“Goodbye And May We Not Come Here Again”

BY CAMI EZENWA

Theirs is like love made in heaven, but consummated and abundantly blessed here on earth – five children, 15 grandchildren and 44 great-grandchildren.

But more to the story is the love they both share, such that when one is sick, the other also falls sick.

The elderly couple were at the Centre of a happy scene last Sunday at the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, Israel, where they had been sent home after both recovered from COVID-19.

Shoshana Bracha refused to leave hospital until her husband, Rahamim, overcame the virus. The Times of Israel quotes her as adding: ‘I love him, I don’t leave him’, she said, and stuck to her guns.

Rahamim Bracha, 90, and his wife of 69 years, Shoshana, 87, thanked doctors as well as God as they were released, according to The Times of Israel.

What they said next was as instructive as ever: “Goodbye and may we not come here again,” said Rahamim, who had been in serious condition and required ventilation for several days.

He was hospitalised with the coronavirus on March 22, and Shoshana followed four days later, after also falling ill with the virus, according to the Ynet news site.

She made a full recovery after a week, but refused to be discharged without her husband.

“This is my husband and I love him, I don’t leave him,” said Shoshana. “I was 18 when we married 70 years ago in Shoresh, on the way to Jerusalem.”

“I feel better now,” said Rahamim before the pair left for their home in the coastal city’s Givat Zion neighborhood. “I really thank the hospital. If I needed something in the middle of the night they promptly helped me and cared for me. The team of nurses — I have no words.”

“I wish for everyone to return safely [from the hospital],” he added. “I thank everyone. My son-in-law and daughter spoke with the nurses and everyone was worried. Thanks to them I am alive.”

As much as the entire country has not been spared the impact of the virus, advanced medicare and better appreciation of human life has made much difference in the way the virus had operated in that nation.