Ted's cousins, Miriam and Jay, live in Los Angeles. Although we knew that they were here, we had never met them before. I knew of them, however, through my work at JNF. They lost their daughter, Liora, many years ago, and planted a forest in Israel in her memory. I always thought that was such a beautiful thing to do and it inspired us in part when we decided to raise funds for Maxie's Forest. We met this lovely couple for the first time at Maxie's funeral. MIriam and Jay won't be able to be in with us tomorrow night as they are currently in Israel, visiting Liora's Forest, amongst other things. They sent us this beautiful email this morning:
Dear Abby and Ted,
Just a note to tell you we walked and toured the Carmel re-forestation area on Friday with the Ranger in charge, and know it will be a beautiful spot, and a source of comfort, as the trees grow and the memorial is constructed. If you feel anything as we do when we are here, there is a special presence of those we love in these lands that gives us some peace.
Yesterday, a very special day for us, we were met at Liora's forest in Biriya by the Ranger there and, unexpectedly, a group of officers of the General Staff of the IDF Northern Command, who were meeting with KKL (JNF) to develop a bicycle trail used by the public, but also by the military as part of their regular physical training exercises. The Ranger had invited us to the meeting thinking it would be nice for us to see this activity at Liora's place, and give us a moment to tell her story to the group since we happened to be there at the same time. We had earlier shared your story with the Ranger, and, with that in mind, he brought with him a native-to-Israel Oak tree sapling which he asked that we plant before the 30-35 IDF officers there in honor of Maxi. The spot overlooks the Kinneret and the Golan, with a view of Mt. Hermon. It was a memorable and moving experience for us all. We have photos and video which we will get to you when we return. Others there also recorded the event and said they will send copies. Perhaps you will visit this place as well when you next come to always remarkable, so sincerely loving, and beautiful Israel.
L'hitraot,
M & J
For those of you who are wondering WHO is on the comedic line-up tomorrow evening, here is the list of jokesters. If you need to take a break at work today, look them up on Youtube to get a preview of tomorrow night's show:
Frazer Smith - MC
Courtney Cronin
Justin Martindale
Ian Edwards
Vicki Barbolack
Adam Ray
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