JoelNothman.com

I was going to write about all eight days of Pesach, but I won’t have the time for at least another week. There is too much to do for uni, and to see that I make it through Europe without a hitch after I leave Montreal on the 29th of the month. But at least one story I want to relate sooner.

On Tuesday evening, I was expecting a phone-call from my family. My mum had called from Sydney on Saturday night to tell me that my 89-year-old grandfather (known to us all as Poppy) had been sent to hospital on Friday evening, with internal bleeding. The family said his condition wasn’t too good. So I spent the last two days of the holiday thinking and worrying on occasion.

So when the holiday ended on Tuesday night, I was possibly expecting bad news. There was a message on my phone that someone had left me voicemail around 5:30, but I was at a Mimouna and intended to enjoy myself, so I didn’t want to check it until I got home.

Then a short while later I received a call from the number of my brother, Simon. I snuck into a small room and answered the phone. Simon didn’t mention Poppy at first. Instead he told me he had asked his girlfriend to marry him.

This came as a bit of a shock. He had indicated that he thought she was something special. But I hadn’t even spoken to her, or met her… So it felt a little strange to be on this side of the world (as it did with mum’s call on Saturday).

Still, most of my trauma came because this wasn’t the news I was expecting. Poppy, it seems, was looking a little better than forecast, with the help of four doses of blood. Last I heard he is still in hospital and doing okay.

But a big mazal tov to Simon and Shimrit. I’m glad he has found his happiness. And I’m sure when I meet her in May, I’ll be thrilled to welcome her into the family.

PS: “snuck” isn’t in the spellchecker I use. Perhaps in the next edition?
PPS: I didn’t used to use a spellchecker. But this script was too attractive considering the number of errors I’ve made in previous blogs…