Graduation

Sarah smiled as she recalled the day her parents finally understood her intentions.  It was her graduation day.  The actual ceremony was short and a blur. Dressed in her gown and hat she strode up to the podium and received her degree, and the accolades of her peers.  Afterward, before the private parties the various student groups organized to mark this rite of passage, and in most cases the demise of whatever social framework they had belonged to for the past three or four years, her family took her out to a lavish dinner at one of Boston's better seafood restaurants.

The irony was apparent to her even then, but now she had to laugh out loud. As course after delicious course was brought to the table her mother and aunt discussed her options, where she should look for work, where she might want to live. The entire discussion she managed to avoid responding until one point she felt it no longer honest to let them continue any further.

"Actually, I intend to travel for a while."

"To Europe or somewhere else exotic?" her aunt pressed for more details.

"In a manner of speaking yes." but Sarah realized she couldn't avoid the truth any longer. "Next month I'm travelling to Israel."

"What are you going when you get back?" her mother asked cautiously, as if she sensed something from the way Sarah answered her aunt's inquiries.

"Actually I intend to remain in Israel indefinitely and work there."

The table became silent. It appeared everybody at her end, her father, uncles, cousins and brother had had one ear attuned to the guest of honour.  They had all heard what was for her liberal left wing nominally Jewish family, heresy.  It was her father that saved the moment.

"Sally, that sounds absolutely marvelous! How long have you been thinking about this decision?"

"Well ..." Sarah remembered hesitating for a moment.  She was pleased her father sounded supportive, but wasn't exactly interested in discussing her life plans in such a public forum. "The last time I visited Israel I spent most of my six weeks visiting people involved in the photography industry, all kinds of different people with different specialties to get a feel for the employment possibilities.  I also spent time with other young North American professionals who had made the decision to live in these words was in Israel ..." her mother's audible gasp at hearing these words was unxxxxxable. "Before I made that trip and did all that investigation, the idea was rather a flight of fancy.  The more people I met and the more I discovered about their lives and the satisfaction they derived from being there, being a part of helping build a Jewish society, well the more I became convinced I'd find far more personal and professional satisfaction there than I would anywhere else in the world."

Sarah remembered looking around at the faces around the table.  Her mother was literally in tears, her mascara dripping down her cheeks as she stared first at Sarah then at her husband.  Surprisingly, her father looked totally unperturbed. He had the look of a man who was discussing normal everyday issues, not some monumental life changing decision.  The only thing that gave his inner feelings away was the slight hint of a smile around the corners of his mouth and a sparkle in his eye.

She left Boston for Israel three weeks later.  Only her girls friends from school organized a small surprise Bon-Voyage party.  When she left for the airport her mother was no where to been seen.  Her father drove her. He tried to reassure her that eventually her mother would come around.  If it really worked out for her, and she really did settle down in Israel, eventually she'd find her mother on her doorstep.   Laughingly he concluded, "it was only a matter of time" and he took her hand in his right hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

"What about you Dad?" Sarah had  asked. "Why did you see to be so accepting of my decision from the first moment?"

"The truth?"

"Of course the truth!"

"Your decision didn't come as a total surprise.  You did speak to people I myself had referred you to?"

"Oh." a groan escaped her. "You mean they reported back to you everything we discussed?"

"I wouldn't go  so far as to say 'everything' but the drift of your questions and a sense of your intentions."

"And you agreed?  You support my decision?"

"Sweetheart," her father started, but stopped to apparently collected his thoughts, or maybe she thought, to choose his words wisely. "If someone had told me two or three years ago that you would leave us to settle in Israel, I ..."

"You probably would have made my life a living hell!" Sarah had blurted out, not waiting for her father to finish his thought.

"Well I hope not that bad, but ... well I suppose that is one way of describing it, I mean from your perspective."

"And now?"

"Now? I still disagree with the very idea of giving up everything you have here in Boston, America.  Your family.  My connections in the business. But if that is what you have decided, especially after serious study and evaluation, I'd be a fool and disloyal to you not to support your decision."

The tears welled in her eyes as she remembered  her fathers warmth and sincerity.  For the rest of her life she would always think of that conversation whenever she heard  the word 'loyalty' mentioned.

"Thanks Dad." Sarah had responded, not trusting herself to say more for fear she'd lose it.

"just remember that if for any reason you want to come back, even temporarily, you should never hesitate.  There is no shame in changing you mind or just 'regrouping' while you acquire experience or even save some capital."

The serious discussion was over.  The rest of the way to Logan they talked about other things, and people she should say hello to for her father.  Just at the last minute when they hugged one last time before she went past the passport control and her father fiercely whispered in her ear that he loved her, it was only then that she lost it.  With sobs of affection and tearful smiles they parted.