They played Hide ‘n’ Seek together. They fought over whose turn it was to set the table and who gets the last slice of babka. Then came the Holocaust and together they huddled, sharing in the terrors. The horrors never left them and it was only among themselves that they could speak of that gruesome nightmare. They grew up, never whole, but with the strength of generations of Jews before them, they built their lives anew. They married and shared in each other’s ups and downs as they raised their own families. The cousins were in and out of each other’s homes, each family a support for the other.
And then…And then old age set in. It drove a wedge between two people who had been so close. She was living in a geriatric facility in the north of Israel. Weakened and challenged by the ravages of senior life, her days were delineated by mealtimes, recreation times. Her body was unable to travel past the confines of the home but her spirit still longed for the brother of her youth. They had met often as they grew older but now it was different. Different and impossible. She knew that. Yet she still dreamed. She dreamed of being physically whole again, of walking down the steps of the home and taking a bus to the nursing home in the center of the country where her brother lived.
She dreamed of impossible things but never did she dream of what seemed even more impossible…of angelic people who spent their days easing the difficulties of people just like her. Of medically trained people with vehicles designed to accommodate her mobility challenges. These were dreams of miracles. Until they happened. Until Ezer Mizion got wind of her situation and set to work to make it a reality. The logistics were many, the hurdles so high. But the staff at Ezer Mizion’s Transportation Division was undaunted. Soon all the pieces were in place and, joined by her daughter and another brother located in the North, the impossible trip took place.
Emotions were flying high!
In the words of her daughter Shoshie:
“Thank you, thank you, thanks so much! The meeting yesterday was so thrilling that words cannot describe it. Ima and her brothers and all of us enjoyed it so much and were so excited. It was amazing. I have no words. Keep up all of the marvelous and thrilling good deeds that you do!
Thank you!
