My Daughter's Tenth Anniversary

This is definitely Celebration Week chez Savta! After my "alyahversary" and Mermaid Girl's birthday two days ago, today marks ten years since my daughter Elswhere and her beloved Renaissance Woman committed themselves to each other in a thrilling and moving ceremony attended by almost 100 supportive family and friends in a beautiful Pacific Northwest setting. And five years ago today they repeated their commitment in a legal marriage in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

I wish I could say that I was understanding and supportive from the beginning, long before she met Renaissance Woman, but the truth is I wasn't. As liberal and open-minded as I thought I was, when it came to my own daughter I was fearful. I worried about her closing off opportunities for herself professionally and socially, shrinking her world. I worried that my own friends and family would reject her. And, to be completely honest, I worried that they would think, as I did, that I had failed as a mother.

Luckily for me, she was willing to keep communication channels open during that difficult period, and when she and Renaissance Woman began to get serious, I (finally!) realized I needed to come to grips with reality. Luckily I found a parents' support group right in my Tel Aviv neighborhood that not only remedied my misunderstanding of my daughter and other lesbians and gays, but did it in Hebrew.

So Elswhere, I salute you today for remaining true to yourself (and for finding a way to send your mother to Hebrew school). And with all my heart I wish you and Renaissance Woman a Happy Anniversary.

It was twenty years ago today...

It was twenty years ago today that I took my life in my hands and moved it to Israel. I spent that Sunday afternoon at JFK having a tense farewell with my nearest and dearest, wondering what the future would bring. Having been risk-averse but adventure-loving for most of my life, I decided to focus on the adventure. There were certainly times when the risk overtook my optimism, but I'm still here.

Today is one of those days when I feel wistful as well as celebratory, because today is Mermaid Girl's 8th birthday and I'm not there to participate in the festivities. However, I have now accumulated enough frequent flyer miles to start planning my next visit without concern for fuel surcharges. (Pretty soon the airlines will have to change that generous policy, I'm sure). After the birthday gifts have been opened and get a little stale, I'll just have to go there and install the webcams and Skype myself so she and I can have webchats without parental supervision, because 8 is old enough to handle that, don't you think?

A Highland Fling

Here he was, piping away outside of our hotel to welcome me on my first visit to Scotland. Well actually he was there for a wedding, but I felt very welcomed too. I just got home, so details are merged in with the ticket stubs and transparent plastic bag of liquid items just now. At least no jet lag, but weather shock instead. Tel Aviv is just as hot as it was when I left, and the humidity has gone up, which I didn't think was possible. Edinburgh weather was ideal, and just a sprinkle once or twice to remind me who was boss.

Distracted

Suddenly it's been two weeks since my last blog post here at The Spoon, and I'm wondering what on earth kept me so busy? I've decided to blame facebook: so many sound bites of information about lots of people I'm beginning to feel like a security camera. Wait a minute: a camera does visuals, not sound, and facebook does mostly text, so my whole metaphor is a tangled mess of wrongness. And then having to scrounge around to find Scrabulous games with non-North American players, because Hasbro pulled the plug on my favorite method of keeping in contact with my relatives.

Anyhow, what with facebook and French class (with homework!) and Art class (yes, thanks to Nominally Challenged's persistent urgings and hand-holding I have started drawing again), not to mention the enervating heat of Tel Aviv August and the furious deadline to finish Mermaid Girl's sweater in time for her birthday, I have only just now come up for air. And where is the air I've come up for? London!

I flew the coop this morning, having accepted an irresistible invitation to join two good London friends on an excursion to Edinburgh. Yes, this coming weekend, starting tomorrow, your faithless reporter will be checking in from The Fringe. If they have wi-fi in Edinburgh, that is. I've never been there before, so I'm quite thrilled and excited.

Any Edinburgh Festival Fringe-related comments and/or suggestions would be most welcome. Or any others as well. Did you miss me?

Another Reason to Love Tel Aviv

Carmela Soprano
Originally uploaded by savtadotty

Where else can you find a pizzeria named Carmela Soprano and a bar/nightclub named Betty Ford?

I Broke a Heart

But the question is, whose heart did I break?

In rummaging through the piles of mementos from my European tours of duty when I was 19-24, I came across a letter on light blue Basildon Bond stationery with no stamp, no address, no date, just my name on the envelope, which means it was hand-delivered, probably to my mailbox. I was working in London between October 1961 and February 1962, and the handwriting looks English to me. Here's the text:

Dorothy,
I never knew that 'goodbye' could be so painful. I won't besiege you with telephone calls of appeal, because you obviously believe it best that I shouldn't. My mind tells my heart that you are right.
I love you.
[illegible]

Dear Dari'o, Dania, Davie, Danie, David, or whoever you are,
If you're reading this, please identify yourself and remind me what happened and where? Forgive my faulty memory, but by now I think we can safely let bygones be bygones, don't you think? At least I saved your letter.