For Etti and I, Covid means being at home together for a long time. There’s no work to go to for either of us. We have a fair division of labor, Etti cooks, bakes and has taken to knitting, crocheting really. It started with baskets and carried on to teddy bears. It's her latest craze.The first, a brown one was for Noga, but then she told Jonathan about the bears and he also wanted one, then Dana had to have a bear. Also Alma, the daughter of Ettie’s favorite cousin Lavi also wanted one, so now we have a bear factory at home.
I have important jobs; I would hew wood if it was necessary. But I only carry water to the plants, wash up the dishes and clean the house. I don’t have a picture of clean dishes but here are some of the beautiful flowers on our balcony facing the Judean Desert.
I am grateful for having a wife like Ettie besides, I love her dearly and will do anything to keep her happy. She has very specific tastes and one requires a lot of patience, which I have acquired over the many years of our marriage, besides I think she’s a decent sort and deserves patience.
But what is most important is her enthusiasm for children. I love kids but Etti goes totally overboard. Her excitement when talking to one of them is like bells ringing all over the house.
She loves the kids and they know and respond to her. They hug and kiss her. In Covid times they stretch out hands to her.
Her concern for the kids borders a little on fanaticism but I love it. I listened the other evening to a conversation she was having with her youngest niece, Tali, about 1 month old, the daughter of her nephew Jonathan. I wish I could describe her oos and and aas, She talks to Tali as if the girl is an adult. What did you do today? What did you have for breakfast? Are you keeping your father awake at night?
Ettie talks to our granddaughter on video and they read stories together. Noga has a copy of the book that Ettie is reading from.
Of course Noga can read well on her own but she’s been hearing Etti read her stories practically from the day she was born so she enjoys listening to her grandmother.