Today after nearly two years of trying to stay smart and safe and actively choosing not to go to the beach, we finally went for a family early mother's day brunch. We avoided places like beaches since the beginning of the war for a few central reasons.
1. Could we actually run to a shelter with Loowan if we needed to? (She's more mobile and we're better equipped now so fortunately our answer has been updated to yes.)
2. Where would said shelter be if we're not from the area? If we didn't know, we decided not to go. Fortunately this isn't a problem we faced while near Tel Aviv today. (We did hear the Iron Done launches responding to the Houthi attack yesterday though.)
It was foggy and the weather was comfortable in BatYam. BatYam, in Hebrew means Mermaid. So obviously Siikwan was excited to spend time in a place named after Mermaids. 🧜🏼♀️
We ate at a restaurant with terribly slow service, yet we enjoyed every lazy moment. I mentioned that when I used to live in LA I dreamed about being a professional beach bum. I don't understand why no one pays for that, maybe I'd be a better bum than a teacher even? 😉
So we felt the sand. We saw the blueish green water. Tasted the salty air and savored a few moments of being together.
After brunch we drove to another area that had a cool looking park that the girls wanted to play in before driving home. Everything was going well until Siikwan disappeared from sight. Nickoma and I found ourselves screaming her name and frantically searching for her everywhere. She was out of sight for maybe 3 minutes in total. 3 minutes that felt like an eternity. When we found her, playing, we immediately grabbed her, hugged her, and walked to the car. I sobbed the whole way back. I sobbed so hard that my eyes wouldn't stop watering long after we had left.
Every parent's nightmare. We had a taste for 3 minutes. 3 minutes of hell. What about the 59 families waiting for 582 days?! I couldn't stand 3 minutes of losing track of Siikwan. 3 minutes! My grip around her little body after finding her should be one seared in our collective memories forever. Our anger and relief melted into one. We had one rule, we have to be able to see each other. If you can't hear me screaming your name, you've gone way too far.
Hold your loved ones close.
Happy early mother's day.
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