I carried the story of Tali and her mother in my heart throughout my childhood

I

don’t read the news. A long time ago, I realized that being bombarded by horrible stories wasn’t good for my emotional or mental health.

But there’s one caveat: I drop into one news site every few days for updates on the Covid situation. Here in Israel, I find that it’s an important thing to do — it’s hard to keep track of rapidly changing laws without checking in every so often.

Nothing prepared me for the headline on January 25, 2022.

A mother and her toddler daughter were in a car together, driving to preschool. In Rechovot. Then, their car blew up. Exploded. Bizarrely, there was a bomb planted in the car.

Both survived, though the mother’s condition was serious.

That was it. Just the headline. I do not read articles.

But it was enough. Enough to take me back in time... to a time before I was born.