One of my neighbors is sitting Shiva, and I thought I’d share a little bit of their story with you, without giving out names.
My neighbors are an older Russian couple, who over recent years have gotten closer to Judaism, and have been going regularly to shul.
They had always been going on cruises, and in recent years he had said he wanted to go to Hawaii on a cruise.
After a while his wife relented and off they went for a cruise through the islands of Hawaii.
A few days into the cruise, he complained about his high-blood pressure, which had always been an issue, and saw the Cruise Dr. in the morning, who told him it wasn’t much to worry about, but he should take it easy for the day.
In the afternoon she decided to go for a swim, and he went to take a nap poolside.
As she walked back to him to wake him, before a planned revisit to the Dr. in the afternoon, she knew from looking at him that he wouldn’t wake up.
He died peacefully, in his sleep, on a cruise ship in Hawaii.
It took them about half a week to get the legalities sorted out, so that they wouldn’t conduct an autopsy and so that she could fly back with the body.
#RIPLeon
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