My family

I have lived in London since 1968. I am married with four children. Two were born in Israel, Aviel and Erez; Ami and Anat were born in London. We came back because my husband wanted to finish his studies in London and we stayed. Although we were ex-Kibbutznikim, we kept very good relations with the meshek [those who stayed on the kibbutz], and we went back on a visit, two or three years ago.

Aviel and Erez went to Jewish school. They finished secondary school, and then Erez decided to go to Israel and do military service for three and a half years. He then signed up to be a professional soldier for five years . He was sent to the USA to be the ambassador’s bodyguard and he stayed there four years. He studied  Management and Computing there. After that he returned to Israel and got married with a girl from Nahalal called Sarit. They now have a son called Yali (there are photos of Yali at the bottom of this page!)

Aviel studied in London and did Computers but six months later did not like it. He abandoned these studies and went to work. After doing different sorts of work, he decided to go back to university. He finished his studies and now he is working in an American bank. He left the house five years ago to live with a girlfriend, in a flat. But they split up recently.

Ami was born thirteen years after Erez. After going to private school, he decided to go to university and studied Computers and he finished his degree in June 2001. He is 23 years old. He went to the USA to be a leader at a summer camp for children aged between eight and fifteen. He got involved with an Australian girl who is two years older than him. He’s gone back to Australia with her.

How my stroke affected the family

Anat was born fifteen years ago. When she was two years old I had a stroke and she was frightened of me! She always wanted to be with her father, and before the stroke she was the opposite, always with me. It took quite a while before everything was normal. She went to a Jewish Kinder Gardens that was in Edgware. I had to do the journey four times by bus a day and we lived in Golders Green, Hendon. Later she went to Primary School for seven years in Edgware, also a Jewish one.

I used to go with Anat and meet the other parents, and when I was there they stopped talking to each other. One of the parents lived nearby and had a car, but didn’t take me to Edgware and back. The main thing was my daughter. Although I couldn’t speak, she used to talk to people on the bus, especially the pupils from the girls’ secondary school. When she six years old she went to a dancing school twice a week, and at the age of eight she started violin, which she still plays nowadays.

I used to drive before my stroke, but after my stroke I was frightened and it was impossible to drive because I was so stressed. At the beginning when Anat stayed in the Kindergarden, she only stayed half a day, and that did not let me come home because it was too far away. So I stayed in Edgware waiting until 12 o’clock; I went to the library or sometimes to the local shopping centre. Other times I went to have a cup of coffee, always by myself, very boring! Once, I got on the bus and the driver asked me ‘Where are you going?’ I could not say  "2 Broadfield Avenue” in Edgware, I had a ‘blank’ and there were a lot of children waiting to go in!!!

My daughter became very chatty on the bus. She used to be very friendly with the ‘Hasmonium’ girls (which is a school for girls but a very religious one). She used to intervene into my conversations, but I was very happy with it, at least she helped me! Now she goes to JFS in Camden Town and she goes on her own.

My conversations with my children are rather simple. The two elder ones, one is here, the other is in Israel. The telephone makes me nervous because I speak slowly and then I have a blank in the middle of a sentence, it is expensive, it makes me very nervous. The two other ones, it is the argument. I cannot follow it up, especially with my daughter.

I married my husband, Dani, 37 years ago, in Israel, near the border with Lebanon in a place called Hanita. After the 6 Day War, we came back to the UK in order for him to finish his Ophthalmic Optician studies, and we stayed here. We first stayed six months with my in-laws and then we rented a flat near Golders Green with my two eldest sons. We stayed six years and then bought a semi-detached house in Cheviot Gardens. Three years ago my husband developed a tumour in the spinal cord, and as a result was paralysed from the waist down. It is called an ependymona. He is in a wheelchair, and had to stop working. I looked after him becase I have not had any physical symptoms of my stroke, I can wash him and dress him. He is very optimistic, and recently he has gained a drivers licence and can take me to do the shopping!  

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