Noam in her yard with some neighbors, Tel Aviv

I’m twelve years old. I have an older and a younger brother. I am here in our yard and we are all taking turns on the swing. Mica and Tom are on the blanket waiting for me. I know there are always horrible things going on in this country, but the truth is I don’t feel it. I think we live in a little bubble in Tel Aviv. Especially when I hear stories about what my grandfather went through. His whole family was killed in World War II and he was put in an orphanage in Czechoslovakia. He doesn’t talk about it, but my parents tell me. When I think about what my family suffered through, I feel like we live in a fairytale here. By the time I’m old enough to serve in the army, maybe there won’t be a war going on. I wish for that.
Tel Aviv, May 2002