Sixety Five Years

Last night I was surprised when I had a message from a distant cousin asking if I wanted to speak with his Grandmother.

A little background.....Philips Grandmother is married to Sitti Jamileh's first cousin Philip Salim Zarka. They have lived the last 65 years in Israel (Palestine at the time), having not been able to return during or after the war in 1948.

So after replying to Philips message we switched over to Skype. Philips Grandmother Em Atef is 86 years old and god bless her she remembers everybody from Derdghaya. She was so impressed with herself remembering people she says to me not bad for someone who only lived in Derdghaya for a year and a half. I have to say her knowledge of people was very impressive

The biggest joy I got was that she remembered my grandfather. First question she asked me was who is your grandfather....Najib Boulos auntie.....she answers with joy in her voice ah, Najib Boulos was one of my favorite people, a great man. This bought great joy to me as I never knew my grandfather but everyone has spoken in this tone about him. She then asks who my father is.....Sami auntie I reply, again she espouses what a nice person my father is.

We spoke for around an hour about Derdghaya its current and former residents, family and friends. I have to say it was a pleasure to have spoken to Em Atef and hope one day to make a trip and meet her.  I think next time I talk with her I will do an interview with her about her life as she knows a lot about the family.