Page 134 - issue

They were both cognizant of that
fact. But Chana had never realized
just how much it had hurt her before.
Silly how she could feel so exultant
now over one small line: I guess I
picked up a thing or two from you
over the years. Her ears were still ring-
ing, taking pleasure in that state-
ment…
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to stick
it out at this job for long,” Rusi said.
“But it is nice in the meantime.”
Chana forced her racing thoughts
to stop. She and Rusi were still differ-
ent, still blessed with completely differ- over.
ent personalities, and yet none of that
was really significant. What really mat-
tered, and what that morning’s events
had driven home as truly important,
was the mutual respect that existed
between them.
Their differences might mean hav-
ing to exercise more effort so that
mutual respect could exist, but it was
worth it.
Oh, how very worth it.
◆◆◆
“It’s beautiful here,” Chana said
softly.
“I thought you’d enjoy a park like
this,” Reuven said. “I saw how much
you liked the outdoors last time, so I
did a little research to find a place
with a lake and a bit of scenery.”
Chana smiled. It felt good to know
that Reuven had actually gone to
some lengths to arrange a date that
he knew she’d appreciate.
“How about we walk a bit?” Reuven
said. “It’s too cold to just sit on a
bench.”
“Sounds good to me,” Chana said.
Despite the fact that Reuven was a
brisk walker, he slowed down so that
his pace better matched her own.
“We discussed Efrayim and your
daughter Rusi last time,” Reuven said.
“I thought that maybe we should talk
about ourselves a bit today.”
Chana nodded, but then she real-
ized that she didn’t know much about
Reuven’s family. “Actually I was won-
dering about your sons. I know that
you have five of them, but I don’t
know much more.”
“They’re all very nice boys,” Reuven
126 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
said. “Well brought-up, if I do say so
myself. Except for the youngest,
they’re all married. My wife used to
call them ‘the Five Books of Torah.’
Oh –” His hand flew to his mouth.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“It’s okay,” Chana said. “We were
both married before. You had a wife
and I had a husband. It’s not a
secret.”
Reuven fell silent, obviously still
uncomfortable with his faux pas.
“So where do they all live?” Chana
asked, in an attempt to smooth things
“My oldest is in Israel, which is nice
for my youngest, since he’s there in
yeshivah this year. And my other three
all live in Far Rockaway.”
“Near home,” Chana said.
“We were a very close-knit group as
they were growing up,” Reuven said.
“But the truth is that I’m not sure I
deserve any credit for where they live
now. Two of my sons married girls
from Far Rockaway.”
Chana nodded. She wondered if
Reuven would consider moving to
Brooklyn if they… Gosh, was she get-
ting ahead of herself.
But she did like him. And this was
their second date already.
So would he move to Brooklyn?
She thought of what life might be
like if she were to move to Far
Rockaway. It wasn’t like moving to
another country or anything. She
wouldn’t even be moving states. What
would change?
A new house, a new community,
and possibly having three married
stepsons over for family dinners and
Shabbosos.
The thought filled her with
warmth. Hadn’t she always dreamed
of having a large family?
Eventually they tired of walking
and sat down on a bench across from
a small lake. There were several
ducks swimming in the water. An
Asian family was throwing pieces of
bread toward them.
Chana sighed.
“Is everything okay?”
She blushed. “Fine,” she said. She
was thinking how beautiful it felt to
be so close to nature like this. And it
was all the more pleasant to be out
with a good-looking man who was
eager to get to know her better.
Reuven seemed to read her
thoughts. “It’s beautiful out here,” he
said. “It’s not too far from where I live,
either. Far Rockaway is more nature-
friendly than Brooklyn.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever been to Far
Rockaway,” Chana said.
“I’ll have to bring you for a visit
then,” Reuven said. He looked at her
closely to see if she understood the
significance of this statement.
“That’ll be nice,” she said. She
wrapped a lock of sheitel hair around
her finger.
Reuven looked at the ducks for a
moment, then he looked back at her
and smiled.
◆◆◆
“Rusi?”
“Hi, Efrayim. Do you realize that it’s
already midnight here?”
“I know,” Efrayim said, his voice
cutting swiftly across the invisible
phone wires. “I just got back from an
early shacharis and I wanted to catch
you after Mommy went to sleep
already.”
“Okay, so you’ve caught me,” Rusi
said. She had actually been about to
nod off for the night, when the vibrat-
ing of her phone had jolted her
awake.
“What do you say about Mommy’s
dating Reuven Berkowitz?”
Rusi sat up straight. “What do you
want to know?”
“Well, how are things going? I set
them up, did she tell you that?”
“She did,” Rusi said. “She said that
you were so positive about Mr.
Berkowitz that it really gave her the
push to go ahead with this.”
“It did?” Efrayim asked.
Rusi nodded, then stifled a yawn.
She must be really tired if she thought
that Efrayim could see her through
the phone wires. “Yeah,” she said.
“Well, that’s true, but…”
“Is there something off with him?”
Rusi asked. “’Cause if there is you’d
better tell that to Mommy fast. She
came home positively glowing from