You mean you put everyone in a big machine and smush them around until they’re all mixed up?

Well, not exactly.

Try explaining to an eight-year-old what a blended family is. Probably better off giving an example, as in: Liel is Gil’s daughter from his first marriage, and one day this young lady was explaining to her cousin that she now has two mothers. No, said the cousin– a year older and hence much smarter – you have a mother and a step-mother. But she’s a nice stepmother; she’s not a mean stepmother. That’s what Natania became when she married Gil, the nice kind. And by extension, Barbara and I became blended grandparents – the nice kind. As my wife puts it, we’re related by love, not blood.

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You have an appointment at the clinic at Ein Kerem in the morning and a wedding to go to that same evening? That should keep you on your toes. Well, yeah. The appointment at the urology clinic had been scheduled in the distant past (meaning months and months ago), and we were going to show up, come hell or high water. The wedding? Miri-tal and Michael were getting married on Aug. 7 at Lago, the meat restaurant at the Puddle at the new entrance to our fair city. That got scheduled much more recently. The moral of the story? It’s easier to schedule a wedding here in The Land than to book an appointment with your favorite medical specialist.

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