Today. Friday, July 11

I woke up today and decided I needed to write.

Last night I baked two batches of chocolate chip cookies and two batches of ginger cookies. MB will make two trays of potato kugel.

Our yishuv will be bringing Shabbat food to the soldiers on the border of Gaza.

NED went to bed alone last night. Not knowing where her soldier husband is.

DB helped me make the cookies, saying, "I can't believe I'm here making cookies, and not there."

Ari is on a bike ride. Hope he has his gun with him.

ELY has a friend sleeping over.

I'm going back into the kitchen to prepare for Shabbat. We will be hosting one of DB's army buddies, as well as MB's newly married friend who has been in and out of bomb shelters in Ashdod.

It's so hot. I think about our soldiers out their in this heat. I worry about them and then get frustrated that there is nothing I can do.

I want to go to the beach, but there are missiles flying over the beaches. I feel a little guilty for going to the beach when others are hiding in their shelters.

This is my existence right now. And I will not let them beat me.
 

My reality and your reality

My reality is different than your reality.

And yet so much is the same.

Both our lives go on.
In my reality and your reality, we both wake up in the morning to start our day and go to work.
In my reality and your reality, we both have to go food shopping, and clothes shopping, and run our errands to the bank and post office.
In my reality and your reality, we both have to balance our checkbooks and make sure we can pay our bills.
In my reality and your reality, we both have to make dinner for our families.
In my reality and your reality, we both have to run a load or two or three through the washer and then dry, fold and put away the clean clothes.
In my reality and your reality, we both have to scrub our toilets and sinks, and vacuum and/or wash our floors.
In my reality and your reality, we both have to take out the garbage.
In my reality and your reality, we both have to brush our teeth and wash our faces.
In my reality and your reality we both have to hug and kiss our children.

So many things are the same....and then so many are different.

Today I am sensitively aware of how different.
I chose to live in Israel, and therefore I chose to see how different our realities are.
I do wish my reality was different.
But I don't wish to live your reality so that I can have that different reality.

I'm staying here.
In my reality, which is a lot like yours, but so very different!