Uncle Ben
Dan is the cousin of my father. Dan loves to learn the history of the family names and family tree.On Sunday, I came to Dan’s synagogue. There was a re-union there. I was very excited because I love the family history and I thought there were going to be many family stories. I saw my great-uncle Ben. He was the patriarch. he was 100 years old. I went to his table with an article from 1926.
“Uncle Ben”.
Ben’s friend saw me and said, “Hello, I’m Clara.”
“I’m Talya, Gert’s granddaughter”
“Oh, Ben, look, this is Gert’s granddaughter”
I gave Ben the article. It was about
Ben and his running team. Ben read the article, looked at
me and asked “Where did you find this?”
I told Ben where I found the article and Ben told me about
his team and track running.
I sat with Ben and Clara several hours.
I loved them very much.
Mom called me and said that we have to leave. I hugged Ben
and Clara, and Clara said “I hope to have a granddaughter
just like you”. Tears escaped from my eyes. I sat down
near Uncle Ben, I hugged him and he gave me a kiss.
I will remember the feeling of the kiss
on my cheek all my life.
Two months later Uncle Ben died. When I heard about his death
I put my hand on my cheek and remembered Ben’s last
kiss.
Read the original Hebrew article
Talya Housman
Teacher: Zmira Rivlin