I'm on my way to London where I'll spend Rosh Hashana with your great grandmother, Avis.
While I'm pleased to be with my dear mother, this is a time when I regret not living in a conventional family situation. I miss not having nearest and dearest for meals in my own home and not having a partner with whom to share the occasion.
When I was a child, we used to have a big dinner at our home at 48 Pangbourne Drive, Stanmore in North West London. We rotated the meals with the Clyne family. My mother would do one evening and Pearl Clyne would do the other. I can see the dinner table in my mind as I write this. Both my mother and Pearl were both wonderful cooks.
There is nothing better than sitting with family and friends at a table filled with food on these occasions.
I would go to schul with my father before dinner, and would chat with him while walking and even during the service. I miss him the most at times like this. He would sit at the top of the table, often provoking me with his unusual humour and challenging questions. We would argue often, but that would never diminish my love for him.
Pearl and her husband Cookie are long dead as is also their son Michael who tragically took his own life some years ago. His sister, Jackie, now has grown up children of her own and we have drifted apart.
I look forward to sharing many family occasions with you, my darling Yael, and hope to be a part of many wonderful memories that you, too, will accumulate as you grow up.
May you and your parents have a joyous New Year filled with laughter, love and good health.
Grandpa Jonathan
On board a Czech Airlines Airbus 319, flight OK 650 from Prague bound for London (currently starting our decent, 4500 metres above the North Sea)
