push this, push that and NOW DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!' and voila my anti-virus is now updated and the computer AND PRINTER are working!!! Tomorrow MSTL ( my son the lawyer) and I will probably go to Office Depot and buy a new fax/copy machine. See, everything died just before I left on my summer vacation. The laser printer ran out of ink, the flat screen committed suicide, and the fax/copy bit the dust!!! I did my Scarlet O'Hara...'I'll think about it tomorrow' and got on the plane for the Goldeneh Medinah ( the Golden Land). And now I'm back in business again...yahoooooooo!!!

Boy it feels good talking with you. And, hopefully this is just the beginning of a running dialogue. But, since I never caught up with cutting and pasting all your comments in the old blogs, I am now sending you out just the beginning chapter, and the link to the blog. For those of you who would like to comment, I will be thrilled to hear from you.

In the meantime...again THANK you for everything! My summer vacation was the best ever!!!

Have a good day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in.