Caveat to readers - the subject of this post may be mostly of interest to the Meers and the Dashes (or maybe just to me as I write it, because my family knows this stuff). But anyway, here goes:
I have not written much about my extended family, but I have cousins in Israel. My Dad (Samuel Meer, of Blessed Memory) was the second youngest of eight children. My Mom, on the other hand, had only one sibling, her older brother Frank. (Can you guess who grew up in the orthodox home and who grew up in the commie household?) My Dad's brother Lou had two sons, Mosely and Fred (both of Blessed Memory). Fred made Aliyah in the 1960's and met a wonderful Sephardic woman (Simone Sebbag) at his Ulpan. Simone's family was chased out of Morocco, settled in Antibes on the French Riviera and opened up a restaurant (early Moroccan/French fusion). We visited Simone's parents in Antibes in 1966 and I remember having a fantastic meal and looking at a binder full of sketches by Picasso. Apparently Picasso frequented the restaurant because he loved to hear the Spanish folk songs that Simone's grandmother would sing for him. Instead of paying for his meal he would do a quick sketch. (I always wondered what happened to that binder...for sure a cherished family heirloom.)
Anyway Simone has three adult children (who are second cousins to Toby and Gabriella) and a number of grand kids. She lives near Jerusalem and we tried several times to get together so the families could meet. Unfortunately we did not find the right time and then the clock ran out. We were invited out for Sukkot but Toby and I were under the weather. Then Simone had some health issues, and then before we knew it, December was upon us, with the snow storm. (Simone is very observant so driving to her house for Shabbat was out of the question.) Oh well, it will have to be next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment