I was offline most of the day today, trying to reach a longtime, close friend who lives in Be'ersheva, Israel. Thank God the news I have is good about him.
I met B in 1976 when I was a teenager...we dated, rode our bikes, spent a lot of time together (we were both into cycling and running)...we were going to get married. We ended up choosing to be just friends because we found we didn't have as much in common as we'd originally thought. I had to admit to myself I would have been marrying him mostly so his mom could be my MIL (I was very close to his MIL and still am). Anyway, over the years we stayed close friends even though after his marriage in 1981, he moved to Israel. I have been there to visit him and his family,and they have come here.
He lives in Be'ersheva, Israel and has since 1981. When I got my newspaper this morning and heard that Arab terrorists had bombed two buses in Be'ersheva, I almost lost my mind. I tried calling his cell phone, his wife's cell phone,even his son's cell phone, their home phone..and couldnt get through...the systems must have been overloaded or something.
I then called his mom who lives near me, and she said he and his family ARE SAFE...his wife was in their bookstore near their home,their son was in school, and my friend was not far away from one of the buses that blew up, he had been riding his bike to work and was one mile ahead of the one bus when it blew up...he went back to help rescue people from the carnage.
I told his mom that I was surprised to hear he rode his bike to work...he never did that when I knew him years ago, tho he was always a cycling nut like me (he only used his bike for recreation back then). She said, "Do you remember when you came to see me in the nursing home this past January, before B showed up? And I asked you how you like living in the suburbs now, I asked how you get around without a car and you told me you use your bike for everything, running errands, groceries, etc?" She then said that gave her an idea, to suggest it to B for going to work in Israel (she was always afraid that he would get injured on the buses in israel because that's what the terrorists target.) I didnt know it then, but she gave him the idea and apparently he adopted it. That is why he was on a bike going to work yesterday and not the bus, which he usually would take.
If he had not done that he might not be here right now. I have been shaking all day, realizing how close he could have come to being killed.
Unfortunately, 16 innocent people WERE killed and many more injured. This was the first suicide bombing in Israel in 6 months. To read more, see: