It was towards the end of 1942 and I had just turned 18 a few months ago. My Family and I sat around the dining room table listening to London radio as it announced the encouraging news of the daily bombings of Germany and Stalingrad and the preparation on the Second Front. With this announcement my family and probably every other Jewish family that was listening saw a sliver of hope and waited for better days that were sure to come. I continued to devote myself to my studies and my Family continued on with their lives as well, my mother cooking and cleaning as she did most days, gossiping with friends and my father taking care of his business and the community.

We made the best out of the rest of the year as did everyone else in our community. There wasn’t really much we could do to change the war that was going on except for hope the allied forces gained some advantage and that it would soon be over. That way we could really go back to the way life was before this dreaded war happened. During this slow and descending year, my grandparents came to spend Rosh Hashanah with us and it was that time that my mother expressed that she felt it was time to find an appropriate match for Kyla. Kyla was my older sister but only by a few months. My mother had been trying to match her up with the Dennison’s son Aiden, and my best friend, but she had failed miserably many times. It’s not that Kyla didn’t like Aiden it’s just she tried to make it as hard as possible for our mother because that’s the way she was. She was stubborn and if it wasn’t on her terms then it wasn’t to happen at all.

“You know mother is having a “meeting” with the Dennison’s? She’s inviting them over to dinner tonight. I’ve been told Aiden is making an appearance.” I informed her as I walked into her room and she gritted her teeth.

“What?! Why? I’ve already told her I’m not interested in that son of theirs.” She said and I didn’t believe her for one second. I knew very well she liked Aiden.