Number 19: From a young age, Yair and Maya flew unaccompanied to their Grandparents,  Oma and Shlomo. As family we love to travel to be with each other – in particular on family Simchas and special occasions. Unfortunately – due to the distances and expense, it does not happen today nearly as often as it should!

Yair and Maya collaborated on writing a eulogy to my mother after she passed away, which Yair read at one evening prayers. An extract: “The very beginning of the story sees an apprehensive seven-year old me holding the hand of a four year old Maya as we board the plane to Port Elizabeth as unaccompanied minors. In my formative years, visiting Oma and Shlomo in our December school holidays would be the most exciting adventure of the year. …

Many of the fondest and most vivid memories of Oma and Shlomo start with us leaving their apartment in Humewood … The flat was right on the beach, so we would run down the stairs, cross the road carefully, then sprint across to the water slides. Afterwards we’d swim for hours at King’s Beach because the water was warm. When we’d return to the flat, Oma would have prepared a full and delicious meal for us, accompanied by a Coke float. She would always say that we needed to finish our food before eating the sweets. On other occasions we would walk to Happy Valley an enchanting park … that featured life-size characters from popular nursery rhymes. We would watch Oma play bowls at the club where she made her name and if we were very lucky we would go on some rides at the amusement park. Often we would walk to the end of the pier at Hobie beach to watch the waves breaking on the shore and on some days Shlomo and I would catch those waves, body surfing at Pollock Beach. Oma would sing to us her Dutch lullabies and Shlomo would advocate the virtues of his political party, the Merit Party. Those were the days in which they were at their most vibrant.