20th July, 1987

Dear Rita and Lex,

I was delighted to have your letter with such good news all round.

In the first place, my sincere congratulations on the arrival of a new grand-daughter. May she give much joy to the family.

We have acquired another baby boy in the family – Stephen Benjamin by name. He arrived a week late, on July 3rd, weighing in at 7lbs 8ozs and is being made a great fuss of by one and all. Michael and Paul are still a little awed and act as watch dogs. The slightest whimper and someone is called to attend the little prince!

Our other news of consequence is that Simon is getting married on 1st September in Israel. He met Shayne there whilst on a short working visit and then she came to London to study. She will qualify as a dance therapist. We are all very fond of her – she is lively and warm. Most of us are flying over to attend the wedding and I may stay there a month.

Jonathan, too, is thinking of marrying next year. He has known Jaki for years. Met her first by chance on Massada at 04.00 a.m. waiting for sunrise, on a day off from Kibbutz; then not again till they found themselves at the same university and have been friends ever since. She lived locally, as indeed did Leslie’s family, and Jaki and Leslie’s sister knew each other from school.

Jonathan and I went off to Portugal (not the tourist Algarve). We flew to Lisbon and travelled north beyond the Costa Verde. The roads are quite empty and driving was a pleasure. The scenery is lush and gorgeous and the beaches beautifully sandy – though the Atlantic can be cold and windy. We took plenty of pictures and pride ourselves on being good photographers.

Life is quite hectic at present with plenty going on and never enough time.

I was ill for a while and tests eventually showed that I have a hiatus hernia. With good medical advice I have learnt to take simple precautions and, touch wood, have not been bothered any further.

We were glad that we could tell Nico about the new baby. He was happy about it. Also, he met Shayne when she came last summer and they shared a lot of fun. You can imagine how much he is missed by us all. One has to come to terms with living and dying and Nick most certainly did not want me to stay at home and not be interested in the world around. So I try to be positive and enterprising and have found my equilibrium.

Do keep in touch!

With my fondest love to you both,

Lore.