“Lots of emotion,
all this commotion,
physical and mental,
forgive me while I get sentimental.
5, 4, 3…soon there’ll just be Yaf and me;
the children are flying the nest, no, really, I do not jest.
Ziv’s off to uni in England to study law,
that makes my heart so sore,
Romi’s off to mechina*,
soon, it’ll have been weeks since I’ll have seen her,
then she’s off to the army,
this is all too soon, it’s barmy!
Seems like only yesterday when they were so young,
now that is a song composed and sung.
I won’t lie,
I’m about to cry,
but this is how it goes,
it’s one of life’s lows,
the emptying home, leaving us, mum and dad, on our own,
but it is the shape of life,
the husband and wife,
saying our goodbyes, with tears in our eyes.
I’ll say it again,
we are in pain,
but I’ll say this out loud,
we are proud.
We uprooted the children 8 years ago,
it was hard for them, we knew,
everything in English and then, suddenly, in Hebrew,
but they got their heads down,
not a frown,
straight A’s,
we knew they were good but, still, we were amazed!
Romi, so good at everything, from maths to art,
plus she has such a good heart,
Ziv, the Tzanchan*, a great mind,
and also strong, sweet and so, so kind.
Yes, they are at that age,
and they’re ready for the next stage,
Yaf, me and Raphael at home,
well, I’d hardly say that we’re alone!
Besides, this is home, where their mum and dad live,
and I’m sure that they all know and feel that,
Raphael, Romi and Ziv.” – koby
*Mechina – wikipedia: “an autonomous unit of specialized educational institutions valuing non-formal education and pre-military training in Israel.”
*Tzanchan: paratrooper.
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