In 1968 my dad made friends at work with a man from Czechoslovakia. It turns out Jan and his wife Kveta had escaped their country on the eve of the Soviet take-over, leaving everything behind. Our family became friends with them and one day they asked me if I would like a pen-pal in Czechoslovakia. Always interested in other countries, I said yes.
Thus began a long term correspondence between Daniela Benesova of Prague and I. On October 11th, 2008, 40 years after the initiation of this relationship, we met face to face outside a metro stop. We had not seen pictures of each other for many years, but we instantly recognized each other, seeing the young girl in each others’ 50 year old faces. After a big hug, a day of re-meeting, renewing and reviewing a friendship began as Daniela showed me around her home town.
I wonder why I did not post this when I wrote it so many years ago. Maybe because the rest of the trip was challenging and mind blowing (Israel and Palestine) and this post never got published. Maybe it was to discover it again to day and write to Daniela…