tamarjacobson

  The door opened even before my hand could reach up to press the bell. "Now, don’t start crying," Lily said as she embraced me. Tears were already starting to blur my vision. "I’ve seen the pictures of you pointing at everything and crying." She was referring to the photographs on my blog from my trip to Rhodes Island in May. Lily and Ike already knew all about me from reading my blog. As I walked into their warm and inviting home last night to meet them for the first time, I felt at home immediately. Family. Cousins.

We sat in the living room to start the "get to know you" talk. This lasted only a few seconds because Lily wanted me to see the Israel Family Tree she had so diligently created over the years. With the Tree I could find out exactly how Ike is, in fact, my cousin. We walked into the dining room and there, framed on the wall, was a large genealogy tree.

The names were inscribed with beautiful and professional calligraphy that Lily had studied specifically for that purpose. My eyes skimmed over all the names and fell, immediately, on my father, Yeheskiel. I heard Lily behind me again, "Now don’t start crying …" and sure enough tears were welling up as I traced with my finger all the connections that bound me and Ike, my new found cousin, to the first Israel Rabbi in Rhodes in 1715.

While Lily prepared coffee and baklava, fruits and cheese, talking back and forth with Ike, I heard Ladino and was transported back in time to my father’s home when I was a child. Ike smiled at me, "Ladino," he said. Tears were choking my throat as I yearned for my father and yet felt him oh, so close by at the same time. "Yes," I said softly, nodding my head, "I know."

It is truly difficult to describe all the emotions as I sat chatting with this warm and welcoming couple. So many of Ike’s mannerisms and actions reminded me of my father and his brothers: gentle, humorous, large, warm smile, cosmopolitan. I had to keep reminding myself that I was not ten years old but 57, and my father was dead now more than 25 years ago.

When it came time to leave Lily presented me with my own copy of the family tree and, yes, warned me again that I was about to cry! We embraced, long lost cousins, them from Rhodes and Turkey and me from Rhodesia and Israel, all of us all the way to Philadelphia. On the way home I longed to tell my father every detail. He would have loved to hear about our meeting and adored seeing the beautifully crafted family tree. I walked straight into my home and called Shimon. He immediately answered, "Yes? Well?" He had been thinking of me all evening.

This morning, when I awoke I found an e-mail in my mailbox expressing exactly what I was feeling:

We were so happy to meet you both.

Hope to see you again, soon. Lily and Ike

Update: More photos just in:

Thank you, Ike and Lily!

A year ago at Tamarika: Weird