The Honeymoon

The wedding was perfect. Dan broke the glass. The two spent their 7 minutes alone. Jerry smiled all night. Marc and Alana sipped some wine. They were limited in their sipping as they were still on guard for Jay. He never showed.

The happily married couple walked into the Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” and did their first dance to Depeche Mode’s “Somebody.” They kept their clothes on during the dance. Martin L. Gore recorded the song in the studio in the nude.

Everyone was happy. The night ended. They went to JFK and boarded an El Al jet to the Holy Land. They landed about 5 p.m. and got on the bus the Safed. Anat loved this town. She had a strange feeling in her heart. To the best of her knowledge, none of her family was still in Safed. Some were in Tel Aviv, some were in the USA, and some were dead.

She and Dan checked into the Dan Ruth Zefat Hotel
and had their first dinner alone as a married couple. Anat was chatting in Hebrew with the waitress. Dan had no clue what they were saying. But didn’t care. She switched to Ladino. It didn’t make a difference to Dan. He was just happy to be married.

They finished their bottle of Kishor red and some hummus, shawarma and veggies. They took a walk through the town. They passed the Sephardic shul. Anat smiled. She remembered when her grandmother took her there as a little girl.
Hand in hand, the two lovebirds walked. Others were strolling by. They were oblivious. She heard someone yell her name. At first, she thought nothing of it. Many women in Israel share her name. She heard it again and again.
She and Dan stopped. Anat was face to face with her ima (mom) and aba (dad). She took a step back. It was the first time they had seen each other in at least 30 years. Her mom asked her what she was doing in Safed. Not wanting to answer. She held up Dan’s hand and hers, plastered the engagement ring and wedding bands on her face, and said on my honeymoon. Why are you here? We moved back, they told her.

Anat looked at Dan her lips were frowning. Dan stood there. Anat held back. She wanted to splatter her parents with raisins, dates and prunes. She squeezed Dan’s hand. Her parents congratulated her on the wedding. They didn’t even ask why they weren’t invited. In their hearts, they always thought if their daughter cleaned up, she’d find someone and never talk to them. Anat and Dan started walking away. Anat didn’t even tell them that they were grandparents.