Have you watched the movie "A Simple Story", or read the book with the same title? Both of them tell about a life affected by death- for the man in the movie, it symbolizes the end, for the girl in the book- a beginning of a new life.

My life's experience includes only the death of my beloved Grandmother, which had affected me deeply and, as with both the book and the movie, can also be titled 'A Simple Story'.

No big dramas here, nothing important achieved by me... no, I'm here to tell about my life in a country which most of you see as crazy and tending to extremes whilst, for us, the citizens of Israel, things always seem quite different. After getting involved in a bitter, hopeless argument about the Palestinians entry, I've seemed to notice how little people really know about this place, about the way things really are... don't get me wrong, I avoid watching the news as much as I can. But people in other countries seem to have a solid opinion of things they know nothing of, not first hand, anyway...

So Let's get it straight and out into the open; I'm left wing, leaning towards the center, and will not discuss politics with ANYONE! I don't care about it at all, and where I live it has no immediate effect on my lifestyle, and I don't really know, or care, much about it. So there... I'm just going to tell about things as they are, and if you want to argue about it... find someone else.

What I will do is read some newspapers, to get the latest bad news on every entry, and then discuss it when it seems fitting. Ok, I'll discuss it every time I write this column- happy now?

The second important element in my Simple Story, is my family. I'll give you the historical facts briefly: my mother and father met here, where I live right now, in Kibbutz Sdot-Yam, when they were both in highschool. He came from Jerusalem, she was a local, and at in his 18th year and her 19th, they decided to not only marry, but also to have a child... my older brother. After that, they repeated their sad mistake, and had me¹. They divorced when my brother and I were six and four respectively. She remarried, and is still happily married with two sons, aged 16 and 12, and he remarried, and is now happily divorced again with three kids aged 16 (boy), 14 (girl), and 3 (boy) years old. I refer to all of them as my brother/ sister, if you actually care about those things. I love all my brothers and my sister the same, although us girls usually have more to talk about. I'm 10 years older than she is, and I love her very much. She is the first to know of many of my most private issues.

My father now lives outside Jerusalem, in the Occupied Territories. My mother has lived in Sdot-Yam for 15 years now, since we moved back here when I was 9, an event that, as I told everyone I knew, was a traumatic experience for me.

My father has always been my role model, someone I looked up to, and that's why our relationship is more friendship than just a father-daughter relationship. We tell each other everything about anything, and never spare our criticism from each other. We respect one another, and consult on everything.

My mother is more restrained- she keeps her feelings to herself, but still expects everyone to know how she feels, which usually creates a lot of arguments. Though I've spent most of my life with her, I feel closer to my father.

The third, and last, element of my life, and currently, the most important, is my boyfriend, Michael, known to you as Bob, a name which I can't stand, so I'll use Mike. He's intending to come and live here, with me, this September, and I'm going to enter his opinion and thoughts as a stranger in a new country, once he does. Until then, you'll only get reports from me about how things are coming along with him getting ready to leave Liverpool and move here.

We met on h2g2, as we recall, at the Musehome, and started a two months friendship, which later turned into love. My biggest problem was that I was engaged at the time, which doesn't really mean a lot here, but I was with the guy for seven and a half years, including two years of living together. My family loved him, my friends (some of them) liked him, and I was making believe that, once we got married, everything would turn out just great and I'd suddenly get the meaningful, loving, passionate relationship I've been waiting for all these years. Of course, I had my parents' example to live by, that is- I'll stick to this sorry excuse for a relationship and make it work, even if it kills me!!! Which it almost did.

Mike, luckily, knocked some sense and feeling of selfishness into my silly head, and I can't thank him enough for doing that. He got me going through sleepless nights, walking around, thinking of my own life and problems, being completely selfish for once in my life, and yes, also slowly falling more and more in love with him. We decided to meet in London, to check if things really worked between us, and we clicked instantly. It's an amazing feeling of love, and through my trust issues, and his own paranoia, I think we heal each other with giving and receiving huge amounts of love.

We did plan on getting married this year, as reports might have claimed, but decided to have some fun together, first, and then do that. One thing's for sure- I'm not going to stall for another seven and a half years!

So that's basically me.

I'll start writing more to the point, and using fewer words, the next time, which will be in two weeks.

Elly

19.07.01. Front Page

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¹Hardly a mistake Elly ...... ed.