Family

Tuesday evening was the 47th Yarzheit of my Uncle Zvi. Born in 1951, his life was cut short at age 11. My mother was just 13 years old. My two uncles here, my grandmother and 2 great uncles and a great aunt all gathered together to remember him. In my 20 years, this was the first time I had ever heard his memory discussed. It was also the first time I saw pictures from my mothers childhood. Her curly blond locks, the vision problems she suffered from...all of this history was so new. My great uncle Meir, who was also commemorating the death of his brother-in-law, says that a Yarzheit, unlike the Shiva, is not a sad time. The Yarzheit is a time for memorializing, not grieving. Though not a happy occasion, I was deeply moved and grateful that I had been able to attend.
Last night, Wednesday, was yet another family get-together, this time considerably larger. It was the wedding of Uncle Meirs granddaughter, Adi! Lets start with the fact that I haven't seen the majority of my relatives in a very long time and just as they couldn't recognize me, I didn't recognize most of them. I'm going to detail a bit about the wedding and then list all the people I re-met. The smorgasbord/brides reception room was magnificent. Taking place at a small Kibbutz on the outskirts on Yerushalayim, the hall was beautiful to start with. With the addition of an angelic bride and white flowers all over the room everything was simply majestic. The groom came dancing in to great his bride and then we all headed over to the theater section of the hall where the happy couple had decided to have their Chuppah. Throughout the ceremony there was a five person band, but the part that struck me the most was the bride and grooms thousand watt smiles and their embrace at the completion of the ceremony. The meal fit in perfectly with the entire evening and the dancing was...simcha dancing! There was also the amazing Purim themed stick. Gragars, noisemaker, whistles and all sorts of fun. During the meal I sat with Oma, Danny & Beatrice, Michel and Netta, Zeev and Margalit ( as well as Leah and her husband, but I'll add detail that list in a bit. As I was getting ready to leave with the Lafairs, they started to show a movie of the bride and groom that the familys had organized together, so we sat down, enjoyed the show and then left. We have arrived a bit before 7and now it was nearly 12. All in all a wonderful evening.
Who I re-met:
Michael & Tammy--Lafairs
Leah &____--daughter of Guta
Margalit and Ze-ev--""
Tali, and Bilah--daughters of Meir & Yehudit
Reb Michael Brom
Talis son Shmuel, who is a half of a year older then me.
Adi and her sisters!
Marganit (mother of the bride) and Yossi-Daughter of Meir and Yehudit

That may have been it. I had started off the evening hanging out with Tammy, who is hysterical and tons of fun! THroughout the evening I mainly ended up being with Oma, Michel, Danny etc, aka the people I knew, but I was so thrilled to have attended. Its a wonderful feeling to be part of such a large family, something I have always felt slightly lacking in the States, my family being so far away.
The Broms are a crazy bunch, but a happy one too.