Long Lost Cousins
How two long-lost cousins reconnected in Israel!
"Growing up, my grandmother always told me about a cousin named Gene, who made Aliyah years and years ago to Israel- they hadn’t spoken in about 50 years!
When I made Aliyah, my grandmother told me she had been searching for this cousin for a while with no luck. However, we knew that Gene had written a book about the Israeli use of arms and artillery, and through this, we connected to someone who knew him! We were told that Gene had a child who lived in Oregon, America. So my grandmother, being the old-fashioned woman that she is, sent a handwritten letter to this address. Unfortunately, our family no longer lived there, but we received the next piece of the puzzle! This neighbor of theirs had the address of Gene’s wife in Israel! Unfortunately, Gene had passed away, but his wife, Cynthia, was living in Beit Nekofa, a moshav right outside of Jerusalem.
My grandmother once again sent a handwritten letter to Cynthia with my details in it, and eventually, I connected with Cynthia’s grandson, who put me in touch with her. After the long treasure hunt, we finally found her! I went to Cynthia’s home in Beit Nekofa, where she cooked us a nice homemade meal, and actually took out Gene’s old yearbook from 70 years ago! And right on the first page, I saw my grandmother had signed it. It turns out that Cynthia and my grandmother had actually been to high school together in the states, and haven’t spoken since they made Aliyah 50 years ago.
Since that first meeting, I have been going to visit Cynthia every few weeks for a nice meal. In an instant, my family has totally expanded here in Israel.
Now, whenever people ask me if I have family in Israel, it is so nice to finally be able to say yes!
