Gezelligheid
Gezelligheid describes a state of mind where you feel happy, comfortable, and safe because you are with family, friends, or other special people.
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Strong Women
My dad used to say, “Your Mom is as courageous as a lion.”
Fruits
We loved all the summer fruits, especially the plums.
“Artifacts”
Are family heirlooms artifacts?
Dolle Dinsdag
Our Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, pleaded with Americans during a televised program on Monday, March 29, 2021. With emotion in her voice, she implored all of us to still be vigilant and to keep all of the previous proposed measures, such as masks and distance mitigation. At that time, the coronavirus threat was not over yet. She said, “Please stay with it for a little while longer.”
Our Jewish Life in Italy
I lived in Italy with my husband, Sidney, and our three daughters for almost four years from 1973 to 1976. We lived between Pisa and Livorno in Tuscany—one street away from the Mediterranean. We were stationed there with the US Army. It was a different posting from others we had experienced.
Religious Education
When Sidney and I married in 1965, we decided that if we would have children, we would like to bring them up within the Jewish traditions and religion. We were married in the Liberal Synagogue of Amsterdam.
Warme Chocola (Hot Chocolate)
When we returned to Holland in 1948 after living in Sweden for two years, we realized that food and goods were still rationed in the Netherlands. You could not just buy the amount you needed or wanted if you did not have the right ration coupons or enough of them.
Traits
When I give a presentation, I almost always start by saying I am here because I was lucky. Why was I lucky? Because there were people around us who risked their lives to help us and to save us, and because of the love and courage of my parents.
Selma Is Going to Make Aliyah
After my husband Sidney came home from the Gulf War, we decided that we wanted to be together with our family as much as possible. This would not be an easy task, as we lived at West Point in New York, Jordana was in school in Boston, and Judith and Naomi lived in Germany, where their respective husbands were stationed. We decided to meet in Holland, during Jordana’s winter break, in February of 1992.