Almost seven years ago we pulled up in front of our new rental house on a quiet street on the east side of Ra'anana. It was a typical hot August day but I didn't notice because I was numb with shock at the magnitude of the move we had just completed.
I took one look at the house and realized in my haze that this was my new home. I'd be lying if I said I was thrilled.
Moments later a woman approached us and spoke English. "Oh hi," my new neighbour Carol said, "you must be the the so and so's." Well we aren't the so and so's but for some reason I was so excited to be talking to an English speaker that I just nodded my head in agreement. Based on that nod, she proceeded to talk to us with a tone of familiarity that I didn't understand.
It was only weeks later when the fog cleared that I had the nerve to tell her that I had no idea what she was talking about that first day. And all these years later I can truly say that she has been a great friend despite how weird I must have seemed that first day.
But, during those first few hazy days, the thing I liked best about her was her 14-year-old son Shlomi. He hadn't had his growth spurt yet and he was very much like a very smiley Mexican jumping bean. And he quickly made a suggestion that saved my life during the following week as we tried to move into our new home: He offered to run a day-camp for my kids. At the time it was like being hit by a bolt of brilliant lightning. No strength for a reference check. I quickly accepted the offer.
For the next three or four days he kept my children amused for several hours. I have no idea where they were or what they were doing, but since they are all fine today, I can only assume that it went well.
Years later, when I became aware of Shlomi's desire to build things that either fly or blow-up, I wonder if I perhaps should not have been a little more worried at the time.
That said, over the years Shlomi has done many things that have saved me from one issue or another. In the early years he used to order my pizzas on the telephone because I was never sure what I was ordering in Hebrew. I am pretty sure that he also arranged for the original cable and internet connections in our house. He has downloaded movies for me, rescued my computer from its inner workings and repaired our neighbour Daniel's iPod (which Daniel destroyed within days of receiving it from a group of us for his bar mitzvah).
While he did manage to build and fly some model planes, I am not aware of anything that he actually blew up.
A few years ago Shlomi finally went into the Israeli Army. I would like to tell you what unit he is in but then I would have to kill you! Actually, I have no idea. Despite my best efforts to get him to spill the beans on his secret work, I have never managed to get more than a shifty smile out of him when I have asked for the scoop. Word has it that if you want to know what he is up to, then you have to speak to his friends. Apparently they are much more trustworthy than his neighbours!!!!
What I do know is that he was recently offered a place in the officer training program and he took it. It means an extra six months in the army on top of his already four and a half year commitment. But perhaps he needs the extra time to finally find something that he can blow up.
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