All in a days work.

August was hot but besides that very little happened.
September is different. My days are again filled with different activities.

Yesterday was one of these days.
The morning started of with the old peoples club meeting entering the seventh year. It is a club, which I initiated, as part of the Association of Former Immigrants from Central Europe. We heard a pleasant rendering of stories connected with the forthcoming High Holiday season and wished each other a Happy New Year. Before going home I sat with a couple women to plan the activities for the coming two month.

To get from one place to another I either have to take my three-wheeled walker or get a taxi to get me to the further away meeting places. That is how it is when you get old and older

At 4.00 o’clock, of I went to the weekly meeting of Café-Europa, a get-together for Shoa survivors, just up the street from where I live.
It is thanks to the cooperation of different departments of the Municipality, the Welfare Department, the Neighborhood Administration and the Jerusalem Foundation with a generous donation from the Wagner family in Germany, that within the last couple of years, different activities for old people got once more started. I have since emailed the Wagner family and thanked them for their donation.
Three young women, social workers by profession, when starting their various activities for old people in this neighborhood, first came to me and we had long talks as to what the social and emotional needs of old people are. I gave them articles to read, that I had written on the subject. Doing research on Aging and Old Age is just one of the many hobbies that I pursue.

At yesterdays meeting in Café Europa representatives of all the departments involved were present and I greeted them with a few words, praising the facts that thanks to their cooperation we can now enjoy ourselves week after week, relax to pleasant music, coffee and cake.

That was not the end of the day yet.
Shortly before 6 o’clock I caught a taxi, which took me to an Inter-faith meeting. As the people slowly trickled in, Donna Jacob Sife, a well known storyteller from Australia, asked me whether I was also involved in Inter-faith work. My answer was, yes, why else do you think that I am here. Her reply was, that is a cheeky answer. Why is this cheeky I asked and we chatted on. As it turned out, it was her and me who best understood each other. As she kept telling one fascinating story after another, she frequently referred to the talk we had before the meeting got started.
One of her sayings was: “When You are You and I am Me, I can be Me. But if You try to be Me and I try to be You, I can not be Me”.
In an e.mail I send to her this morning I wrote: ”So, You are You and I am Me and that is how it should be”. I thanked her for a wonderful evening.
I then commenced to browse on her website.

http://www.donnajacobsife.com/
It was difficult for me to tear myself away from it. Some of the tales are well known, but get a new perspective when used in the context of Inter-faith.

Late last night I got a phone call from a good friend in Germany. We had an interesting talk. She said that it is a long time since I last wrote on my blog.
So here I am.
It is hard to get everything done that I would like to do, but I did want to share with you some of what I do.
What has become clear to me, more then ever before, is the fact that You are You and I am Me and that is how it should be.