I am sitting in the vast and open living room of my soon-to-be sister-in-law's house. It is almost 6am but I have actually been awake since 4am. As I sit here staring out the ceiling to floor glass walls watching the sun literally rise, I feel an anxious excitement within me like a child waiting for everyone to wake up on Christmas morning to open presents, except and ironically, I am in Israel.
A year ago I visited Israel for the first time. I remember stepping off the plane and walking towards the exit of the airport to find my finance's family waiting to welcome us - a tradition they have faithfully maintained for over 20 years each time Motti visits from America. (It is so funny to say/type America as if it is a far off country I vaguely remember but really only left less than 48 hours ago.) As I walked to meet them for the first time, I was overwhelmed with the thick but yet fresh air of Israel. Tears immediately began to stream down my face and I embraced them as I was overcome with a feeling of being home. It was like my entire life led me to that moment where I knew in the depths of my soul that I was meeting my destined family for the first time.
All of this is not said to take anything away from my family at home or distant relatives in Mexico. They are my blood and I am connected to them in a way only sharing DNA can provide BUT meeting the family of the man who I would one day marry is a whole other experience. Nothing could have prepared me for it. It was the affirmation in my body, mind and soul that forever changed my life and led me back here today one year later.
Like walking out in 2000, meeting Motti and later his family in Israel would be a life-altering event that was destined at my birth. The most magical part of this relationship is that unlike many others...wrong others...this relationship has never required me to change or be anything other than myself. As a result, when I reflect back on the 10 years since Belmont and my current walkout for myself, I know with my full being that this relationship and my family in Israel have shaped me and will forever be a part of this and the very many next chapters of my life.
In an effort to be brief and make up for my ridiculously long previous post, I will be blunt about the purpose and message of this post. My life is a series of intended events that shape the path I will follow and at times, lead. It isn't just what we do in life that make us who we are and what we do but rather, our life is composed of several factors including those people who pave and lay the road which we take/follow. Sometimes we are the driver and other times, the passenger but always there is a road and driver. In later posts, I will share details and express appreciation for those drivers who led me to where I am today and where I will go tomorrow. In fact, I hope the previous post was clear about some of the most fundamental drivers in my life - my grandmothers, father and mother. And today it is without a doubt and so urgently important for me to acknowledge and appreciate Motti Dahan, who I so look forward to marrying on September 8, 2010 in St. Thomas...not a Catholic church but the US Virgin Island. Until that blessed day, we will share this summer abroad which I am confident will pave the road for what I will do next as a result of my 2010 walkout for myself.
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