Feeling brave & Friends Forever (Mar 4, 2020)

 So it took three trips to Israel for me to get up the courage to take a bus by myself. That and the fact that no one would go with me or pick me up. LOL LOL LOL!!!

There is a special bond that we bereaved moms share. When you go through the worst possible experience a mom can go through, a mom who has walked in that path, no matter how different her journey is, you become soul sisters. I have so many special and wonderful friends I've made on this journey. Which is amazing, because truly, it is one of the loneliest paths to go on. And yet, there are women who hold your hand and pull you up, and in turn, you grab their hands and pull them up when they need it. 

Chana Leah is one such soul sister I met along the way. Thank you Our Tapestry for bringing us together. 

On Wednesday, I took the bus to the main bus station, and from there, caught another bus to Modi'in. Chana Leah picked me up at the bus stop. (Don't ask how confusing it was to find each other ... I got off at the wrong stop. Thankfully, I have a bright pink backpack that is probably noticeable from a mile away.)

We went together to a glass fusion workshop. You pick out what type of dish you want to make, and you glue little pieces of glass to it. The woman then heats it up very high for hours and hours and the glass melts and fuses into one with the dish. Chana Leah picked a seder plate and I choose a challah cover. Then we went back to her house for lunch. I am enchanted with the little wild flowers that grow in the spring all over Israel. Here is one such little flower-

Chana Leah felt that rather then just sending me on my way, she felt I needed a little bit of her special therapy. So we strapped the kids into their car seats and headed off to the beach. 

That's Tel Aviv in the distance. 

Yes, that is a whole section of sea shells.  I actually brought a whole baggie full of them to give to someone but sadly, that store closed from covid. I was not able to give him the shells. I am keeping them in a jar in my china cabinet.

The day was such a peaceful and serene day. I didn't even realize how wound up I was until I was able to fully unwind. (The day before was a hard day. There are no trigger warnings that TODAY is going to be a hard day for you, even all these years later.) So really, Chana Leah was able to intuit that this was just what I needed. Even looking at the pictures gives me a very calm and happy feeling.

After I left Chana Leah, I headed back to Jerusalem where I got a lovely sunset from the bus.

Finally stop of the day was meeting with another bereaved mom. We went to the kever of Shmuel HaNavi.  What a zchus it is to just hop over to such holy places! I have a whole list of names I carried with me, and when I came to a holy area, I prayed for those on the list.

A beautiful and fitting end to a fantastic day.