The Passion of Life: Escaping Sadness: Moving to the USA

By Helene J. RW. Wald

This book is about my life moving from France to the USA after I met Howard at a nightclub in Boca Raton Florida. After being a widow for more than three and a half years starting to visit my sister Viviane who was living in the USA with her husband Barry and her two children Sandy and Gary in New Jersey

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kindle Publishers
• Release date: Nov 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798869234735

Book preview

Prologue

Already, for 20 years, I have lived in the United States, where I have traveled a lot. I lived in Florida and Texas, then I returned to Florida for two years, and now I live in Georgia. I would rather live in Florida, but things are not so simple. There is a saying, Man proposes, but God decides. It seems that G-d, who did a lot of miracles for me, does not want to grant me this favor. I bend to his will. I am content with what G-d gives to me, trying to be happy wherever I am. I have to say I think that G-d gave me the most essential things, just the best second husband in the world. I will say that sometimes he is too sweet with me, never saying nowhere he should say it. I was very lucky to meet him. I thought that my life was finished at almost 60 years old, but no, a marvelous story started for us and certainly for me. Normally, the women at this age don’t have much hope to remarry in France.

After my mother passed away, I went to the United States to celebrate the wedding of my niece Sandy, who was in Atlanta, where I live now, after many detours. From there, I went to Florida to change my mind. My sister Viviane and my brother-in-law Barry invited me nicely to come to visit them in Hallandale, Florida, where they spent the winter. When I saw this little paradise directly overlooking the Intracoastal, tennis courts, swimming pool and many palm trees around, it was like a dream. I never imagined this could exist, only in Hollywood movies. I fell completely in love with it, so I decided to buy a condo there. Because I had just sold a property in Paris, the money was not a problem, but my brother-in-law did not understand, saying, You live in France, and you want to buy something here in America !!. I answered him, And why not?. I must recognize this looks a little crazy. The remainder of the story proves that I was right. Sometimes, something foolish can change the course of your life. The apartment that I bought was a model, completely furnished, including pictures on the wall. The kitchen was brand new with all the appliances. It was 1 bedroom with 1 ½ bathrooms, 900 sq feet, for the price of a studio in Paris. A dream! It is still the same situation; the Europeans don’t realize how cheap life is in the United States. Credit cards allow Americans to live the good life. And will continue to be, despite things being more difficult because of unemployment. We must recognize, fortunately, that people can work after their retirement, and you don’t have age discrimination. You don’t feel old at 60; it is the same for human relationships. You can see couples where the women are older than the men, and they form happy couples, and this is my story.

For two seasons, I rented my condo in the winter, and I came for one month in the summer and one month in the autumn. And everything was perfect. When I was in Paris, I could dream about Florida and my palm trees. I had a favorite palm tree. In November 1990, I was supposed to go to Florida. I already had my airline tickets when I started to see sparkling in my right eye. I lived ten minutes from the hospital Quinze Vingt, which specializes in the eyes. Passing in front, I decided to have a consultation without an appointment. Of course, I had to wait a long time, and I did not think it was very serious. When the doctor, after examining me, said I cannot let you leave, you must have surgery immediately. If not, you can become blind in this eye; I felt so bad I almost fainted. I had to call my sister Annette, who brought me some clothes. I had to stay two or three days in the hospital, and one of my old friends reminded me that he had come to pick me up, but I did not remember that. It is curious that memory is not the same for each of us. Events are remembered differently from one person to the other. What is important for one is not for the other.

Back in the apartment, I had to lay down for four weeks. I remember that I fed myself lots of goat cheese, which I still love to this day, and chocolate. The funny thing about this unorthodox food is that I became svelte. Of course, I was so depressed; I remember like it was yesterday that in my bed, I started to cry. I asked G-d that I meet an American so I could live in America. Who knows the prayers better than me, and who will be younger than me because I did not want to bury a second husband? And I promised if my wish comes true, I will make an important donation to Israel. And everything happened this way! It was a miracle!!! All my life, I had all kinds of miracles, except that I could not live a long time in Florida. But I made up my mind you can be happy or unhappy anywhere. When you open your eyes in the morning, it is already a miracle. And you have so much suffering all over the world that I don’t feel the right to complain. One rabbi one day asked me if I believe in miracles, and I answered yes. In my life, many times, my dreams have come true. He told me this astonishing sentence: it’s because G-d loves you. So, it’s true that I, an ordinary person, had an extraordinary life with the help of G-d.

Of course, I could not accept that I would not go to Florida before the summer. I called my sister and asked if she would give me their hospitality at the end of December. Not only did she accept, but in addition, she contacted one of our cousins, a widow herself, to come to Florida so we could go out together. From there, the rest of the story happened. I always asked myself if our destiny is written in advance or if it is from our actions our destiny depends. Sometimes, something bad happens in your life for a reason, but your reactions and decisions will change your destiny with the help, of course, of G-d.

One thought came to my mind that my sister Viviane and I, who escaped from the Holocaust because of this French Policeman, then she came to live in America, and because of her, I would come to live here too, in this country that I loved and adopted immediately. It is true that Maurice also fell in love with this America, where dreams are permitted. And the best proof is we have a president born from a white woman and a colored man. This would have been impossible a few years ago.

Since 2016, my husband Howard retired, and we live with happiness in Florida.

Chapter One

The Beginning of my Destiny

So, this year, things