#backtotheus

I was so tired I couldn’t sleep.

When I got to Frankfurt, I was ravenous. I ate a sandwich - I forget what kind. I was about to get a McDonald’s burger but I noticed people were lining up right when I approached the register. So, I walked away without ordering.

I met an elderly couple from New Jersey on the line. We spoke briefly about the Hasidic Jewish men who were asking people -- not me -- if they were Jewish. [The couple were secular Jews]

Man: They’re like the Isis of the Jews.

Me: I wouldn’t say that. Maybe like the Christian Fundamentalists [of the US]?

They went to Budapest, Prague, Cracow, Warsaw, and I think a few other cities. Jewish heritage tour, the wife said. The husband said their grandparents escaped the programs to come to America. “It’s amazing,” he said. “To think I wouldn’t have been here if they hadn’t left when they did.”

We talked briefly about Florida, where my parents live and that my parents have no community. I told them they watch TV and my mom does aerobics class and her hair is straight so she could find another hair-dresser easily, anywhere. They could do all those things anywhere. If my Dad values the time with me and my sister (who lives in CT) as much as he says he does then he’d live up here in the Northeast. “Oh! It’s too crowded,” I mimicked my Dad’s complaint. But it’s no different there than it is here. I said this all to the NJ couple. “I just think if I had a kid and it was important for me to see him/her regularly in my life. Look, I love NY but if my kid wanted to live in Colorado then I’d go live there. If I had nothing to do, like my parents.” I said. “Well, you know,” the woman said, shrugging. “What’re you gonna do?”