Have I failed as a mother…or have I raised realistic children? Have I deprived them of hope…or saved them from disappointments?
Davidi is 17-years-old. Like his older brothers, he was a bit chubby, perhaps even more than the other two…until he his his growing spurt and then every extra pound transformed into height. He’s the tallest one in the family. He has beautiful grey-green-blue eyes that defy description. He’s got these amazing chiseled bones…I’m so in love with him.
He’s as different from his brothers, as they are from each other. Last week and again this week, he’s away for the entire week. He’s studying 12 hours a day, 5 days a week and part of Fridays too. He’s taking a course that will enable him to train more ambulance volunteers.
Last week, he joined 200 teenagers from all over Israel that have given up two weeks of their summer vacation for this course. The food was really lousy…I mean, rotten…36 kids got sick, some went to the hospital for treatment. The Magen David Adom organization fired the cook and the staff and brought in new people – the food is better this week. Davidi told me after having a disgusting meal last week, he and his friends saw the cook barbecuing…for his own family!
Anyway, while last week I left Davidi alone, this week, I decided to call and check with him. He’s at that age that he doesn’t make much conversation – and so mostly it was me asking questions and getting single word answers like “fine” and “okay.”
I finally made some sort of comment and he realized he needed to take a part in this conversation or it wasn’t going to work. It was nice – he could have let go and said goodbye; instead, he asked what was new, if anything was happening, what’s in the news.
I told him Israel was hit by three rockets today and his first thoughts were of home, “Jerusalem?” he asked. It isn’t an impossibility – not since the last war, but I told him no – open fields in the south.
“Did the army answer back?”
Not really, I explained – and told him about the renewal of peace negotiations in Washington.
And that’s when he said, “and I know how that’s going to go.”
No where. We all know it. Our children know it. We know it. Our government knows it. This morning, Abu Mazen declared his usual – no Israelis would be allowed to live in any area that will be occupied by some future “Palestine” and they, of course, expect to make Jerusalem their capital.
I let cynicism run through me when I posted, “not in your lifetime, Abbas.”
But it was surprising, a bit anyway, to hear it in Davidi…or maybe not. Maybe this is so transparently stupid that only the ministers blinded by glory don’t see it.
I told him about Bibi Netanyahu agreeing to release 104 murderers.
“For what?” Davidi asked.
“Nothing,” I answered. “For coming to the table to talk.”
“Really?” he asked in disbelief.
“Really,” I answered.
It’s a sad state of affairs when your children are smarter than your prime minister.
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